ASA January 2003 Newsletter

The Committee on Outreach Education serves an important educational mission for ASA. One goal of the Outreach Education programs is, as the name implies, to reach as many members as possible and to offer broad geographic representation in terms of course locations. An important way this committee fulfills its mission is by developing, organizing and ultimately presenting formal continuing medical education (CME) programs at venues other than the ASA Annual Meeting. These programs, known as Regional Refresher programs or workshops, attract numerous Society members and are held in geographically diverse locations to meet the educational needs of our membership. In the last several years, the committee has presented or will sponsor programs on business skills (Charleston, South Carolina), office-based anesthesia (San Francisco, California), transesophageal echocardiography (Scottsdale, Arizona), innovations in perioperative medicine (Baltimore, Maryland) and a case-based program (Cleveland, Ohio). The committee has worked over the past several years to reduce the costs associated with these educational programs.

Another goal of the Committee on Outreach Education is to provide unique educational experiences. The committee, in collaboration with the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine, sponsored the development of an online educational program on regional anesthesia and pain management <www.learn.niu.edu/asa/default.htm>. This program provides a maximum of three hours in category 1 credit toward the American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award, and participants can earn one hour of category 1 credit per each session for which they complete the test questions. This program is designed for anesthesiologists who use neural blockade for the management of pain. The program includes information on patient selection, information regarding outcomes, use of fluoroscopic guidance and anatomic issues, discussion of thoracic epidural analgesia, neurolytic blocks for cancer pain and sympathetic nerve blocks.

The committee has received good feedback on the quality and breadth of this effort. Registrants have consistently rated the program highly in terms of content and ease of use and found the Web cast to be a valuable educational tool. The online workshop has had 103 registrants. However, there is still a need to improve awareness within the Society of the availability of this resource. Notices have been placed in the ASA NEWSLETTER and e-mails have been sent to the membership in an effort to increase the utilization of this educational resource.

The Committee on Outreach Education has participated in a liaison capacity with the Committee on Information Management and participated with that committee on the design of the ASA member database. It is hoped that this database also can be used to survey ASA membership regarding their educational needs and preferences, including topics of interest, meeting sites and locations. ASA has conducted a limited survey of the membership regarding members’ CME needs. Although a low response rate (7.8 percent) did not permit definitive conclusions, the survey was useful as far as an initial assessment. Findings included:

• Overall satisfaction with the ASA CME program;

• A desire for alternative modes of earning CME credits such as case studies with self-questionnaires and Web-based educational materials;

• The continued importance of face-to-face interaction with course faculty;

• A desire for more offerings in business, leadership and other nonclinical areas;

• An indication that location and content are the major factors that determine whether an ASA member with a strong preference to drive to a program within 300 miles of their home will attend a CME program;

• Comments that presenting ASA CME programs on weekends makes it easier for members to attend such offerings.

The Committee on Outreach Education met in October 2002 at the ASA Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, and future committee activities were discussed. Planning has begun for Outreach Education CME programs for 2004, including another echocardiography program and a chronic pain program utilizing cadavers. The committee also is exploring the feasibility of, interest in and logistical aspects of developing regional and affordable educational programs or seminars aimed at graduating residents. This proposal has been brought forward by the Committee on Membership, and it has been suggested this would be an excellent source of practical information necessary to residents. Practice management seminars have been developed for practicing anesthesiologists, but these are expensive and often are not aimed at the new practitioner.

The committee also is exploring the feasibility and logistical aspects of developing educational programs appropriate for ASA members who need to obtain American Board of Anesthesiology recertification. An increasing number of ASA members will need to recertify as their time-based certificates approach expiration. Recertification continues to be an unmet educational need of our members. The committee is in a preliminary stage of developing educational programs oriented toward this CME need.

The Committee on Outreach Education also continues to explore and develop innovative educational resources such as case-based, self-study programs or Internet-based and computer-based learning packages. Although the program on regional anesthesia and pain management is an excellent resource and learning system, it was time-consuming to develop and required significant resources. Electronic programs such as this require a mechanism to keep them current and up-to-date as far as the literature and best practices.

One pressing need for the committee is to have better information about our members’ preferences regarding CME, how much they are willing to pay for it, how far they will travel to get it (if at all) and whether our members really want Web-based learning as opposed to traditional face-to-face meetings.

At this year’s committee meeting, there was considerable discussion about the importance of obtaining better information regarding the educational needs of our membership. Options discussed included a repeat survey of the type already conducted, a mass mailing to our membership or telephone interviews of a representative cross-section of the membership. This information can improve the types of programs (both content and method of delivery) that the Society should be offering. The committee intends to use data from the Annual Meeting regarding popularity of refresher lectures, workshops and panels to help guide the committee’s educational offerings.

Outreach Education programs face considerable competition from the many CME programs offered by academic departments and other organizations. The CME market is saturated and very competitive. In addition, it is expensive to develop and put on new programs every year. The committee discussed this issue and its impact on what is practical to offer. The committee may need to develop a catalogue of programs that could be reused and implemented rapidly. This would offer the advantage of decreasing the development time and expenses associated with such programs as they could be presented several times a year in different locales. Several programs could be carried over from year to year, especially ones that attracted the most audience members or ones whose registration revenue either offset or exceeded the expenses associated with the program.

Overall, the Committee on Outreach Education and its activities play an important role in meeting the CME needs of ASA members. The committee is looking to innovate and provide the membership with alternatives to the traditional CME offerings by using computers and other electronic tools. In the future, ASA members hopefully will have a variety of learning opportunities ranging from traditional face-to-face meetings to Web-based resources to programs CDs or DVDs.

Peter Rock, M.D., M.B.A., is Professor of Anesthesiology and Medicine, Vice-Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, and Associate Medical Director, University of North Carolina Hospitals Operating Rooms, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

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