2026 Winter School - Leuven, Belgium
ESSD is pleased to offer a FEES and VFSS course for its 2026 Winter School from 4-6 February in Leuven, Begium.
- 4-5 February: From Diagnostic to Treatment: Frame-by-Frame - VFSS Course by Andrea Hofmayer & Catriona Steele
- 5-6 February: Fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing - FEES Course by Laura Baijens, Tobias Warnecke & Rainer Dziewas
More information below.
Registration is now closed online. If you would like to still register, please contact: info@essd.org.
ESSD FEES Course - Winter 2026
Flexible endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES) is one of the most commonly chosen methods for the objective assessment of swallowing. Today, FEES has been successfully applied to diverse patient populations and disease patterns. The aims of FEES are to identify pathological movement patterns, assess the effectiveness and safety of swallowing, determine suitable food consistencies or forms of nutrition and guide the use of therapeutic manoeuvres for each patient.
Faculty
Laura Baijens
Rainer Dziewas
Tobias Warnecke
Day 1: Thursday, 5 February
08:30 – 09:00 Registration
09:00-09.30 Welcome & Introduction (Rainer Dziewas)
09:30-10:00 FEES standard protocol I: Anatomic-physiological examination (Rainer Dziewas)
10.00-10.30 FEES standard protocol II: Salient findings (Tobias Warnecke)
10:30-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-11:30 FEES standard protocol III: Therapeutic maneuvers (Rainer Dziewas)
11:30-12:00 FEES Quiz I (Rainer Dziewas & Tobias Warnecke)
12:00-12:30 FEES Quiz II: (Rainer Dziewas & Tobias Warnecke)
12:30-13:30 13:00-14:00 Lunch
13:00-14:00 Technical procedures: sterilization, cleaning, safety of patient (Laura Baijens)
14:00-15:00 FEES hands-on I : in small groups, preparatory steps, handling of the scope, training with a dummy (Laura Baijens, Rainer Dziewas, Tobias Warnecke)
15:00-16:00 FEES hands-on II : in small groups, preparatory steps, handling of the scope, training with a dummy (Laura Baijens, Rainer Dziewas, Tobias Warnecke)
16:00-17:30 Analysis of FEES videos in small groups I (Laura Baijens, Rainer Dziewas, Tobias Warnecke)
17:30-18:00 Discussion, concluding remarks (Laura Baijens)
18:00 End of Day 1
Day 2: Friday, 6 February
08.15 – 8.30 Registration
08:30-09:30 Specific FEES protocols for neurogenic dysphagia I (Rainer Dziewas)
09:30-10:30 Specific FEES protocols for neurogenic dysphagia II (Tobias Warnecke)
10.30-11.00 Coffee break
11:00-11:30 Dysphagia management in tracheostomised patients
11:30-12:30 FEES hands-on III: reciprocal practice and practicing in small groups (Laura Baijens, Rainer Dziewas, Tobias Warnecke)
12:30-13:30 Lunch
13:30-14:30 Analysis of FEES videos in small groups II (Laura Baijens, Rainer Dziewas, Tobias Warnecke)
14:30- 15:00 When to be alert: Important ENT findings (Laura Baijens)
15:00-15:30 FEES-Phenotypes (Tobias Warnecke)
15:30-16:00 Coffee break
16:00-17:00 Exam
17.00-17.30 Discussion of the exam (Rainer Dziewas & Tobias Warnecke)
17:30-18:00 Concluding remarks (Laura Baijens)
18:00 End of FEES-Workshop
Workshop Rates:
Members
Doctors: 570 EUR
Allied Health Professionals: 420 EUR
Students, Residents, and Trainees: 252 EUR
Non-Members
Doctors: 720 EUR
Allied Health Professionals: 540 EUR
Students, Residents, and Trainees: 324 EUR
If you would like to become an ESSD member, please click here. (Please note: you will be directed out of this form and will have to come back to register after your receive your membership information.)
ESSD VFSS Course - Winter 2026
ESSD Videofluoroscopic Swallowing Study (VFSS)
Wednesday, 4 February & Thursday, 5 February 2026
Faculty:
Andrea Hofmayer & Catriona M. Steele
Who is the course suitable for?
Health care professionals from the multi-disciplinary dysphagia management team with interest in the execution, interpretation and reporting of videofluoroscopic swallowing studies.
Format: Lectures, workshop, case presentations
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this course, participants will be able to:
- Understand the roles of multidisciplinary team professionals in the conduct and analysis of VFSS
- Be aware of the technical basics and radiation safety considerations for performing VFSS in the adult population
- Define the two key aspects of swallowing dysfunction that can be evaluated during VFSS (i.e., swallowing safety and efficiency)
- Design a standard VFSS protocol, incorporating tasks that are most likely to reveal impairment in swallowing safety and efficiency
- Identify Penetration-Aspiration Scale scores and residue severity ratings that represent clinical concern
- Understand how VFSS can be used to identify underlying mechanisms of swallowing impairment and inform clinical decision-making regarding dysphagia management
- Advocate within their workplaces for optimal contrast media and frame rates to support optimal diagnostic accuracy in VFSS.
Trainers:
Andrea Hofmayer, M.A., is a speech and language pathologist working in the department of Neurology and Neurological Rehabilitation at Asklepios Stadtklinik Bad Toelz, Germany. She is specialized in VFSS, dysphagia management in the acute care setting as well as rehabilitative therapy and has the ESSD FEES instructor certificate. She has (co-)edited several books in German including “Videofluoroskopy of swallowing – a tutorial for Speech Language Pathologists” and has presented as a speaker. She is a mentor of the Dysphagia-Mentorship-Program, serves as the treasurer of the ESSD and is to date a PhD candidate in part-time at the University of Potsdam University of Potsdam, Linguistic Department/ Swallowing Research Lab.
Catriona M. Steele
Ph.D., CCC-SLP, S-LP(C), Reg. CASLPO, F-ESSD, ASHA Honors
Canada Research Chair in Swallowing and Food Oral Processing
Catriona is a clinician scientist working in the area of swallowing and swallowing disorders. She has a background as a medical speech-language pathologist, and is Director of the Swallowing Rehabilitation Research Laboratory (www.steeleswallowinglab.ca) at the KITE Research Institute, the research arm of the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute – University Health Network. Dr. Steele is a Professor in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at the University of Toronto and holds a Canada Research Chair in Swallowing and Food Oral Processing.
Professor Steele holds research funding from the National Institutes of Health (USA) as well as several active industry partnerships. A full list of her publications can be accessed at https://www.orcid.org/0000-0002-4294-6561. She was a founding member of the Board of Directors for the International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative (www.iddsi.org) and served on their board from 2012-2023. Catriona recently served as the 2024-2025 President of the Dysphagia Research Society.
Workshop Rates:
Members
Doctors: 570 EUR
Allied Health Professionals: 420 EUR
Students, Residents, and Trainees: 252 EUR
Non-Members
Doctors: 720 EUR
Allied Health Professionals: 540 EUR
Students, Residents, and Trainees: 324 EUR
If you would like to become an ESSD member, please click here. (Please note: you will be directed out of this form and will have to come back to register after your receive your membership information.)
