Perio Talks – an innovative feature at EuroPerio9 to showcase talent of EFP Alumni and current students

One of the innovations in the scientific programme for next year’s EuroPerio9 is the Perio Talks – 1^st EFP Alumni Symposium, which will take place on the congress’s opening afternoon.

Inspired by the “TED Talks” format, Perio Talks will address the topic of “Periodontal experience and discoveries worth spreading.”

Would-be speakers at the session have until Wednesday, November 15 to make their applications. Current EFP postgraduates and alumni of the EFP’s accredited postgraduate programmes in periodontology are invited to apply.

Perio Talks, on June 20, 2018, will involve a series of short talks, demonstrations, and performances (of 10 to 12 minutes) about what has inspired the speakers’ professional careers, such as a training programme, a research project, a patient case, a conference, a specific technique, or any other brilliant idea that inspired their life.

According to the organisers, the talks should be “ideas-focused” and cover a wide range of subjects in the field of periodontology, dentistry, and life experience. The aim is “to foster learning, inspiration, and wonder as well as to provoke conversations that matter.”

Talks will be given by single presenters and there will be no panels nor questions-and-answers with the audience.

How to apply to be a Perio Talks speaker

All current students, former students, and members of faculty at EFP-accredited postgraduate programmes in periodontology can apply to be a Perio Talks speaker. Applications should be submitted online by November 15.

The application procedure involves uploading a completed pdf application form together with a video abstract (of no more than three minutes). Full details are available at the Perio Talks section of the EuroPerio9 area of the EFP website.

A jury will select speakers for the Perio Talks session, evaluating the content and form of the video on the basis of the originality of the topic, speaker skills, impact, creativity, and passion. The jury comprises Moshe Goldstein and France Lambert from the Postgraduate Education Committee, Fillipo Graziani (organiser of EFP Alumni), and Michèle Reners and Soren Jepsen from the EuroPerio9 organising committee.

The selected speakers (between eight and 10 in number) who will be notified by January 15, 2018, will be invited to a one-day coaching session with a TED Talks trainer in Vienna on March 14 (travel to Vienna, one night’s accommodation, and coaching included).

The Perio Talks session at EuroPerio9 is one of the first events created as part of the recently launched EFP Alumni project, a network based on the federation's accredited postgraduate programmes in periodontology. The EFP encourages alumni of the accredited programmes, members of faculty, and members of current and previous EFP executive committees to register online for EFP Alumni.