any changes have occurred in the ASA Annual Meeting over the last three years, including the addition of a plenary session on translational science, the Celebration of Research and point-counterpoint sessions. In addition, learning tracks that are based on clinical subspecialties have been instituted. The goal is to offer an integrated program for anesthesiologists who desire a more in-depth focus on content within subspecialty areas. Attendees can participate in the entire track or can choose to mix portions of the tracks with other educational offerings. During the past two years, subspecialty learning tracks have been scheduled for two days of the meeting.

Starting this year, and for the future, all learning tracks will be spread over the entire five days of the meeting.
The changes affect not only the structure of the meeting but also the planning process. In past years, the meeting has been organized by committees assigned to plan types of presentations (committees on Refresher Courses, Clinical Forum, Panels and Workshops, etc.). Limited coordination of educational offerings was done by the chair and vice-chair of the Section on Annual Meeting. The approval of the report of the Task Force on Annual Meeting Opportunities by the 2005 House of Delegates has changed this planning process dramatically.

Transitioning this year and in full operation by 2007, all educational offerings except Problem-Based Learning Discussions and Scientific Advisory Committee abstracts will be planned by 10 Scientific Content Subcommittees (SCSs): ambulatory anesthesia, cardiac anesthesia, critical care medicine, neuroanesthesia, obstetric anesthesia, pain medicine, pediatric anesthesia, regional anesthesia, basic science/clinical anesthesia and professional issues. The last two of these SCSs will be tasked with ensuring that areas not covered in the subspecialty tracks are represented. Members of the SCSs are appointed by the president-elect, but subspecialty societies will be consulted for recommendations for appointments.

Overall planning for the meeting will be carried out by the newly formed Committee on Annual Meeting Oversight (AMOC), composed of the chair, first and second vice-chair and immediate past chair of the Section on Annual Meeting, chair of the Scientific Advisory Committee, chair of the Committee on Problem-Based Learning Discussions, chair of the Board of Directors Committee on Finance, Vice-President for Scientific Affairs and the SCS track chairs. The committees on Clinical Forum, Refresher Courses and Panels and Workshops will not exist after the 2006 Annual Meeting, and their functions will be totally absorbed by the 10 SCSs. The subcommittee chairs and their members will be responsible for developing a broad array of topics geared both for the general practicing anesthesiologist and more subspecialized programs.

For the 2006 Annual Meeting (a transition year), eight subspecialty SCSs have planned the corresponding learning tracks, and the committees on Clinical Forum, Refresher Courses and Panels and Workshops have planned the rest of the program. Planning of the tracks began one year ago, with the subcommittees meeting to identify potential speakers and sessions for their tracks. They then allocated the topics into different formats: refresher course lectures, panels, point-counterpoint sessions, clinical forums, workshops and general sessions. Decisions were made based on member evaluations, feedback, continuing medical education needs and space availability. Special consideration was given to minimizing speaker conflicts and to permitting adequate time for attendees to move among the different sessions. The subcommittees continued to develop their programs and submitted them to AMOC in early January. Meanwhile AMOC reviewed the available meeting space and assigned the maximum number of each type of session for each track. The AMOC Executive Committee, chaired by Rebecca S. Twersky, M.D., M.P.H., provided final approval to ensure a robust five-day meeting. The new oversight process has already been proven to strengthen the content and distribution of the meeting’s sessions.

What does this new planning process mean to members who have suggestions for speakers or content to be included in future meetings? The Annual Meeting is a horizontal five-day meeting driven by content, not format. A curriculum is being developed that will ensure that key subjects are included, though not in every format. For example some workshops or Refresher Course Lecturers might not be repeated every year for one of several reasons: space limitations, poor evaluations from attendees or because a topic is covered in another educational format. Also, because there are many talented individuals in academia, a fresh look at a topic by a different speaker is valuable.
A forthcoming NEWSLETTER article will provide the names and contact information for the 2007 SCS track chairs so that interested individuals can send their suggested sessions to these chairs before their subcommittees begin planning next year’s tracks.

The submission process for scientific papers and Problem-Based Learning Discussions will continue to be managed online by Marathon Multimedia, with review and acceptances handled by the Scientific Advisory Committee and Committee on Problem-Based Learning Discussions, respectively.