Youth.Academy TO

The Youth.Academy 2016 was once again a great event. In addition to a comprehensive programme, the young professionals had plenty of time to exchange experiences. Thus, the 450 participants of the Youth.Academy TO were free to look around in the three exhibition halls of OTWorld and inform themselves of the exhibitors on Thursday and Friday. Recent innovations were presented in guided tours by the exhibitors specially organized for the J.A. TO.

The new Congress Centre – for the first time integrated into the halls of the trade fair this year – offered some treats for the trainees and students. They could visit all lectures in the Open Forum, in room 1 as well as the keynote lectures on Thursday and Friday and listen to the leading figures of the industry. Another part of the programme were practical courses where experienced professionals from the field of orthopaedic technology could pass on their tips and tricks.

On Thursday evening, the get-together of the Youth.Academie TO in the Pocketpark was again the final highlight. For this purpose, Klaus-Jürgen Lotz (President of BIV-OT), Prof. Dr. Frank Braatz (Congress President 2016) and Norbert Aumann (CEO Otto Bock HealthCare Germany) put on their barbecue jackets and provided the trainees with fresh sausages from the grill.

After four years' existence, the year 2015 marked the first international event of the Youth.Academy TO with its notional sponsor Bundesinnungsverband für Orthopädie-Technik (German Association of Orthopaedic Technology). From 24 to 26 June 2015, 23 apprentices, students and trainees of technical orthopaedics went abroad to Lyon in France. The participants attended the World Congress of ISPO International. Thus the future professionals of the industry were given the first opportunity of international networking and getting to know the latest products and technical innovations in the field of technical orthopaedics.

The first day was dedicated to the journey, the arrival at the accommodation and getting to know each other. The next day started early with the ride to the congress. The congress ticket included access to all events and lectures, the participants were spoilt for choice. Thanks to a wide selection of lectures, there was something for everyone. An event of ISPO International which had been organised especially for the Youth Academy completed the visit to the congress. The visit to the accompanying trade show delivered good insight into products and future care technologies of the industry.

The last day included a trip to Dijon. The company Proteor – leader in the French large orthopaedic appliances market – had invited the participants to a tour of the production halls. So they gained an insight into the industrial production of components, most of them for the first time.

For the second time, the OTWorld (13 to 16 May 2014 in Leipzig) invited participants to the largest meeting of youth in technical orthopaedics. On an initiative of the Bundesinnungsverband für Orthopadie-Technik (German Association of Orthopaedic Technology), trainees in conservative-technical orthopaedics and rehabilitation technology were given the opportunity to participate in a programme developed especially for them. Medical students were also there for the first time.

In his short welcome speech, Olaf Kelz, vice president of the Bundesinnungsverband für Orthopadie-Technik (German Association of Orthopaedic Technology) and member of the working group of the Youth.Academy TO (Y.A TO) said that it was “fantastic” that so many young people had accepted the invitation to the meeting. The organisers had nearly 500 registrations, about a fifth of them medical students.

The participants could look forward to a broad programme on the last two days of the trade show, in which none of the three aspects of the event slogan “Learn, exchange ideas, have fun!” were missing. Many trainees and students explored the trade show, some of them wearing the Y.A TO T-shirt, took part in the tour of the Transparent Workshop in the technical forum for rehabilitation and the sponsors’ tours of their stands, and heard the presentations by leading figures of the industry in hall 1 of the congress.

There was a barbecue in Pocket Park on the fairgrounds. The 3 BBQ chefs Klaus-Jürgen Lotz (President of the Bundesinnungsverband für Orthopadie-Technik), Prof. Dr. Wolfram Mittelmeier (Congress President of OTWorld 2014), and Norbert Aumann (Managing Director of Otto Bock HealthCare Deutschland) made sure the young guests were well supplied with delicious food.

The next activity of the Y.A TO is already being planned for 2015.

In 2012, the starting signal for the Youth.Academy TO was given with a comprehensive training programme and the overnight stay in a camp located directly next to the exhibition halls. This made it possible for the 400 trainees to participate in the ten workshops and guided exhibition tours without long distances and to get to know each other at the meeting point in the Glass Hall as well as in the camp.

In the years, in which OTWorld does not take place, the Youth.Academy TO organises excursions as well, such as in 2013 the visit to the event “Tag der Technischen Orthopädie” at the German Congress for Orthopaedics and Trauma Surgery (DKOU). On this occasion, the trainees had the possibility to listen to lectures discussing the latest developments in the field of scoliosis treatment and rheumatology.