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ISICO International Master: 12th edition now open!

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Eleven years of education, 371 professionals trained and a network spanning 66 countries worldwide. These figures tell the story of ISICO’s International Master in Conservative Scoliosis Treatment, now preparing to launch its twelfth edition. Enrolment is officially open, with an early bird deadline of December 6, 2026.

Since 2016, the Master has brought together healthcare professionals across geographical and professional boundaries, creating opportunities for exchange and collaboration among physicians, physiotherapists, chiropractors, orthotists and other specialists involved in scoliosis management.
The International Online Master Principles and Practice of Scoliosis Conservative Treatment (PPSCT), delivered entirely in English, offers evidence-based education closely connected to clinical practice. The programme combines recorded lectures, scientific readings, clinical case discussions and live sessions with instructors, providing a flexible yet interactive learning experience.

A Decade of Experience Presented at SOSORT

The value of this educational model is also documented in an abstract presented by Dr Fabio Zaina, ISICO physiatrist, and the ISICO research team at the latest international SOSORT Congress in May 2026, entitled Global Reach and Clinical Impact of a Blended Online Course in Conservative Scoliosis Management.

The study reviews the course editions from 2016 to 2025, highlighting its remarkable international growth: from 15 participating countries in the first year to 66 in 2025, of which 63 are UN Member States (33% of 193).
Significantly, the Master has also reached 35 participants (10.4%) from 17 countries classified by the World Bank as low- or lower-middle-income.

The analysis also highlights the importance of interaction between participants and instructors: 73.7% of respondents rated the discussion groups as very important, while live lectures and recorded content received consistently positive feedback.
Above all, the opportunity to immediately apply newly acquired knowledge to everyday clinical practice emerged as one of the Master’s key strengths. The programme goes beyond scientific updates, encouraging clinical reasoning and the ability to make informed decisions based on the best available evidence.

One of our main goals has always been to make high-quality, evidence-based education in conservative scoliosis treatment accessible to healthcare professionals worldwide, regardless of where they live or the resources available to them” – explains Professor Stefano Negrini, ISICO Scientific Director and Director of the International Master – “Reaching professionals in low- and middle-income countries is particularly meaningful because it shows how online education can help overcome geographical and economic barriers, bringing scientific knowledge into everyday clinical practice”.

From Australia: A Participant’s Perspective on the Master

This is precisely what Chi-Jui “Gary” Huang, a healthcare professional at Perth Scoliosis Clinic in Australia, emphasised after recently completing the programme:

“I have really enjoyed the course, not only because of the quality and depth of the teaching, but also because of the discussions and interactions with all other doctors, physio, chiro, etc. I have learned so much throughout the course and feel that it has really helped me update and strengthen my knowledge and clinical reasoning when making clinical decisions. One thing I particularly appreciated was seeing that some of the clinical decisions I have been making in my everyday practice were consistent with the approaches and reasoning discussed by the instructors. This gave me a lot of reassurance and confidence in my clinical practice. At the same time, the course has challenged me to think more critically and has helped me further develop my clinical reasoning and understanding of the available clinical evidence.
I will definitely recommend this course to my colleagues and friends who are interested in scoliosis management”.

His words capture the essence of an international educational experience in which sharing knowledge and expertise becomes a practical tool for improving the clinical management of scoliosis.

Enrolment Open for the 12th Edition

The ISICO International Master is now preparing to welcome a new group of professionals from around the world, continuing its commitment to education that brings together scientific knowledge, multidisciplinary exchange and practical clinical application.

Enrolment is now open, and early bird registration is available until December 6, 2026.

For the full programme, participation details and registration, visit the official website: www.scoliosismaster.org

ISICO Online Master 2026: let’s start

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Registrations for the 11th edition of the ISICO Online Master “Principles and Practice of Scoliosis Conservative Treatment – PPSCT” will open on October 15th, 2025. The course will start in January 2026.

This training program has now become a well-established part of ISICO’s educational offer, alongside the Italian Master, the SEAS courses, and the course on Sforzesco brace construction.

A truly international training program

Since its launch in 2016, the Master has welcomed 334 participants from 66 different countries:

  • 126 European
  • 96 Asian
  • 74 from the Americas
  • 18 from Africa
  • 20 from Oceania

A genuine global learning event, giving professionals from different cultures the chance to meet, exchange ideas, and grow together.

“The organisation is very didactic, starting with the basic knowledge and evaluation techniques, evolving to more specific subjects, and finally, when the students already have some knowledge framework, focusing on the suggestion and discussion of clinical cases. The live lecture was a perfect conclusion for the discussion groups. Most of the recorded lectures had great quality content and very good visual presentation.”
— Leonardo, Brazil

Course structure

The Master is delivered entirely online and self-administered through a dedicated learning platform. It is organized into 16 modules lasting two or three weeks each, including:

  • three recorded lectures of about 45 minutes;
  • scientific papers for in-depth study;
  • a final assignment for each module;
  • discussion sessions for interaction and exchange among participants.

The experience of a global community

One of the most valued aspects is the opportunity to connect with colleagues from all over the world: a unique chance to discover treatment practices, expectations, and experiences in different countries.

“From this course, I hope to gain in-depth knowledge of scoliosis, learn from renowned experts, and connect with specialists from all over the world to understand how they manage it in their own countries.”
— Joy Igudia-Akumabor, Nigeria

Early bird registration is available until December 8th, 2025.

World Master: ready for the 2024 edition

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First, some numbers confirm the idea of an international training event, which has now become part of Isico’s traditional educational offer, together with the Italian Master, the SEAS courses, and the course on the Sforzesco brace construction.
In 11 editions, there were 315 participants from 56 different countries, including 22 European countries, 17 Asian countries, 6 from the Americas, 4 from Africa, and 2 from Oceania. In other words, our World Master Course, which began in 2016, includes the whole world interested in the rehabilitation treatment of spinal pathologies.  

Participants have the privilege of attending the lessons of dozens of teachers among the leading international experts in rehabilitation treatment: “Improving my knowledge and skills about scoliosis, there was a lot of academic information presented in a systematic way. It made me read more, learn more, and learn about a different approach from other countries. It opened my mind to seeing scoliosis from a broader and more accurate perspective, which encourages me daily to learn more“. This is the comment of one of the participants in a past edition, Mohammed Firas Wahbeh, from Syria.  

Therefore, this is a learning opportunity that continues to be successful; in fact, we are close to opening registration for the IX Edition of the Online Master Course “Principles and Practice of Scoliosis Conservative Treatment – PPSCT”, which will start in January 2024.

How is the course organised?
The PPSCT course is delivered entirely online and self-administered through a dedicated online learning platform. It is divided into 16 modules, each lasting two or three weeks.
Every single module generally includes three recorded theoretical lectures (each about 45 minutes long), which participants can listen to at a time to suit themselves, enriched by scientific papers as in-depth material to complete the module task.
Discussion-group sessions complement the learning and the exchange with other students, focusing on specific aspects of the topic touched on within that specific module.

World Master: participants’ experiences
One of the most extraordinary aspects of these eight editions of our international online master course was to meet up and exchange views with students from all over the world who also told us how scoliosis is treated in their countries, what they expected from this training path, and what made the experience of this course unique.

We have mixed a short video of students’ feedback because no one better than those who have attended the course can tell others about it, together with a short presentation of the course given by Prof. Stefano Negrini, scientific director of our institute.

開課 倒數 , 正式 開始!

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Our online World Master has started for a few weeks but has already registered several reasons for satisfaction. Never as for this fifth edition are there participants from all over the world, very different and distant countries.
A magnificent melting-pot of experiences coming from over 40 participants. And so far the participation has been very enthusiastic.

In 2020 the Master has doubled.
On January 23, the first Chinese edition officially started for about twenty participants, organised in collaboration with the Hong Kong Foundation HKCCF.
These are the first words of the official announcement: 開課 倒數 ， 正式 開始, or countdown to the first lesson!
A remarkable commitment on our part supported by the local organisation, which could prove to be the starting shot and be replicated in the future for editions in other languages!