ASSH Weekly Member Upd@te
October 23rd, 2009
A Message From the ASSH President
- A column from President Robert M. Szabo, MD
One Question
- View the results of last week's poll
ASSH News
- Maintenance Scheduled for ASSH Website
ASSH Courses and Meetings
- 65th Annual Meeting Call For Abstracts
- Mark Your Calendars for the 2010 Course Schedule
- AAOS/ASSH Advanced Elbow and Wrist Arthroscopy and Reconstruction Course
Healthcare Reform News
- Bill To Eliminate Medicare SGR Formula Does Not Pass Senate – From AMA
- Future Physician Workforce May Be Younger, Smaller Than Has Been Predicted – From AAOS
- Warfarin Use Associated With Increased Mortality Among Trauma Patients – From AAOS
A Message From the ASSH President
Enhancing Education Survey
Dear ASSH Members,
We want you to share your views on a far-reaching initiative: that the ASSH should engage in a multi-year, strategic effort to increase the scope, quality, and length of our fellowship training programs for hand and upper limb surgery to two years and set the goal of offering our members and other qualified surgeons the opportunity to become primarily certified in upper limb surgery, and/or to continue certification by more conventional pathways.
In May 2009, the Council approved an initiative to consider increasing quality, length, and structure of our training by exploring different pathways that will allow us to increase the content and duration of our essential training. Some pathways allow for increasing the overall training period residents and fellows receive after medical school; other options will keep the total training to the same amount of time, but increase the time and content provided to hand and upper limb surgeons. In considering significant changes to training programs, we will also explore how these changes might affect certification for hand and upper limb surgeons, the maintenance of certification programs and the financial impact of these changes. This initiative is a major new strategic goal that centers on improving the training that future hand surgeons receive. Improved training and competence will inevitably lead to better patient care.
In order to begin work on this vital goal, we sent a survey to members last night asking you to share information about your past educational experiences and your opinions on enhancing and expanding upper limb education and training. We hope the survey will serve to facilitate conversations among members and help us identify critical next steps.
Your thoughts and opinions are extremely important, so please complete the survey which was sent last night. We are grateful for your time and value your efforts to be part of this initiative.
Sincerely,
Robert M. Szabo, MD, MPH
President, American Society for Surgery of the Hand
*If you did not receive the aforementioned survey in your email on Thursday, October 22nd, please email awallace@assh.org.*
**To send comments and questions directly to Dr. Szabo, email him at president@assh.org.**
One Question
Last week, we wanted to hear your thoughts on formats for surgical videos. To view the results of the survey, use this link.
ASSH News
Maintenance Scheduled For ASSH Website
The ASSH website and Central Office database will undergo maintenance on Monday, October 26, beginning at 1 PM Eastern Time, and extending into the day on Tuesday, October 27. During this time, you may be unable to login to access Members Only content on www.assh.org and/or you may be unable to access your profile, your CME history, or purchase anything from the store. Access to the Membership Directory and Find a Hand Surgeon will also be briefly affected. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause, and will do all we can to minimize the interruptions in service.
ASSH Courses and Meetings
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 Instructional Course Lectures and Symposia at the 65th ASSH Annual Meeting. Interested in learning more? Download the Call for Instructional Course Lecture Abstracts or the Call for Symposia Abstracts for important policies and procedures. Submit your proposal today using the links below. The deadline is November 17, 2009.
2009 Online Abstract Submission Forms:
· Instructional Course Lecture
· Symposia
Contact Diana Shkap at dshkap@assh.org or (847) 384-8300 if you have any questions about the abstract submission process.
2010 Courses - Mark Your Calendars!
February 5-6, 2010
Electives in Hand Surgery (Jointly Sponsored with the ASHT)
Intercontinental New Orleans - New Orleans, LA
March 13, 2010
AAOS Specialty Day: Wrist and Elbow Update: The Devil is in the Details
New Orleans, LA
May 21-22, 2010
Master Skills Course in Hand and Wrist Trauma
Orthopaedic Learning Center - Rosemont, IL
July 15, 2010
General Orthopaedic Review (Co-Sponsored with the AAOS)
Renaissance Chicago - Chicago, IL
July 16-18, 2010
Comprehensive Review in Hand and Upper Extremity Surgery
Renaissance Chicago - Chicago, IL
August 6-7, 2010
Wrist and Elbow Arthroscopy
Orthopaedic Learning Center - Rosemont, IL
October 6, 2010
28th Annual Adrian E. Flatt Residents and Fellows Conference in Hand Surgery
John B. Hynes Convention Center - Boston, MA
October 7-9, 2010
65th ASSH Annual Meeting: Embracing Excellence-Making a Difference
John B. Hynes Convention Center - Boston, MA
Refine Your Skills and Learn New Techniques
Learn and practice the most effective arthroscopic approaches for the elbow and wrist, including the latest, advanced techniques for contracture release, fracture treatment, and stabilization at the AAOS/ASSH Advanced Elbow and Wrist Arthroscopy and Reconstruction surgical skills course. This in-depth course blends didactic instruction, faculty demonstrations, debates, and ample hands-on lab practice to help you clarify the pros and cons of various treatments and develop a new skill set or level of comfort when addressing traumatic and degenerative problems.
Sessions begin at 6:00 pm on Thursday evening, November 12 and continue through Saturday, November 14. This course is designated for a maximum of 19 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.
For more information or to register, call AAOS Customer Service toll-free at 1-800-626-6726 from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Central Time, or visit the AAOS website online at www.aaos.org/3331.
Healthcare Reform News
Bill To Eliminate Medicare SGR Formula Does Not Pass Senate – From AMA
Taken from a letter written by the President of the AMA, J. James Rohack, MD, addressing AMA Members on Thursday, October 22nd:
An overwhelming majority of U.S. senators, Democrats and Republicans alike, are on record stating that the so-called Medicare sustainable growth rate (SGR) is flawed and should be replaced. S. 1776, the Medicare Physician Fair Payment Act, introduced last week by Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., would have repealed the SGR, erasing the existing debt and freezing physician payments at current rates for 10 years. Yesterday's Senate vote (PDF) on S. 1776 was an opportunity for every senator to deliver on their pledge of support for repealing the SGR. Instead the Senate voted 53-47 to block consideration of S. 1776.
To read more about the AMA’s reaction to the Senate’s decision, go here.
Future Physician Workforce May Be Younger, Smaller Than Predicted – From AAOS
A study published in the October 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association found that data drawn from the US Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) suggests that the future physician workforce may be younger and smaller than previous projections that had been made with data from the AMA Physician Masterfile (Masterfile). The authors conducted a parallel retrospective cohort analysis of employment trends using annual data from the Masterfile and the CPS between 1979 and 2008. They found that in an average year in the sample period CPS estimated 67,000 (10 percent) fewer active physicians than did the Masterfile (95 percent confidence interval [CI], 57,000-78,000; pp.) Read more...
Read the abstract…
Warfarin Use Associated With Increased Mortality Among Trauma Patients – From AAOS
According to a study published in the September 2009 issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, warfarin use may be associated with a 30 percent increased risk of death among all trauma patients and a 20 percent increased risk in patients 65 and older. However, the study did not find a definitive connection between warfarin use and post-trauma death. The research team found that warfarin use among patients 65 and older increased from 7.3 percent in 2002 to almost 13 percent in 2006. The research team drew data from 1.2 million patients across 402 centers reporting to the National Trauma Databank of the American College of Surgeons.
Read more...