APSA "On Call" - Quarterly Electronic Newsletter
WHAT’S HOT
APSA
Supports HHS Approach; Daily Updates and How To Get
Involved
The disaster in Haiti and the significant
need there for medical personnel has touched us all. With nearly
40% of the Haitian population under the age of 18, many of the
injured are children. Given our profession, many APSA members have
expressed the desire to lend their professional
help.
The U.S. Government’s Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) is working to coordinate the efforts of
volunteers. For those who want to send supplies or lend assistance, you
must register your name at the Center for International Disaster
Information at www.cidi.org. This
will allow the U.S. Government to resolve the issues of passports,
insurance and supplies. They will then select those best qualified to
meet the current needs in Haiti.
Criteria include:
• Specialists in pediatric trauma
surgery, orthopedic surgery and
anesthesiology (training should be
completed)
• Ability to speak Haitian Creole or
French helpful,
but not mandatory
• Ability to stay in the country for
two weeks
• Ability to live in austere
conditions - sleeping on cots or
floors, MREs (meals ready to eat),
etc.
• Be prepared to travel within one
to two weeks
APSA is in full support of the government’s organized approach and
urge those interested in volunteering or sending supplies to contact the
CIDI at the above Web site. The APSA Web site (www.eapsa.org) provides a partial list
of organzations accepting donations, as well as links to the CIDI and the American College of
Surgeons' special Web
page, which both provide daily updates.
Network
and Stay Connected With APSA’s New Web All-Member
Group
Now every APSA member can be a part of a new,
private “All-Member Group” that has been created on the
members-only side of the APSA Web site. Every member can join the group
to post and read posts from other APSA members on topics of interest,
interact with colleagues, read uploaded scientific documents and upload
your own into the group library, and more. Log in, go to your PROFILE, and
you’ll see you now have the option to JOIN this All-Member
Group.
•View and post discussions and comments
•Upload papers, videos,
abstracts and articles
If you’re on a committee, your profile will also show you as a
member of your committee Group where you can network with your committee
and obtain the agendas, minutes and other related documents. Don’t
wait until the annual meeting to interact with your colleagues. Log in today, join the All-Member Group
and get started.
APSA’s New
Self-Assessment Program
Provides Required
CMEs
APSA is making it easier to fulfill your
annual CME requirements with the addition of the Pediatric Surgery Self
Assessment Program (PSSAP), launched this fall. To date nearly 10
percent of the active membership have already taken Phase I, consisting
of 62 questions. The second set of questions for Phase II is currently
underway and will be available in 2010.
Intended to fulfill Part 2 – Lifelong learning and
self-assessment of the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) requirement,
PSSAP also helps to meet the educational needs (knowledge, competence,
or performance) that underlie the professional practice gaps of
pediatric surgery. Take Phase I now and earn 10 Category 1 CME credits
for $45 (member rate). Click
here.
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ANNUAL MEETING
HIGHLIGHTS
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Registration
is NOW OPEN for the nation’s largest meeting
exclusively for pediatric surgeons at the APSA 41st Annual Meeting, May
16-19, 2010 in Orlando, FL USA. This year's meeting features new and
innovative sessions designed to educate and create discussion.
Highlights for 2010 include:
•Education day topics
• Evidence-Based
Medicine in Pediatric Surgery
• Updates on Clinical
Trials
• International
Collaborations in Pediatric Surgery
•NEW- COG Education Session - This
new cancer session will consist of two 40-minute interactive
presentations that will provide practical updates on surgical
guidelines, outcomes and current protocols for pediatric solid tumors.
Rotating topics annually, this year’s session will focus on
current therapy for renal and liver tumors, with an emphasis on surgical
management and treatment algorithms.
•Pediatric Surgery Case Debates and
Controversies - This program session will include the
presentation of a number of pediatric general surgery cases that have
some degree of controversy in their evaluation and management. The
audience will participate in the session by answering questions embedded
throughout the case presentations via an interactive audience response
system that will provide instant group feedback. In addition, there will
be the opportunity for audience members to openly discuss the cases.
•NEW! APSA/IPEG Workshop and
Demonstration - "Advanced Neonatal Endoscopic
Techniques" - This new workshop will feature minimally invasive
surgical training, as well as an off-site demonstration. Registration is
limited and will be separate.
•New Technology Session - The
new technology session will feature abstracts on new and innovative
techniques and procedures that are not yet mainstream. These
abstracts will provide members with a snapshot of the cutting edge
developments being pursued in the field.
•Abstracts – View over 30
posters that will be on display during the meeting.
•Top Keynote Speakers –
A strong line-up of keynote lectures have been planned for the 2010
annual meeting. Here is a sneak peek at the speakers and their topics
you won’t want to miss:
Robert E. Gross Lecture
John D. Birkmeyer, MD
Measuring and Improving the
Quality of Pediatric Surgery
Jay
and Margie Grosfeld Lecture
Christopher K. Breuer, MD
The Development and
Translation of the Tissue Engineered Vascular
Graft
Journal of Pediatric Surgery Lecture
Robert H. Bartlett, MD
ECMO: Gross, Beethoven,
Krummel and Georgeson
International Guest Lecture
Jan Deprest, MD, PhD
Prenatal Management of the Fetus with Isolated
CDH
President’s Lecture
Keith E. Georgeson, MD
Pioneers, Cowboys and
Desperados: A Brief History of Pediatric Surgical
Innovation
•And more free time built into the
schedule to enjoy with your family! Based on your meeting feedback,
we’ve factored in more free time to give you a chance to enjoy
Orlando.
A meeting
announcement will be sent to all members in January, followed by the
full program. Watch your inbox and check the APSA Web site for the most
current annual meeting information as it becomes available.
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NSQIP Update- Phase II Starting
Phase II of the Pediatric National
Surgical Quality Improvement Program project opened earlier this
month. Based on the initial enrollment period, it is anticipated
that 20 to 26 institutions will be participating in this inaugural
phase. The Pediatric NSQIP has been developed in conjunction with
the American College of Surgeons and is the first outcomes-based
program, designed to measure and improve the quality of surgical care in
children across all specialties. The program employs a prospective
data collection process to quantify 30-day surgical outcomes with the
goal of developing a risk-adjusted model that will permit a valid
comparison of outcomes among all hospitals in the program. The
process is designed so that the data can be used to make informed
decisions regarding continuous quality improvement efforts at a system
or institutional level.
The second enrollment period for institutions interested in joining
will open in late spring or early summer. For additional
information, contact Charles Fisher at the American College of Surgeons
(CFisher@facs.org).
NEW- Two Annual Ballots Offer Quicker Path to
Membership
To
decrease the waiting time between submitting an application and being
voted into membership, APSA now has two ballot sessions per year –
in April and November, as well as quarterly application deadlines.
If you know of a prospective member, suggest they apply for APSA membership
before the next application deadline of February 1.
APSA Sees First Wave of
General Surgery Resident/1st Year Fellow
Applicants
Since
opening membership to general surgery residents this fall, APSA saw its
first group of applicants through the process. First year fellows are
also eligible to apply under this resident status. There are no dues for
resident membership, and an optional subscription to the Journal of
Pediatric Surgery may be purchased at a discounted rate of $189 per
year. Apply by the next deadline of February 1.
LEARN MORE.
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APSA/PEDIATRIC
SURGERY IN THE NEWS
Scholarship
Available for Executive Leadership Program
APSA and the ACS are offering an
annual scholarship to subsidize attendance and participation in the
Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management at Brandeis
University, June 13-19, 2010. READ
MORE.
LITERATURE
HIGHLIGHTS
JPS Articles of Interest
Journal of Pediatric Surgery, Dec.
2009 issue:
Papers Presented at the 42nd Annual Meeting of the Pacific
Association of Pediatric Surgeons, Hong Kong, China, May 10-14,
2009
Journal of Pediatric Surgery, January 2010 issue
Papers Presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Pediatric
Surgical Association, Fajardo, Puerto Rico, May 28- June 1, 2009
UPCOMING MEETINGS
Asian Association of Pediatric Surgeons
February 22-24, 2010
University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur
APSA Annual Meeting
May 16-19, 2010
Orlando, FL USA
11th Congress of European Pediatric
Surgeons Association
June 2-5, 2010
Bern,
Switzerland
British Association of
Paediatric Surgeons 2010 Congress
July 22-24, 2010
Aberdeen, Scotland
XXIII International Symposium on Paediatric
Surgical Research
September 12-14, 2010
Tokyo, Japan
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