President's message

Presidential Address of Serdar Erdine, MD, FIPP
WIP President, 2008-2011

Dear colleagues,
The new Executive Board of the World Institute of Pain (WIP) will begin to function by the end of June 2008 after the Silver Anniversary, 25th Annual Pain Symposium in Lubbock, Texas.
After 15 years, since the establishment of WIP in 1993 by five people, WIP has become a very respected, recognized organization in pain medicine. In the beginning, only a small group of enthusiastic people participated and contributed to the activities of WIP. Now, WIP has grown to a level that with the new bylaws includes 17 sections all over the world. We are now holding biannual congresses, cadaver workshops, examinations for FIPP, and our journal Pain Practice has a respected place in pain medicine.
Now it is time to go forward. We are still at the very beginning in pain medicine. Pain as an invisible disease has still not been recognized as a chronic disease within its own right. Recognition of specialization in pain medicine could only be achieved in a few countries. To improve guidelines for the proper and appropriate use of interventional techniques and to overcome the difficulties and problems related with the misuse and abuse of these techniques is a crucial issue.
WIP has now grown to a large family, with section leaders, FIPP alumni of more than 500, our advisory board of well-known scientists and clinicians — all eager to work together to improve pain management all over the world. It is also time now to strengthen relations with other societies in the field of pain; to come together to solve the important problems we have. I strongly believe that science can not and will not be under the monopoly of a sole organization and we are eager to collaborate for the sake of pain science. To succeed we need your help, contributions, your new ideas, especially of the younger generations who are enthusiastic to enter this challenging world of pain medicine.
As our outgoing president Prof. Gabor Racz states in his “Reflections of the Outgoing President” in this newsletter, for us to succeed there has to be a spirit of inclusiveness, which cuts across boarders, religions and any possible difficulties. By all of us working together we are more likely to continue succeeding with our mission.” I strongly encourage you to read the “Reflections of the Outgoing President” in Volume III, Issue 2 of the WIP Newsletter to see the best example of a hardworking man who devoted all his life to the improvement of pain medicine, especially interventional techniques for pain management. He established a cradle of education that has benefited many of us. He is an intellectual with great vision and wisdom. There is only one word in that article that I criticize, and that is “Outgoing,” as no one is going anywhere and there will always be incoming colleagues.

Prof. Serdar Erdine, MD, FIPP
Founder and WIP President, 2008-2011

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