New and Noteworthy for Internal Medicine 2008

The opening ceremony on Thursday, May 15, from 9:30 - 10:30 a.m. in Hall C features Karen Davis, PhD, president of The Commonwealth Fund, delivering the keynote address, entitled “Patient-Centered Medical Homes: Key to a High Performance Health System.”

On Friday, May 16, at 11:15 a.m. in room 201, representatives of Senator Clinton, Senator McCain, and Senator Obama will present positions of the presidential candidates concerning health care reform. The panel will discuss how the 2008 presidential and congressional elections will affect prospects for achieving universal health insurance coverage and what actions are most likely.

On Friday, May 16, at 4:30 p.m. in room 206, Robert Berenson, MD, FACP; Carolyn Clancy, MD, MACP; and Eugene Rich, MD, FACP will present “Internists in Government: Insider Views from ACP Members Who Have Changed Health Care by Serving in the Federal Government.” The panel will offer insights from internists who are or were leaders in the federal government on how federal health policies are made and how current key health policy issues impacts patient care.

A former presidential physician and head of the White House Medical Unit, a medical historian, a former CIA physician who carried out profiling of national leaders and their mental and emotional health, and the chairman of the committee on disability in U.S. presidents are presenting two History of Medicine courses:

  • Illness in National Leaders on May 15 at 2:15 p.m. in room 146 B analyzes the duties, responsibilities, and challenges of the president's physician. The presentation includes a look presidential incapacity and the case of Woodrow Wilson.
  • Taking care of presidents, kings, rock stars, and presidential candidates is the focus of Illness in U.S. Presidents on May 16 at 11:15 a.m. in room 206.

The hands-on aspects of internal medicine practice will be taught in 15 simulated clinical activities at the Herbert S. Waxman Clinical Skills Center. More than 3,000 physicians and medical students are expected to participate. Tours are available. In a new workshop this year, internists will be given case summaries and asked to evaluate “comatose patients” -- trained standardized patients who, in many cases, will have real physical findings that can aid the “diagnosis.” See page 11 of the program for details.

Three specific learning tracks are available. See pages 30-31 of the program:

  • The Core Topics Track is designed for subspecialists interested in keeping up with the clinical topics outside of their subspecialties. This track identifies a series of sessions covering many of the “core” topics in internal medicine that are useful to all internists, independent of subspecialty.
  • The Hospitalist Track sessions cover the range of issues confronting hospital-based physicians from general medical care in the inpatient setting to medical consultation, end-of-life care, patient safety, and teaching housestaff.
  • The Practice Management Track is designed to enhance knowledge of the “business of medicine.” This track addresses daily challenges faced by practicing physicians in the areas of managing performance measurement and using Electronic Health Records.

Four ACP press briefings and briefings/lunches are scheduled:

  • Diabetes Initiative: Improving Diabetes Care Using a Team-Based Approach (Thursday, 10:30 a.m., Room 141)
  • Critical Considerations for American Medical Decision-Making (Thursday, 1:00 p.m., Room 141)
  • E-Health: What It Means for Physicians and Patients (Friday, 10:30 a.m., Room 141)
  • The Impending Collapse of Primary Care: Challenges and Solutions from the Physician, Business, and Patient-Advocacy Perspectives (Friday, 1:00 p.m., Room 141)

Some of the notable award recipients who will be honored at the Convocation ceremony Thursday, May 15, at 6:30 p.m. in Hall C, include the following.

  • Robert M. Chanock, MD, the doctor who first identified RSV (respiratory syncytial virus), will be honored with the ACP Award for Outstanding Work in Science as Related to Medicine.
  • Lewis M. Drusin, MD, FACP, an epidemiologist who has made outstanding contributions to the prevention and study of STDs and hospital-acquired infections.
  • Matthew A. Araoye, MD, MACP, a dedicated physician, teacher, and researcher who is professor of medicine at Benue State University in Makurdi, Nigeria. He funds the John Araoye Scholarship for medical students to study in Nigeria.
  • James S. Withers, MD, who founded Operation Safety Net, the first full-time comprehensive medical service of its kind for the unsheltered homeless, which delivers medical care on the streets of Pittsburgh, Pa.
  • The Northeast Arkansas Clinical Charitable Foundation will receive the ACP award for a distinguished contribution in the health field by a layperson or lay organization. The foundation aims to help change lives through its programs, which include a Center for Healthy Children. It awards scholarships for medical, pharmacy, and nursing students in Arkansas.
  • Mastership -- a highly distinguished honor in the ACP-- will be conferred upon 46 ACP Fellows during the Convocation ceremony. Convocation also recognizes new Fellows of ACP (FACPs) who have been elected in the past three years. One of the new Fellows, Michael Campos, MD, of Miami, is the son of one of the new Masters, Miguel Campos, MD, of Peru.

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