Abstract
Increasing knowledge of headache medicine in Egypt and the Middle East
My name is Amr Hassan. I am a Co-opted Trustee on the Board of the International Headache Society (IHS), and also a member of the IHS Education and Membership Committees. Five years ago I had the opportunity to meet Professor Messoud Ashina when we were having a speaker tour in the Gulf Region. Before this date, I was just a general Neurologist who was fond of practicing clinical Neurology in Kasr Alainy Hospital, which is one of the largest and oldest hospitals in the Middle East, and was deeply interested in teaching, training and education, being Head of the Training Committee of the National Egyptian Fellowship Council. Meeting this great mentor, Professor Ashina, paved the way for me to reshape my career path very early. It was really an inspiring experience for me.
In Egypt, despite having more than two thousand Neurologists serving a population of over 100 million, we are still lacking headache experts and specialized headache centers, and unfortunately headache is lagging behind many other neurological subspecialties such as stroke and multiple sclerosis, which are now well-established and more attractive and tempting for younger generations of Neurologists.
I started to focus on establishing a good headache service in my country and became a board member of the Egyptian Headache Society. I have conducted many educational events, training courses and workshops across Egypt to deliver the essentials of headache practice to Neurologists and leverage their interest in headache as a promising subspecialty.
On a national level, I am involved now in many parallel projects to fill the gaps in headache practice. Three main challenges top my list of priorities: firstly, establishing a national headache registry; secondly, developing headache centers in different Egyptian districts to assure offering a better headache service quality to Egyptian people; and thirdly, increasing public awareness about headache disorders. Over the past years I have tried to reach patients not only in Egypt but in all Arabic speaking countries through media campaigns on TV and different social media platforms.
Joining the board of IHS was a very important milestone in my career path. I am now even more passionate about extending these efforts and ambitions to help people not only in Egypt but also in the Middle East and Africa to establish/improve headache service in less fortunate countries.
Our Greatest Resource, the International Headache Society Community
My name is Teshamae (Tesha) Monteith. I am a fellow of the American Headache Society and the American Academy of Neurology, and President Elect of the Florida Society of Neurology.
I am a Chief of a Headache Division and a Program Director for a Headache Medicine Fellowship in Miami, Florida. I am primarily a clinician-educator, but also engaged in clinically oriented research, advocacy, dissemination of scientific advances, and leadership of multiple diversity and inclusion initiatives.
It is an incredible honor to be a Co-opted Trustee on the Board of Directors for the International Headache Society. I have been a proud member of the International Headache Society since 2008. I am fueled by patient care, the science of headache disorders, and the brilliance and friendships within IHS membership. As a busy academic headache-neurologist, I know I have thrived from the support of my mentors, advisors, sponsors, colleagues, and friends.
As a community, we share the passion for treating patients with debilitating headache disorders. I often tell trainees, now is an exciting time to become a headache specialist. Even though headache disorders are so under researched, and many gaps remain, there is an explosion of new therapeutic options and rapid progress in scientific advances.
I am also excited about modern and engaging ways to connect, communicate, and share knowledge. Be on the look-out for future communications from the IHS, about Exchange Groups. The goals of the group exchanges are to foster conversations that provide clinical insights, support, opportunities for collaboration, career advancement, and of course, fun as well.
While the mission to impact headache disorders globally is not without challenges, I am optimistic that the future is bright for our field and the community we serve. As we stand together to advance headache medicine and provide excellence in clinical care, it is clear to me that our greatest resource is one another.