The Committee on Problem-Based Learning Discussions (PBLDs) has reviewed the evaluations of our attendees and responded to the requests for more sessions and lower cost options. Each year, our moderators prepare cases that include objectives, guiding questions, academic discussions and reference lists, but their hard work can be appreciated by 10 attendees, secondary to the small-group-interactive nature of PBLDs. This year, each case has been scheduled for two separate time slots, hopefully increasing the number of ASA members who can attend the PBLD of their choice.

The total number of PBLD sessions offered for 2003 will be 260! The traditional 12 noon to 1:15 p.m. lunch sessions, which cost $45, and the 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. breakfasts, which have been reduced to $25, are included in the 2003 schedule. To allow for the additional sessions and to be able to offer lower cost options, many $10 beverage-service sessions have been planned for the 9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. to 4:45 p.m. time slots. All sessions will be held at the San Francisco Hilton on Saturday, October 11, through Tuesday, October 14.

Several hundred cases received from our open-call process underwent rigorous review by members of the PBLD committee, and 130 were selected for presentation. Forty-seven percent of the cases are being offered for the first time, and many of the returning ones have been updated. Highlights of the program include an increased focus on invasive pain management, practice management issues and critical care. There are also a multitude of subspecialty cases that extend from management of neonatal emergencies through geriatric anesthesia.

As usual, those who preregister for PBLDs will receive their “homework,” which consists of the case, objectives and reference list. This will be mailed as hard copy before the meeting, allowing adequate time for participants to develop their own approaches to the clinical issues. Although a few tickets may be available for purchase on-site, late registrants do not have the advantage of early preparation — gathering material and developing strategies that may enhance the learning discussion — so preregistration is strongly encouraged. Each PBLD registrant will receive the model case discussion and the entire PBLD program on a CD-ROM at the Annual Meeting.

The members of the Committee on PBLD continue to strive to expand the breadth of topics and the quality of the case discussions offered. The increased scholarship of the CD-ROM program thus makes the PBLDs useful as educational tools for attendees as well as those who cannot be present at specific sessions. We encourage the membership to take advantage of one, or several, of the offerings in this exciting and newly expanded program.

Meg A. Rosenblatt, M.D., is Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York.