Call for Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
What are SIGs and how do they relate to the 2025 World Congress on Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (3rd WCTCIM)?
SIGs are Special Interest Groups that join together clinicians, researchers, educators and opinion leaders, and are dedicated to further progress in various topics of interest.
Inspired by the successful experience of SIGs, within the Society for Integrative Oncology (SIO) and other organizations, we hope to use the 2025 Conference as a platform for forming international groups of interest in various other fields of Traditional, Complementary and Integrative Medicine (TCIM).
Consolidated documents from global SIGs may be submitted to the World Health Organization’s Global Summit as a forward to the World Congress.
How can I start a Special Interest Group?
- Identify a theme (clinical, research etc.) in TCIM that is of high interest to the field, and has the potential to attract people who may be interested in collaborating during 2025, with the goal to reach concrete outcomes, such as developing clinical guidelines; survey; establishing a research protocol; creating educational modules, etc.
- Define the SIG mission and title. Keep in mind that it may be wiser to choose a concrete rather than a broader theme!
- Suggest a focused project that the SIG can accomplish during 2025 (e.g., co-authoring an article).
- Suggest two SIG co-chairs and at least 5 additional group members. Suggestions should be made with considering diversity, equity, and inclusion regarding gender, nationality, Complementary, IM and conventional disciplines, age, experience, academic activity, etc.
I have a perfect SIG, what should I do?
- Submit an abstract limited to 400 words until April 21, on the Congress website: https://wctcim.cabsin.org.br/new/submission/
- Abstracts should include background and reasoning for establishing the SIG; goal/expected outcomes; co-chair and core group members’ names and affiliations; method of work.
- Inquiries regarding SIGs can be sent to scientific@wctcim.cabsin.org.br
And what next?
- The Scientific Committee will review all abstracts and make a selection of SIGs who can present their work at the 2025 World Congress. At this stage, we will consider and support SIGs who realistically can accomplish their plans during 2025 and have the potential to sustain their engagement as a contributory group throughout 2025 and into 2026.
- Notification on the selection will be sent at the 20th June 2025.
- A liaison from the World Congress Scientific Committee will be assigned to support the selected SIGs.
- During 2025, the selected SIGs will meet on a regular basis toward establishing their goal, using a designated working platform (digital/face-to-face), and report to the liaison monthly.
- The selected SIGs will meet in various formats i.e. world Café, panels, presentations, hands-on workshops, to work together face to face, and share with conference participants their work.
- The 2025 World Congress will only be the beginning of these SIGs, as we look forward to sustainable and active groups to form. We will also encourage SIGs not selected to present at the conference to keep and advance their important work!
- We are working on collaborating with a peer-reviewed journal platform that will publish proceedings of selected SIGs.
Deadlines
- Submission deadline: April 21, 2025
- Notification of selection: June 20, 2025
