6th Eilat: Pharmacological Treatment of Epilepsy

The course was held in Jerusalem, between October 11th and 16th, 2015. It was it was attended by 71 students (mainly neurologists). The 47 bursary awardees and the 24 paid participants came from 28 different countries, mainly from Europe, but also from countries outside Europe such as Columbia, Nigeria, Canada and the US. The International Faculty comprised 25 tutors.

The course was organized by the Eilat Educations Conferences Organizing Committee (OC) and the Commission on European Affairs (CEA) of the International League against Epilepsy (ILAE). The course was also sponsored by the Epilepsy Foundation, CURE , The Israeli League against Epilepsy, The Israeli Neurological Society, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Eisai and Biocodex. The members of the organizing committee were: Svein Johannessen (chair), Meir Bialer, Helen Cross, Alla Guekht, Eugen Trinka and Torbjørn Tomson.

This Eilat Educational Course (EilatEdu) is an initiative that started ten years ago in 2005 by the Organizing Committee (OC) of the EILAT Conferences on New AEDs. After running seven successful EILAT conferences (since 1992) , the EILAT-OC felt that, after 13 years of successful scientific conferences that gained a worldwide reputation, it was time to reciprocate and contribute to the epilepsy community and to the fight against epilepsy, by organizing an educational course along the spirit of the Eilat Scientific Conferences. Bursaries were offered to young neurologists and neuroscientists from all over the world. However, the EILAT-OC could not do this alone and therefore, approached the ILAE-CEA who enthusiastically welcomed and approved this initiative. Following the great success of the first Eilat Educational Course and the encouragement of the ILAE President during 2005-2009, Prof. Peter Wolf, the ILAE-CEA decided to organize evry two years the second, third, fourth, fifth, as well as the sixth Eilat Educational Course. Consequently, like in previous EilaEdu courses the ILAE-CEA is the major sponsor of the course.

The Eilat Conferences have a special and unique approach and characteristics, offering an active discussion after every lecture. Thus, these conferences are actually a five-day continuous dialogue between speakers and participants, and among participants and colleagues. The program for this Course was designed to address the theme of Pharmacological Treatment of Epilepsy in its broader aspects. The speakers / tutors were key opinion leaders in this field.

The feedback of the students was overwhelmingly positive: 86% of the students reported that the course met their expectations well or very well. This excellent feedback coupled with the full stratification of all participants (students and teachers) of the 6thEilat Educational Course encourage the EilatEdu-OC to start planning the next course in Jerusalem on October 15-20, 2017.