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June 2000
Volume 64 |
Number 6
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WHAT'S NEW IN ...
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| ...Outreach Education:
Exploring Innovative CME Options |
Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., Chair
Committee on Outreach Education
The Committee on Outreach Education has worked diligently this
year to expand and improve educational opportunities for our members.
ASA's 1998 Strategic Plan served to focus our efforts on addressing
the changing continuing medical education (CME) needs of our membership.
Our charge was to explore innovative ways to deliver CME, increase
practice management educational activities and develop educational
programs to support expanded clinical and administrative roles
for anesthesiologists.
Bruce F. Cullen, M.D., hosted an outstanding ASA Regional Refresher
Course on January 29-30, 2000, in San Diego, California, titled
"Anesthetic Management of the Critically Ill Patient." Linda J.
Mason, M.D., followed suit and chaired an excellent refresher
course in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 18-19, 2000, titled "Pediatric
and Ambulatory Anesthesia." Comments from attendees were uniformly
enthusiastic. Unfortunately, ASA Regional Refresher Courses face
significant competition from other CME sponsors for the limited
number of weekend CME enthusiasts. Many practitioners are faced
with productivity pressures, insufficient colleagues to meet workforce
needs and diminished financial support for education. Attendance
at CME programs across the country has declined because of these
external factors.
Thus challenged, we have attempted in years 2000 and 2001 to
provide our membership with innovative forums for learning. The
Committee on Outreach Education has focused on developing new
educational topics and new ways of sharing them. Workshops continue
to be a popular option for our members, particularly when we can
identify a subject of timely interest. We have increased our workshop
offerings to three per year beginning in 2002, and we will host
both technical workshops as well as workshops that focus on development
of administrative skills and practical anesthetic management.
Our 2000 summer workshop is titled "Workshop on Personal and
Professional Well-Being" and will be held June 10-11, in Portland,
Maine. This meeting was developed in collaboration with the Committee
on Professional Diversity and is chaired by Saundra E. Curry,
M.D. It is structured to offer an educational program that will
enhance and support clinical/administrative roles for anesthesiologists.
Among the topics to be discussed are leadership, conflict management,
stress management and career development.
Our fall "Workshop
on Business Skills for the Anesthesiologist" will be held
November 11-12, 2000, in Charleston, South Carolina. The Committee
on Practice Management has worked with us to develop this very
first business skills workshop. It is chaired by Asa C. Lockhart,
M.D., whose enthusiasm for developing the business and administrative
skills of our members has resulted in an outstanding program.
The weekend will serve as an initial introduction to the "executive
M.B.A. experience." We hope the attendance and interest in this
Certificate in Business Administration (CBA) workshop will result
in the consideration of an M.B.A. certificate program within ASA.
In order to make both of these workshops more enjoyable, we have
identified "rogue" activities in the area where attendees can
participate as they so choose. In Portland, these include clambakes,
harbor cruises, local sports activities and exercise facilities.
We hope to continue this at every workshop site. As the head of
the "rogue activities" committee in Charleston, South Carolina,
I can promise you that the November workshop here will be worth
extending your weekend.
Beginning in 2001, our Regional Refresher Course resources will
be directed to the development of Web-based CME activities, including
two Web-based lectures and an interventional pain management tutorial.
We are offering a new and revised transesophageal echocardiography
workshop, hosted by the anesthesia staff at the Cleveland Clinic
under the direction of their chair, Armin Schubert, M.D. We are
considering a second workshop on ASA leadership development.
We are taking an "e-business" approach to bringing affordable,
accessible CME to our members. Our committee is working on a mechanism
to register, accrue and pay for CME online, and our first e-mail
CME mailing went to the membership on April 27. Much of this effort
is evolving in conjunction with ASA staff and the Committee on
Web Site Design headed by Keith J. Ruskin, M.D., who is also Chair
of Committee on Electronic Media and Information Technology (EMIT).
The continued development of the ASA Web Site will provide both
a vehicle for our Web-based CME and a more effective way to evaluate
membership CME needs.
The Committee on Outreach Education has worked diligently to
develop more of our workshops in collaboration with ASA committees.
We have been able to tap into the enthusiasm of the committees
on Practice Management, Professional Diversity, Pain Management
and EMIT to produce some truly outstanding programs. Education
is a core mission of ASA, and in conjunction with the annual meeting
committees and the Self-Education and Evaluation (SEE) Program,
the Committee on Outreach Education hopes to help to better identify
and meet your CME needs.
Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., is Professor and
Chair, Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine,
Associate Vice-President for Medical Affairs and Senior Associate
Dean, College of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina,
Charleston, South Carolina.
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