Published: August 31, 2015

Annual Meeting outshines Big Tex

As the 2015 Annual Meeting in Dallas rapidly approaches, I have enjoyed reliving many memorable moments in Dallas. I traveled back and forth from Oklahoma City to Waco through Dallas often while I was attending Baylor University and had many friends who lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I looked forward to the State Fair of Texas, which I attended in conjunction with the Oklahoma-Texas Red River Rivalry with Fair Park’s beloved 52-foot-high character “Big Tex” towering over the proceedings.

dennenyBy James C. Denneny III, MD, AAO-HNS/F EVP/CEO

As the 2015 Annual Meeting in Dallas rapidly approaches, I have enjoyed reliving many memorable moments in Dallas. I traveled back and forth from Oklahoma City to Waco through Dallas often while I was attending Baylor University and had many friends who lived in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. I looked forward to the State Fair of Texas, which I attended in conjunction with the Oklahoma-Texas Red River Rivalry with Fair Park’s beloved 52-foot-high character “Big Tex” towering over the proceedings. The 1975 Cotton Bowl against Penn State, as well as a host of indelible images from my time as a resident of Fort Worth, make for a great reunion in Dallas this year. Bigger and better versions of both the Cotton Bowl and Big Tex were completed in 2008 and 2013 respectively.

regent3Just as Dallas has grown and upgraded its facilities, our upcoming Annual Meeting brings a newly expanded format to significantly enhance educational and networking opportunities for all attendees. At last year’s meeting a full registration would allow an attendee to earn a maximum of 13.5 CME credits, while this year a full registration will allow an attendee to earn a maximum of 25.5 CME credits since Instruction Courses are included. A “big” addition to this year’s meeting will be the onsite Coding Workshop for Otolaryngology, produced by our partner AAPC, highlighting the coding transition to ICD-10.

We also will be featuring our biggest project in many years as we roll out our Clinical Data Registry to be called RegentSM.

Members will have the opportunity to attend a Miniseminar detailing the registry and interact with our vendor as we move toward our initiation in 2016.

As Dr. Woodson so wisely points out, a physician’s learning style and habits morph over time based on perceived clinical needs, products available, and the availability of the desired knowledge. As educational content delivery has reached a true global partnership and technology has disrupted the traditional educational paradigms, it is essential that the AAO-HNSF keep pace and offer a “Lifelong Learning” pathway for our Members that includes interactive, on demand, relevant, and affordable education materials available on a variety of platforms. Education is one of the pillars of the Foundation that our Members count on throughout their careers. This issue of the Bulletin describes the breadth of our education offerings, and I would like to highlight some of the advances to our offerings that we are confident will improve the experience for those utilizing our products.

Through the collaborative partnerships of our Coordinator for Education, Sonya Malekzadeh, MD; our Coordinator-elect, Richard V. Smith, MD; our army of volunteers, who produce the outstanding intellectual content we value so greatly; and our dedicated staff, led by the Director of Education Audrey Shively, MSHSE, MICHES, CHCP, and our new Senior Director for Education and Meetings, Johnnie C. White, MBA, CMP, we remain on the cutting edge in providing these educational opportunities for our Members. This monumental effort has resulted the ACCME awarding the AAO-HNSF “Accreditation with Commendation.” We have just rolled out the new AcademyU®, a digital learning platform that aims to make interactive learning on multiple platforms more convenient. We are populating this new platform with existing materials and new products, such as the AcademyQ® CME, Pediatric Webinars, and the ENT for the PA-C (physician assistant) lecture series. We have also set up an Academic “community” to facilitate interactive educational discussions among the Members and our faithful volunteers. AcademyU® is designed to accommodate future technological advances enhancing interactive learning. These will be a greater component of future CME requirements. The new AcademyU® learning system will also accommodate a variety of formats, including mobile devices.

I personally thank Dr. Malekzadeh for her incredibly tireless efforts as our coordinator for education. Due to her persistence, we have now embarked on creating a common curriculum for otolaryngology, an effort she is leading. I would also like to welcome Dr. Smith, our incoming coordinator, who is poised to lead this vital Foundation effort. I would like to recognize the almost 200 volunteer Members of our education committees for developing such timely and wonderful content that our Members expect. We would not succeed in this without them.

Finally, I would like to personally welcome all of our international attendees, particularly our designated International Guests of Honor from the Czech Republic, Panama, Slovakia, Taiwan, and Tanzania. We hope you enjoy the meeting and take advantage of our new format this year.

 

 

More from September 2015 - Vol. 34 No. 08
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Our international journey
In 1995, when I was AAO-HNSF president, I recognized the need for a coherent international program. In 1996 at a Strategic Planning Meeting of the Board of Directors of the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery, a recommendation to create a department of international affairs was endorsed and I was offered the position of coordinator.
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AcademyU.org: anatomy of a learning platform
The new AcademyU® Learning Platform launches this month and is being showcased at the Annual Meeting & OTO EXPOSM in Dallas. Read on for a sneak peek into the features of this exciting new education resource.
Sonya Malekzadeh, MD
Leadership change in Foundation education
Beginning October 1, 2015, Richard V. Smith, MD, will become the new AAO-HNS Foundation education coordinator; assuming the position as Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, ends her four-year term.
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Foundation launches professional development eNewsletter
The first issue of the eNewsletter Professional Development News was released in July with the next issue coming out in October and then to be released quarterly. The aim of the eNewsletter is to keep Members engaged with AcademyU®, your otolaryngology learning source.
Products from the new AcademyU® Learning Platform
Foundation copublishes two books with Thieme As part of an ongoing agreement with Thieme Publishers, the Foundation has just added two more titles to its book and eBook collection. The first book, Otolaryngology Lifelong Learning Manual (OLLM), is an update to the Maintenance Manual for Lifelong Learning. Through the hard work of the eight education committees, under the leadership of Education Coordinator Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, this will become a valuable resource for all otolaryngology clinicians. OLLM serves as a great resident resource and certification study guide. Practicing physicians can use it for a refresher on a topic and for recertification through MOC. Nonphysician clinicians will also benefit from the comprehensive scope of the book. The second book, Geriatric Otolaryngology, was edited by Robert T. Sataloff, MD, Michael M. Johns III, MD, and Karen Kost, MD. This book is much more than a revision to the previous book of the same title. It is a comprehensive and timely discussion of the otolaryngology concerns of the elderly population. Both books are available in print and eBook formats and can be ordered through the Thieme website at www.Thieme.com. You can search by specialty or title. The AAO-HNS Foundation is proud to have worked with Thieme on these two essential otolaryngology publications and looks forward to continuing its copublishing partnership. AcademyQ® CME: otolaryngology knowledge self-assessment tool AcademyQ® CME offers learners the opportunity to hone their knowledge skills through a series of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery-specific self-assessment questions. Derived from the 800 knowledge assessment questions available in the AcademyQ® app for Apple and Android, this activity provides the opportunity to enhance knowledge of otolaryngology-head and neck surgery with hundreds of study questions to test recall, interpretation, and problem-solving skills while earning CME credit. Drawing on the same questions released on the Academy® app in 2012 and 2014, nine modules contain 50 questions specific to each specialty. The physician learner will read and analyze otolaryngology-specific questions and rationales developed by otolaryngology experts. Included in each module is thorough feedback for each question, additional reading references, and appropriate images and videos to enhance the learning experience. Pediatric Otolaryngology eLectures Pediatric Otolaryngology eLectures, coproduced by the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology (ASPO) and AAO-HNSF, offer learners education opportunities designed to address pressing patient care concerns facing pediatric and general otolaryngologists. The webinars in this series are: Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis Diagnosis and Management of Vascular Malformations Update on Allergic Rhinitis—A Burdensome Disease Down Syndrome: Otolaryngologic Manifestations Evaluation and Management of Sialorrhea in Children Hearing Tests and Hearing Aids: More Interesting Than You Thought Complications of Acute Rhinosinusitis in Children Otitis Media Update Assessment and Management of Velopharyngeal Dysfunction Evaluation of Pediatric Sensorineural Hearing Loss Unilateral Hearing Loss In Children Caustic Ingestion Management of Pediatric Vocal Fold Immobility Head and Neck Masses in the Pediatric Population Quality and Safety in Surgery: How to Become a Better Surgeon Choking and Aspiration in Children: Evaluation and Management Pediatric Sleep Medicine 2014: A Roundtable Discussion Eustachian Tube and Evolution Social Media—A Blessing or a Curse for the Otolaryngologist Genetics and Pediatric Otolaryngology These archived recordings are be available for AMA PRA Category 1™ credit. ENT for the PA-C eLecture Series The annual ENT for the PA-C Conference is jointly presented by the American Academy of Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery Foundation and the Society of Physician Assistants in Otorhinolaryngology/Head & Neck Surgery. The primary audience for the conference is nonphysician clinicians, especially physician assistants, and nurse practitioners who specialize in otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. This eLecture Series, recorded at the 2015 ENT for the PA-C Annual Conference, includes the following presentations: Healthcare Reform Audiogram Interpretation: 10-minute Dizziness Evaluation Evaluation and Management of Facial Nerve Paralysis Everything You Ever (and Never) Need to Know About Salivary Glands Differential Diagnosis and Management of Conductive Hearing Loss Non-otologic Sources of Otalgia Diagnosis and Treatment of Anaphylaxis Evaluation and Management of Pediatric Neck Masses OSA: Improving Treatment Outcomes Vocal Fold Paralysis Diagnosis and Treatment Assisting in ENT Procedures These archived recordings will be available for AAPA CME credit. Visit www.academyU.org for these new activities along with the entire catalog of education opportunities offered by the AAO-HNS Foundation.
Education by the numbers
125 articles spanning four sections of the Home Study Course. Specialties covered this year were Rhinology and Allergic Disorders; Laryngology, Voice Disorders, and Bronchoesophagology; Neoplastic and Inflammatory Diseases of the Head and Neck; and Otology and Neurotology. 1,128 Patient Management Perspective courses completed during the year.
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A fresh look at education
This has been an exciting year for Foundation Education. From wrapping up the two-year Education Needs Assessment to the launch of the new AcademyU® Learning Platform much work has been done by the education volunteers.
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Presidential Citations
Bobby R. Alford, MD, is founder and chairman of the board of directors of NASA’s National Space Biomedical Research Institute and Distinguished Service Professor at Baylor College of Medicine. After residency at Baylor, he completed a clinical fellowship at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX, and special NIH fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore.
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ICD-10 countdown resource checklist
Make sure you’re prepared for ICD-10 by taking these steps as the countdown to implementation draws near.
Robert R. Lorenz, MD, MBA
Get ready for ICD-10
In July, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced efforts to limit the burden on providers for the ICD-10 transition slated for October 1. What are the effects on the average otolaryngology practice, and should you alter your own “go-live” plan?
Hearing health community seeks EHDI reauthorization
It was an exciting spring. The physician community saw major legislative victories relating to repeal of the flawed Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula, as well as rescission of a proposed policy change for global surgical payments. After such a windfall, many Members of Congress and staffers were posing the question, “Well, what’s next?” For the AAO-HNS and others in the hearing health community, the answer was simple: (hopefully) teeing up another legislative “win” for the fall.
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BOARD OF GOVERNORSEach of us is a leader
It is the end of the July 4 weekend, and as I sit here with the thought of returning to work tomorrow morning, the memories of family, friends, fireworks, and Independence Day distract me from the task of writing my BOG piece. A holiday weekend like this causes me to reflect on how I fit into the greater scheme of family, life, and our country. It gives me a moment to celebrate my chosen career of physician and otolaryngologist-head and neck surgeon.
Collectively, we have a voice.
Project 535 brings politics home
My parents lived in John F. Kennedy’s congressional district. When JFK moved up to the U.S. Senate in 1952, Tip O’Neill decided to run for the open seat. He won the election and later became Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Rebuilding ears, self images, and hope in Cambodia: the first collaboration between Face to Face and Operation SmileExpanded from the print edition
As we walked into the Khmer Soviet Friendship Hospital in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in February, Kathleen Sie, Sie, MD, pediatric otolaryngologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital, turned and quietly reminded me to look carefully in the ICU so we might be mindful of what our potential highest level of care would look like.
AAO-HNSF receives ACCME Accreditation with Commendation
The AAO-HNSF has recently been awarded the distinction of Accreditation with Commendation by our accrediting board, the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). This status is awarded to only a fraction of all organizations who seek to become an accredited provider and represents acknowledgement of a program that delivers the highest quality of practice-relevant, physician-focused education. The AAO-HNSF is honored to receive this distinction and share this achievement with our dedicated membership, without whose contributions and leadership this would not be possible.
Gayle E. Woodson, MD, AAO-HNS/F President
Real-life learning, better care
When I passed the exam for the American Board of Otolaryngology 34 years ago, I felt very proud. I had excellent residency training and I felt well prepared to go out and take care of my patients. But the certification exam had merely sampled my knowledge—it was not really a test of competence. Like almost every other physician I know, I learned more during my first year of practice than in any prior year in my life!