Theodore L. Munsat, MD: A Tribute from the Sociedad Neurologica Argentina

Ted Munsat worked with the WFN to improve education in developing countries like Argentina in 199.

Ted Munsat worked with the WFN to improve education in developing countries like Argentina in 1997.

Never too late for a tribute, especially for a man like Theodore Leon Munsat (1930-2013). He was an extraordinary man and a natural educator who gave the opportunity to improve neurology worldwide.

Among other educational activities, Munsat helped launch the American Academy of Neurology’s (AAN´s) continuing education publication, Continuum, was chairman of the World Federation of Neurology (WFN)  Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), chairman of  WFN Research and Education Committees, served  as president of the AAN (1989-91), and was emeritus professor of neurology at Tufts University School of Medicine, between other relevant activities. Indeed, exceptional merits for only one man.

He was honored  with the A.B. Baker Award for Education from the AAN, the Sheila Essey Award for ALS Research and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the WFN Research Group on Neuromuscular Diseases.

He developed a number of successful educational programs. More than 42 countries all over the world were benefited with a continuing medical education (CME), using the journal Continuum, generously donated by the AAN with an extraordinary local impact.

He worked within the WFN to improve neurology and education in many developing countries, including educational programs in Honduras and Argentina. He directed his energies to teaching neurology internationally.

I met Munsat at the WFN World Congress of Neurology 1997 in Argentina with his wife Carla. We invited him to an International Symposium as part of the scientific activities after the congress, in Tucumán, CalchaquiesValleys, in the North of Argentina, where several conferences of ALS took place, with Alan Mac Comas, Roberto Sica and other international leaders in neuromuscular diseases.

In that opportunity began the idea to develop an educational program for Argentina.

The educational program began in 2003 and benefitted over a decade of continuity to hundreds of neurologists in our country with a significant educational imprint.

I want to highlight his passion for education, intelligence, humor, kindness with a great ability to make easier the hardest things, a natural leader, a gentleman, an honorable man. He had a warm and sincere personality. he loved helping others every chance he could.

I admired and respected him as a man, as a professional and as a teacher. He has left a profound mark on the world of neurology. The Sociedad Neurológica Argentina wishes to give this tribute and extend our gratitude. Dear Ted, thank you very much for all you have done; we shall remember your legacy always.