Volume 3 No 1 Spring / Summer 2002

Contents

Education Committee

Members of the Education Committee

USCAP Short Courses - A Brief History

Highlights from the 2002 USCAP Annual Meeting

USCAP / AIPNA Outreach

Victor Reuter

Over the past years attendance at our Annual Meeting has been at an all time high, including an ever-increasing number of pathologists-in-training as well as pathologists from outside North America. This increased attendance has coincided with a steady increase in our educational and scientific offerings. There is little doubt that our Annual Meeting has become one of the most significant gatherings of pathologists in the world. This success is due in great part to the unselfish and tireless efforts of many of our members that have served on the Educational Committee. Few members of the Academy understand the responsibilities of this Committee; they may know us only as the small group of individuals who walk around at the meeting with a red ribbon beneath their identification card that reads “Education Committee”. Some might even think “that’s probably the person that rejected my abstract!” I think it is time for our members to learn a bit about their Education Committee and realize its vital role in the Academy.

The Education Committee is composed of a Chairperson and sixteen other members, all of which are appointed by the Executive Committee. An additional individual holds the position of Short Course Coordinator while the Secretary-Treasurer serves as an ex-officio member. Under normal circumstances committee members serve four-year terms and may not serve a second consecutive term. The Chairperson and Short Course Coordinators also serve four-year terms but, under special circumstances, may be reappointed for up to three additional one-year terms, on an annual basis.

The Education Committee serves in an advisory capacity to the Executive Committee and Council and its other responsibilities are wide-ranging and critical, including:

• Selection, composition, supervision, audit, attendance, and evaluation of the scientific and educational programs;

• Evaluation and organization of submitted scientific abstracts into a program of proffered papers in the format of platform presentations or poster sessions. Selection of the Stowell-Orbison winners for the best proffered papers submitted by pathologists-in-training;

• Identification of contemporary and future educational and scientific needs and recommendations for appropriate components of the educational and scientific programs to meet these needs;

• Selection or recommendation of chairpersons, moderators, course directors, faculty and lecturers for structural presentations such as symposia, long courses, short courses, special courses, specialty conferences, lectures or whatever format is most effective in meeting the educational and scientific needs of the membership;

• Evaluation, selection and monitoring of short courses that are presented during the final three days of the Annual Meeting. Up to 60 such courses are presented each year and the Committee reviews over 40 new short course proposals per year. As stated elsewhere in this newsletter, the Education Committee makes sure that the offerings are of high quality and reflect all of pathology, not only those areas of high general interest;

• Monitoring of Companion Societies, making sure that their programs are planned, implemented and delivered in accordance with the policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). The Committee also plays an instrumental role in evaluating the credentials and overall “suitability” of other groups that wish to join us as Companion Societies;

In addition, the Educational Committee may be called upon, at the request of the Executive Committee or Council, to carry out other duties that are germane to the overall mission of the Academy. For example, the Education Committee has been recently called upon to offer assistance in establishing a framework to the Academies’ involvement in electronic and web-based education. Our role in this area will only increase as we address the Academies’ future role in maintenance of competence.

The members of the Committee are constantly asked to “think outside the box” in an attempt to diversify and enhance our educational offerings. Examples of this fact abound:

• Increasing the number of Short Course offerings from 48 to 60, including 12 courses offered on Wednesday concurrently with the Long Course (see details in Dr. Myers' article below);

• Expansion of the Specialty Conferences to Sunday night;

• Scheduling Companion Society Meetings on Saturday and Sunday nights;

• Expansion of offerings in Cytology and Molecular Pathology;

• Anonymizing reviews of abstracts;

• Electronic submission of abstracts;

• Searchable accepted abstracts placed on the USCAP website.

To fulfill their obligations, the members of the Education Committee meet twice annually. An “interim” meeting is held on the first Saturday in November in which the bulk of the work is done. Every aspect of our educational and academic program is discussed and decided upon and plans are made for future Annual Meetings. This six-hour meeting is followed by a dinner with the Executive Committee and next morning the final determination on the program of proffered papers is completed. On the Sunday afternoon of the Annual Meeting, the members of the Committee meet briefly once again to make sure that the final details of the Meeting have been taken care of. It never ceases to amaze us how so many accomplished and very busy individuals are so willing to give of their time and considerable effort to fulfill the educational and academic mission of the Academy. All members owe them a huge debt of gratitude. Truth be told, it would be impossible to fulfill our obligations without the support, patience and gentle persuasion of our central office in Augusta, particularly Jo Ann Johnson, our Education Program Coordinator and Fred Silva, our Secretary-Treasurer.

Victor Reuter, M.D.

Back to top

Some members at the Interim Meeting. Left to right, standing: Jonathan Epstein, Joel Greenson, Peter Humphrey, Jeffrey Myers, Bruce Wenig, Ann Nelson, - seated: Victor Reuter, Linda Ferrell, Frances O'Malley, Kathy Foucar

Jeff and Victor came to the USCAP Headquarters in Augusta to help with the ACCME reaccreditation visit. Thanks to their help we received full accreditation for four more years!!

New members of the committee, appointed after the 2002 Annual Meeting. Top left, clockwise: Edward Gabrielson, Lawrence True, M. Kay Washington, A. Brian West

Members whose terms ended after the 2002 Annual Meeting in Chicago. Top left, clockwise: Linda Ferrell, Kim Geisinger, Peter Humphrey and Ann Nelson

Victor Reuter, Celeste Powers

Allan Tucker, Frances O'Malley

Phyllis Huettner, John Goldblum

Jonathan Epstein, Julia Bridge

Joel Greenson, Bruce Smoller

Kathy Fouca, Greg Fullerr

Bruce Wenig, Jeff Myers

Fred Silva, USCAP Secretary-Treasurer and Executive Director. In the midst of a long busy week Fred was still able to smile when presented with the Jacob Churg Award by the Renal Pathology Society.

Members of the Education Committee - 2002/2003

Victor E. Reuter, M.D. - Chairman
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Jeffrey L. Myers, M.D. - Short Course Coordinator
Mayo Clinic, Rochester

Julia A. Bridge, M.D.
Nebraska Health System

Jonathan I. Epstein, M.D.
The Johns Hopkins Hospital

M. Kathy Foucar, M.D.
University of New Mexico Hospital

Gregory N. Fuller, M.D., Ph.D.
M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Edward W. Gabrielson, M.D.
Johns Hopkins Oncology Center

John R. Goldblum, M.D.
Cleveland Clinic

Joel Greenson, M.D.
University of Michigan Health System

Phyllis C. Huettner, M.D.
Washington University Medical Center

Frances P. O'Malley, M.D.
Mt. Sinai Hospital, Toronto

Celeste N. Powers, M.D.
Virginia Commonwealth University

Bruce R. Smoller, M.D.
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

Lawrence D. True, M.D.
University of Washington Medical Center

J. Allan Tucker, M.D.
University of South Alabama

M. Kay Washington, M.D.
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Bruce M. Wenig, M.D.
Beth Israel Medical Center, New York

A. Brian West, M.D.
New York University Medical Center

Back to top

Jeffrey L Myers M.D.
Short Course Coordinator

Short Courses comprise a major component of the continuous medical education offerings available at annual meetings of the United States and Canadian Academy of Pathology (USCAP). These three-hour courses typically use case-based presentations to review classical and current principles in selected areas of anatomic pathology. Short Courses in surgical pathology first appeared in 1956 at the annual meeting of the American-Canadian Section of the International Association of Medical Museums held in Cincinnati, and attracted 365 registrants. Ten years later 31 Short Courses were offered at the astounding cost of $10 per course! The popularity of Short Courses has continued to grow since those early days, attracting an average of 2,834 registrants in the 1980's, 3,359 in the 1990’s, and 4,133 for the first two years of the new millennium.
A stand-alone committee that included a Director, Co-Director and Technical Director originally managed Short Courses. Today Short Courses are a major responsibility of the USCAP Education Committee under the guidance of the Chair and a Short Course Coordinator. The Education Committee, at its annual Interim Meeting in the fall, selects courses on a competitive basis. Courses are chosen based on the track record(s) of the proponent(s), the merits of the proposal, and the educational needs of our attendees. The goal is a balanced menu of courses given by the best educators covering a broad range of topics. The process is highly competitive. Since 1995, 227 (median 31 per year) proposals have been submitted for consideration, with an average acceptance rate of 43%. The acceptance rate has varied from 33% to 65%, depending on the number of submissions, the number of courses being retired, and space availability. Courses are selected a year and a half in advance. Short courses have historically been segregated into traditional organ or subspecialty-based categories. Recent course offerings have been expanded to include various modern diagnostic techniques, medicolegal issues of interest to pathologists, and practice administration. Evaluation forms are completed by registered attendees for all courses. In addition, members of the Education Committee also attend and evaluate all new courses. Evaluations are extremely helpful in understanding the extent to which we are meeting the expectations of our members. Presentation of Short Courses at consecutive meetings is contingent upon favorable review. The members of the Education Committee remain committed to selecting those courses that best meet the ever-changing educational needs of the pathology community we serve.
In 1998 we broke with tradition and began offering short courses on Wednesday, a day that had traditionally been reserved for the Long Course. Short Courses previously were limited to the last two days of the week-long meeting. The goal of this experiment was to expand the number and variety of educational opportunities for our attendees by increasing the number of scheduled courses from an average of 49 in the 1980’s and 1990’s to a total of 60 in 2001. The number of Wednesday Short Course registrants has doubled over the last four years, and at the 2002 Annual Meeting attendance at Wednesday courses averaged 100 per course. This has been accomplished without a significant decrease in the number of registrants attending the Long Course. Wednesday Short Courses are now an established component of the broad range of educational opportunities that collectively make the annual Spring meeting of the USCAP the very best CME value for pathologists at all levels of training and experience!

Back to top

William H. Hartmann, M.D., recipient of one of the 2002 Distinguished Pathologist Awards is pictured here with members of his family

Robert Heptinstall, M.D., recipient of one of the 2002 Distinguished Pathologist Awards is pictured with Dr. Vivette D'Agati

Lance A. Liotta, M.D., Ph.D. gave the Nathan KaufmanTimely Topics Lecture

Robert R. Pascal, M.D. was presented the 2002 Mostofi Award for outstanding service to the Academy. He is pictured with Dr. Kash Mostofi for whom the award was named.

President's Awards were presented jointly to the husband and wife team of Ruth Kirschstein, M.D. and Alan S. Rabson, M.D.

Professor Peter G. Isaacson gave the Maude Abbott Lecture. He is pictured here with Dr. Harvey Goldman, former USCAP President

Frederic G. Barr, M.D., Ph.D. (University of Pennsylvania), recipient of the Young Investigator Award, is pictured with incoming USCAP President Louis P. Dehner on the left and outgoing President Ronald A. DeLellis on the right

Castleman Award Winner, David Huntsman, M.D. (British Columbia Cancer Agency) pictured with USCAP President Ronald DeLellis

2002 Stowell-Orbison Awards
The recipients of the four co-equal Stowell-Orbison Awards are pictured below.

Savvas Mendrinos, M.D.
Emory University Medical Center

Gustavo Valbuena, M.D.
University of Texas Medical School, Galveston

Xiaowei Xu, M.D.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

Ming Zhou, M.D., Ph.D.
University of Michigan School of Medicine

Recipients of the four 2002 Stowell-Orbison Honorable Mention Awards are pictured here. Amy Heerema (University of California, San Francisco), Michael Frost (University of Utah School of Medicine), Jun Qin Mo (University of Cincinnati), Bong Kim (University of Pittsburgh).

Ming Zhou, M.D., recipient of the Autopsy Award, pictured with Dr. James Connolly

Ilene Bayer-Garner, M.D. (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences), recipient of the F. Stephen Vogel Award, is pictured here with Dr. Vogel

Back to top

Divisional News Index