Alexander Y. Shin, MD
Director, Education Division
The Hand Society governance is broken down into three divisions: Research, Education and Practice. Each of these divisions is akin to a leg of a stool. When each is strong and prospering, together they allow the stool to be balanced and withstand the weight of the objects placed on the chair.
The Education Division is further subdivided into the Annual Meeting Group, Products and Publications Group and Courses Group. Although the ASSH has been known for its outstanding Annual meeting, the activities in the Courses and Publications Group have balanced the Education division to effectively provide all aspects of the education of the surgery of the hand.
When Dr. Ed Akelman was the Education Division Director, he focused on continuing to provide high quality and valued educational products to our members and customers, revitalizing the CME and publication committee by improving processes, and developing a cohesive plan for all educational products. Over the past 4 years, these focuses have remained the keystones to the way the education division has worked.
Courses and Meetings Group
Under the direction of Peter Murray, MD (Courses and Meetings Advisory Committee chair) and John Seiler, III, MD (Annual Meeting Committee Chair), we have continued to streamline didactic and surgical skills courses and have made our Annual Meeting the highest attended hand surgery meeting in the world. This year at the AM we will be introducing pre- and post-course skills courses as well as making our electronic environment more accessible. From a course perspective, effectively we have a three year course schedule that is continually adjusted after evaluating the needs of our members and customers.
With Jay Pomerance leading the way as Chair of the Self Assessment Committee, we were able to transition into a web based format for the self assessment exam. Of individuals who took the web based SAE, 99% passed despite the newly set pass rate of 50%. 93% of post test survey respondents favored the new format, appreciated the ability to take the exam up to two times, and felt it was a better educational experience than the paper format. Next year the exam will only be offered as a web-based exam.
This year, we received another four years of CME accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. As a CME provider, the ASSH is able to offer a wide variety of high quality CME options to all our stakeholders.
Publications and Products
Under the direction of Dave Slutsky, MD (Chair, Publications and Products Advisory Committee(PPAC)), we have developed a three year publications pipeline that has been highly successful and has become the model of other organizations. By having ASSH Staff work closely with PPAC to create a project management template for developing publications we have streamlined the process. The template outlines the most efficient and cost-effective way of producing print and digital products. Our goal is to provide guidelines to help authors, editors, and staff understand and accomplish their responsibilities throughout a project. Now we will begin planning our books differently with a longer development schedule that will allow us to take advantage of optimal publishing and printing technologies which will ultimately save costs. PPAC is creating a process for prioritizing publication projects based on demand/need for the topic, product type, availability of volunteers, timing with courses and staff capacity. This model has worked well to make our Master Skills book series integrate with our course schedule to minimize work, while still tapping in on the best expertise and responding to current member needs.
Moving Forward
In the next several years we will be working on the following:
- Annual meeting – offering an enhanced meeting app for a paperless meeting, providing more surgical skills courses, more instructional lectures and increased opportunities for networking
- Courses – more stand-alone and online CME
- Publications – introduction of the first ASSH Textbook of Hand Surgery which will include a robust online platform with more than 80 videos.
Everyone on the education team is striving to provide a mechanism where ongoing and future projects of Education Division committees can be shared with each other to produce high quality, high value educational products (courses, meetings, publications, DVDs, and online education).
Thank you to all those dedicated chairpersons and committee members who have made this effort to improve our education possible. Coordination of the priorities and goals of the Education Division started a year ago, and remains a work-in-progress. As a member, your thoughts and insights are always welcomed.
Over the past year, due to energetic membership efforts, ASSH’s AMA membership went from 18% to 26%, assuring us a seat in the House of Delegates for five more years. Thank you to everyone who joined to make sure we continue to have a voice. Your ASSH delegates, David M. Lichtman, MD and Stewart Haskin, MD, attended the recent AMA Interim Meeting and worked with AAHS to issue a report for your benefit.
The AMA is now actively advocating that implementation of ICD-10 be dropped entirely in favor of implementing ICD-11 in 5-10 years. AMA also approved a set of principles for physician employment, five of which address conflict of interest issues faced by doctors, and they adopted Council on Medical Services (CMS) recommendations to support a voluntary defined contribution option within Medicare, and to support expansion of Medicaid coverage to individuals with an income less than 133% of the poverty level.
Read their full report here.
Don’t miss out on FREE shipping on all ASSH products and 20% off e-books until 2013! Simply visit the
ASSH Store and place your order. At check out, use discount code 2012YEEPUB20 to receive your e-book discount. No code is needed for free shipping.
Find the information you need, fast! Why search through multiple sources when you can find the information you need in one book? Buy Hand Surgery Update V today and get a great companion for keeping up-to-date on current research written by the
experts, plus free shipping! The book also makes a great gift for your residents and fellows.
Want to be able to search the book on your iPad during clinic? Order the
HSUV e-book today for a 20% discount! Contact Carrie at
ccorona@assh.org if you’d like both the print and e-book for an even greater discount!
Musculoskeletal conditions are the second greatest cause of disability globally according to the Global Burden of Disease Study, published in The Lancet on December 15, 2012. In the first comprehensive study of the worldwide impact of all diseases and risk factors, musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions such as arthritis and back pain are shown to affect over 1.7 billion people worldwide, and have the 4th greatest impact on the overall health of the world population, considering both death and disability. This burden has increased by 45% over the last 20 years and will continue to do so unless action is taken. This landmark study of the global burden of all diseases provides indisputable evidence that musculoskeletal conditions are an enormous and emerging problem in all parts of the world and need to be given the same priority for policy and resources as other major conditions like cancer, mental health and cardiovascular disease.
Read More.
Past President Richard Gelberman, MD is asking members to think and respond to the following question:
In a patient who presents with symptomatic bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome and has failed conservative treatment, how often do you perform simultaneous bilateral carpal tunnel release?
a) More Often
b) Less Often
c) Never
Explore career opportunities anytime of the day or night with JobTarget. Visit the ASSH Online Career Center at
jobs.assh.org. The site, which is being upgraded to improve the user experience, offers a host of services for various needs:
Job Seekers
- Post an anonymous resume
- View jobs
- Create a Job Alert, and new jobs that match your search will be emailed to you
- Create a Job Seeker Account
Employers/Recruiters
- Post a job
- View resumes
- Utilize recruitment products
In addition to helping job seekers and employers/recruiters, the
Job Board can even help you sell your practice.
Mark R. Belsky, MD
Gordon A. Brody, MD
Robert B. Carrigan, MD
Joseph W. Clark, Sr., MD
Robert H. Clayburgh, MD
Joseph P. Cullen, MD
Robert S. Derkash, MD
Donald M. Ditmars, Jr., MD
Paul J. Donahue, MD
Stephen C. Drukker, MD
Kenneth J. Easterling, MD |
Thomas P. Ferlic, MD
Michael S. Fitzsimmons, MD
Ranjan Gupta, MD
Ronald W. Hillyer, MD
Kyros Ipaktchi, MD
Timothy R. Judkins, MD
Julia A. Kenniston, MD
David M. Lichtman, MD
Edward B. Lipp, Jr., MD
Steven A. Maser, MD
Heidi E. Michelsen-Jost, MD |
Milan M. Patel, MD
Theodore T. Peters, MD
Savvas C. Poulos, MD
Sidney Rabinowitz, MD
Lisa R. Reznick, MD
Todd R. Rimington, MD
Shoaib I. Sheikh, MD, FACS
Robert M. Szabo, MD, MPH
M. Andrew Thompson, MD
Jonathan M. Winograd, MD |
In 2011, AFSH received donations from 576 donors. ASSH has over 3,200 members. Which group are you in? Visit
www.afsh.org now to support the Foundation that supports the future of our specialty.