Testimonials

I very much enjoyed the meeting. The topics and the speakers were superb and the organisation excellent. The venue of the RSM in the heart of London is top.

This event on Spondyloarthritis was an excellent day overall. It covered the whole range of SpA and its associated EMMs. If anyone wants to get latest updates in AxSpA/SpA world, this is the day they should attend.

It was a great pleasure to attend the SpA academy event. The subjects covered most of our day to day practical issues we face in our clinics.
Many thanks to the speakers, organisers and sponsors.

Excellent meeting, very good speakers, good audience participation and many useful tips. Strongly recommended

I attended the spa academy evening talk, dinner and day event in Sept 2024. The presentations were all excellent and covered lots of areas of interest within the SpA world. They were delivered by experts in their field and I learnt a lot of up to date information to further my understanding of AxSpA. The chairs asked interesting questions of the speakers which facilitated good discussions and the case studies at the end of the day brought it all to life. Thank you for a super day!

It was a well organised meeting with excellent speakers and useful topics. I enjoyed attending the meeting. Thanks

Cant speak highly enough of this event! From the organisation, to the setting, and most importantly the speakers. All disciplines were very welcoming and there was a really positive atmosphere. Well done to everyone involved.

A thoroughly enjoyable, interactive and engaging meeting. It was great to chat to the speakers over lunch and coffee. Excellent venue.

It was a fantastic virtual event. Very well presented and very informative. A lot is happening both in terms of investigations and therapy in this field which is good for the patients. Looking forward to attend the next event.

Wonderful and extremely insightful series of lectures in the meeting. I have been attending the meetings virtually and regularly and these have helped me in a long way to make a positive impact on patient care in my practice.
Many thanks to the organisers.

Fantastic series of lectures linking with and consolidating information from recent SpA Academy study events. Great to hear what other NHS areas provide and has given food for thought as to how we can develop services locally. Inspiring and informative. Would definitely recommend to GP/FCPs working in Primary Care and those in MSK/ Rheumatology services in secondary care plus any other health professional with an interest in SpA. Looking forward to future events..

It was really great to be at a face-to-face meeting. It was good to get an overall update on specific areas within rheumatology. The atmosphere of the meeting was so warm and friendly and that’s what made it such a good event. Thank you to the organisers

Very well pitched and highly informative. I feel enthusiastic about ax-Spa after this talk. Very valuable insight from multi-disciplinary clinicians

I enjoyed listening to your presentations about the management of Rheumatoid arthritis, Spondylarthritis.
they were good brief and essential descriptions of these common conditions in our day to day practice.
I would like to see in the future similar presentations.
Many thanks

It was good to have some real ‘take home and use’ lectures and information. Plenty to think about and good to hear about new scientific developments

A thorough and detailed refresher. The speakers were very good. The clinical lectures were particularly useful for everyday practice. I thoroughly recommend it to both trainees and consultants, as well as clinical nirse specialists as it provides a great update on present management approaches in RA

I virtually attended the RA academy in October 2021. It was an excellent meeting. A wide range of presentations from pathology and state of the art treatments to patient support groups and service development. It was a great way to get up to speed with all things rheumatoid. I hope it runs every year. Being able to attend virtually as well as in person was great.

Thank you for a fantastic two days of excellent talks covering all aspects of RA. Especially as a trainee, this was an invaluable learning event covering the basics in great depth, as well as more complex aspects of the disease. I also appreciated the time taken to cover clinical concepts in radiology and immunology, for example, which we are often are unable to consider in sufficient depth on a day to day basis but are fundamental to our practice.

It was also great to be back enjoying events in person, with the opportunity to talk to colleagues and interact with speakers.

I have come away from this relatively short but enjoyable event having learnt a lot and will be sure to recommend similar events to other trainees. Thank you!

An excellent meeting for all professionals involved in the care of patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis. The international level speakers reviewed modern understanding of RA from the basic science to the delivery of good quality care. Each session allowed plenty of time for questions and discussion. For professionals at every stage of their career, the newest trainee to the most senior clinician this meeting was of great value

It was fantastic to attend an in person meeting, seeing colleagues who I haven’t seen in over 2 years! The programme was superb, and a great reminder of what rheumatology is all about. No one mentioned COVID! Thank you

This meeting was stimulating, enlightening and a reminder of what we don’t know (such as the jump from anti-CCP to inflammation and the choice of joints) and what we may forget (such as half the measures used in DAS28 being subjective and subject to influence by all those unhappy life experiences we may or may not ask about when diagnosing fibromyalgia).

Professor Taylor’s and Professor Barton’s excellent talks left me wondering whether a very expensive drug (or a series of said drugs from a frustrated rheumatologist) may validate a sad life or feeling unappreciated, where RA is the last straw. Taxpayers beware: rheumatologists are neither psychologists nor psephologists.

As a codger not yet thrice jabbed, I was glad the meeting was so accessible remotely, and I was there to feed the dog. Thank you very much.

Thank-you for a very informative 2 days of learning about Rheumatoid Arthritis
I feel I understand this condition much better and more empowered to managing patients with this condition
Some of the teaching was above my level as a GP eg. Ultrasound /MRI and other modes of imaging in managing this condition, however enjoyed participating.
Once again many thanks.
Please forward certificate of attendance for PDP purposes.

Mind opening and mindblowing course. Im new to Rheumatology and listening to presenters taught me a lot. My main experience is in MSK physiotherapy and Im still finding my feet in Rheumatology. I feel Im doing more MSK work then Rheumatology because of my not great knowledge and experince yet.

Im gonna go back to this course again and will take it in smaller chunks to try to digest it along with some search and reading. If I was to pick up the most useful topics at my current newbie stage I would say pathobiology, clinical presentation in RA, self-management and patients organisations are great to start with. The imiging was superb too and understanding more about biologics gave me a good start to gradually dig in more to understand patients care in Rheumatology care.

Thank you. It was amazing

Ewelina

A 2-day face to face and online conference. Attendees including rheumatologists, AHPs, GPs, researchers, patients and a leading patient organisation. We went from an historical look at the focus on physical therapy in treating the symptoms of RA to the how to chose from a bewildering array of new treatments to treat the disease itself. Discussion included how we might use these advanced treatments in the future. Conventional drugs were not forgotten and the importance of adherence was dissected as was the difficulties of providing truly effective early inflammatory clinics post covid. All of the discussions included discussions of the patient’s experience. NRAS highlighted the impact of fewer face to face clinic appointments and reduced clinic time. They offered evidence based ways to support health professionals help their patients by signposting them to educational resources, advice lines, self management modules and much more. Excellent speakers and broad coverage of a complex condition.

Well presented, clear and to the point information. Knowledgeable presenters with obvious enthusiasm which has been infectious and encouraging to seek further improvement as a Physiotherapist. I thoroughly enjoyed it especially Dr Winston Rennie presentation. Thank you :)

Fantastic presentations as always from the team. Very informative and more importantly they are happy to take your questions and answer them all no matter how basic or complex.

The talks had great information and really knowledgeable speakers that communicated well and made the topic engaging.
Looking forward to the next presentation already.

Fantastic overview of Axial Spondyloarthropathy, great to learn historical aspects. Lovely overview of classification systems and guidance on diagnosis, a wonderfully succint and informative immunology talk, followed by advice on differentiating between mechanical and inflammatory back pain and if that was not enough from the 1st session, the experts Prof Karl Gaffney and Dr Deepak Jadon also clearly cover what you need to know about periferal and extra-articular manifestations topped off by a talk on comormidities, finally added to by Chris Martey, with his talk and aspirations for First Contact Practitioners. Excellent session, a must watch for any MSK physio!

This was an excellent training day, with brilliant talks from expert speakers – the updates from Professor Gaffney and Dr Jadon have definitely improved my understanding of spondyloarthritis, and I am confident it will have a direct impact on my future practice. Moving to a virtual platform was very smoothly done, maintaining the high-quality we have come to expect from SpA academy events.

I would like to say thanks to all the sponsors for arranging such an extremely educational activities.
It is one of the best activity which is well organised, educationally relevant and interactive.
All the presentations were well presented and useful in daily practice.
It is always good to hear from the expert in their field.
Many thanks to the SpA academy.

This day was a great and informative day, i especially enjoyed the discussions around bony oedema in the sacroilliac joints in active patients due to exercise. The Radiology discussion in psoriatic arthritis was excellent and especially enjoyed the discussions around differentiation between PsA and erosive OA in the DIP joints.

I look forward to future events, great learning day thank you

Very informative and thoroughly enjoyed. very useful for clinical practice thanks

I found the events very interesting and useful. It is especially useful to have access to local, quality CPD hours. As a manual therapist I found the event at the N&N which was aimed at chiropractors and osteopaths very informative. I had under-appreciated the episodic nature of SpA and I feel more confident referring patients back to their GP for further investigations. I am pleased to report that in this short time a couple of people have received a diagnosis of SpA when they would have almost certainly slipped the net previously.

All the events were extremely useful. I work in a large primary care MSK service, taking all referrals, primarily from GPs. The [training] days have definitely changed my practice on an individual level as an ESP as well as within our wider team of ESPs and physios. Training has been put in place as a result of attendance at the 4 days and will be ongoing. I would like to think there is now an improved awareness throughout our service – it certainly seems to have prompted more discussion amongst colleagues. In addition we are starting an audit of GP spinal referrals with reference to the recent NICE guidance on spondyloarthritis. I hope this will also help to improve awareness amongst GPs too. We are also developing more links with Rheumatology and are lucky to be able to have the opportunity to work alongside as they have recently moved some of their clinics out into primary care. Looking forward to further SpA events and updates very much, its definitely worth the long drive down and a lovely venue. The website will be very useful

I found the Spa academy meeting extremely useful not only in terms of the presentations but also having the opportunity to meet with other clinicians with a special interest in SpA. I have done several feedback sessions to my colleagues and as a result it has helped to heighten awareness of SpA as a possible diagnosis.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the SpA academy days that I attended. It consolidated my knowledge of Axial SpA and is a fantastic forum to network with clinicians and the multi-disciplinary team across the region . This forum has given me confidence and insight on how to modulate my service needs for patients in my local area. Thank you for all your time and efforts and being truly inspirational.

Very eloquent speakers – knowledgeable and presentations were engaging

An excellent and informative conference – well-organised and pitched at just the right level

Wonderful environment to learn in, a relaxed manner, no question left unanswered and discussion and questions always welcomed

“Very helpful and helps to manage my own patients.  Beneficial – thanks!”

I’m very new to my role as a nurse practitioner.  These sessions are really helpful and helped me to gain more understanding, especially learned from patients.

Really helpful and insightful to speak to patients suffering and managing their conditions and the difference presentations and variations for AS. Good to highlight  symptoms and red flags.  I attended the last meeting and I am definitely more aware in regards to diagnosis.  My questioning has become more specific.

Absolutely excellent historical perspective lecture – never had anything quite as expansive or properly researched.