ASSH Weekly Member Upd@te
December 4th, 2009
A Message From the ASSH President
- A column from President Robert M. Szabo, MD
ASSH News
- ASSH will Sponsor Two Members to Attend U.S. Bone and Joint Decade Grant Workshop - Applications are due January 15, 2010
ASSH Courses and Meetings
- Clinical Consultation Corner- Call for Senior Volunteers!
- 65th Annual Meeting Call For Abstracts
- Electives in Hand Surgery
- Mark Your Calendars for the 2010 Course Schedule
Healthcare Reform News
- Orthopaedic and Surgical Communities Publicly Announce Opposition to Current Senate Healthcare Reform Bill - From AAOS
- AMA Comments on Senate Health Reform Legislation - From AMA
A Message From the ASSH President
This week I have asked Marty Boyer, MD, Chair of our 2010 Electives Course, to share details about our upcoming program in New Orleans. The registration deadline is January 4th, so please have a look and see if you can participate. – Bob Szabo, MD
Electives course in New Orleans
The topics that have been selected for this year's Electives in Hand Surgery Courses are designed to give the hand surgeon valuable tools and knowledge that can be applied to clinical practice. Dr. Ryan Calfee will chair a course on recent innovations in hand surgery, with a bright, energetic faculty chosen for their relevant expertise. Dr. Charles Goldfarb will demystify congenital hand surgery, and provide a practical framework for patient management. Dr. Steve Moran and his faculty will teach us all that is relevant about the non-microsurgical coverage of defects and wounds in the hand and wrist, and Dr. Jeff Greenberg will reprise his enormously successful Seattle precourse on ulnar sided wrist pain.
Two additional courses on applied surgical anatomy of selected upper extremity conditions will be directed primarily at the hand therapists in attendance, and will be chaired by Dr. Fraser Leversedge.
Both the topics and the speakers have been chosen to give value to those in attendance, and it is our goal to see that each and every person in attendance leaves with knowledge that can be applied to the clinical practice of hand surgery. I would like to invite you to New Orleans, and experience the best that the ASSH has to offer!
Martin I. Boyer, MD
ASSH News
ASSH will be Sponsoring Two Members to Attend U.S. Bone and Joint Decade Grant Workshop - Applications are due January 15, 2010
The Hand Society will sponsor two ASSH members to attend the 2010 USBJD Young Investigators Initiative and Workshop Program. The program will provide early-career clinical investigators an opportunity to work with experienced researchers in our field and to assist them in securing funding and other survival skills required for pursuing an academic career. This workshop series is open to promising junior faculty, senior fellows or post-doctoral researchers who wish to secure funding for hypothesis driven research. It is also open to senior fellows that are doing research and have a faculty appointment in place or confirmed.
Any ASSH active or candidate member may apply. Applications should be sent directly to the USBJD, and applicants should clearly state on their paperwork that they are an ASSH member. If selected, the Hand Society will reimburse for the registration fee and travel. For more information please visit the U.S. Bone and Joint Decade Website.
ASSH Courses and Meetings
Call for Senior Volunteers! - Clinical Consultation Corner
65th ASSH Annual Meeting
Friday, September 4, 2010
John B. Hynes Convention Center
Boston, Massachusetts
The Clinical Consultation Corner has become one of the favorite features of the ASSH Annual Meeting. These small group sessions provide attendees a venue to consult on a difficult hand/wrist case with two ASSH members.
For the 2010 Annual Meeting, the chair of Clinical Consultation Corners, Dr. David Nelson, would like to invite Senior members to lend their expertise and experience and join two practicing ASSH members as consultants for these sessions. There will be a total of 8 one-hour Consultation Corners scheduled on Friday, September 4, from 7-8am, 8-9am, 12-1pm and 1-2pm. Each 2010 session will have no more than 8 attendees per session and will be staffed by three ASSH members (two practicing members and one Senior member).
If you are planning to attend the 2010 Annual Meeting in Boston and would like to participate as an expert Senior consultant, please contact David Nelson, MD at nelsondl@pacbell.net or the ASSH Central Office by Monday, December 28, 2009, at alegaspi@assh.org or 847-384-8300 if you have any questions.
65th Annual Meeting Call For Abstracts
October 7-9 * Boston, MA
Embracing Excellence: Making a Difference
The abstract submission site is now open for you to submit your proposals for Scientific Paper, Poster, Residents and Fellows Conference and Video Theater at the 65th ASSH Annual Meeting.
Interested in learning more? Download the Call for Abstracts for important policies and procedures.
Deadlines:
Scientific Papers - March 1, 2010
Residents and Fellows Conference - March 1, 2010
Scientific Posters - March 29, 2010
International Guest Society Posters - March 29, 2010
Video Theater - April 26, 2010
For more information, or to submit your proposal visit our website.
Electives in Hand Surgery
February 5-6, 2010
InterContinental New Orleans Hotel, New Orleans, LA
Jointly Sponsored by: American Society for Surgery of the Hand & American Society of Hand Therapists
Program Chair: Martin I. Boyer, MD, FRCS(C), St. Louis, MO
Online Registration Now Open!
This course will highlight the fundamental anatomical knowledge with which both therapists and surgeons alike should be familiar. Additionally, topics which are infrequently seen in educational forums but are clinically common, including congenital anomalies, non-microvascular soft tissue coverage of the hand, ulnar sided wrist pain and innovations in hand surgery will be covered during this program by experts in their respective fields.
The program will offer concurrent programming on Friday and Saturday morning giving attendees the choice of which topic best meets their needs. Afternoon sessions will bring the entire group together for a general session on a broad topic of interest. As an added bonus this program will offer four product demonstration workshops at no additional cost to registrants. Visit the event site for more information.
Housing for the Electives in Hand Surgery course will be at the InterContinental New Orleans Hotel. A special housing rate of $149/night will be available through December 13, 2009 or until hotel sells out. Reserve a room by calling the central reservations line at (800) 445-6563 (reference “ASSH”) or book online.
The ASSH designates this educational activity for a maximum of 16.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Download the course brochure for more information or register online today!
2010 Courses - Mark Your Calendars!
Healthcare Reform News
Orthopaedic and Surgical Communities Publicly Announce Opposition to Current Senate Healthcare Reform Bill - From AAOS
On December 1, 2009, the American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) signed on to two letters informing the U.S. Senate leadership of its opposition to the current Senate healthcare reform package (HR3590). Joining 32 state and regional orthopaedic groups and 17 orthopaedic specialty groups, the AAOS voiced its concerns regarding the bill’s provisions for an unaccountable Medicare Advisory Board, mandatory participation in the flawed Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, budget-neutral payment bonuses, direct access to physical therapists, and restrictions on physician-owned hospitals. In addition, the bill does not include medical liability reform or a permanent fix to the flawed Medicare physician reimbursement formula. In the second letter, as part of a 19-member coalition of surgical and anesthesiology groups, the AAOS also supported similar concerns shared by the coalition.
These letters represent the AAOS’ formal opposition to the Senate’s health care reform proposal as it currently exists. In the coming weeks, senators will consider amendments. The AAOS and other members of the coalition will continue to work for changes to the existing legislation. Read more here.
Read the letter of opposition from the orthopaedic community (PDF).
Read the letter of opposition from the surgical coalition (PDF).
AMA Comments on Senate Health Reform Legislation - From AMA
The AMA wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) December 1 concerning the Senate's proposed health system reform bill. The bill—in the form of a substitute amendment to H.R. 3590, the "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act"—represents a melding of previous proposals reported by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions and the Senate Finance Committee. In the letter (PDF), the AMA does not make a formal statement of support or opposition to the legislation in its current form. Given that Senate floor consideration is expected to last several weeks and the legislation will be amended, the AMA is reserving judgment on final passage of the Senate bill until later in the debate. The AMA letter focuses on aspects of the proposal that it supports and are consistent with AMA policy, and those that it opposes with recommendations for improvements.