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Sound Waves Newsletter
The 2008 AIUM Annual Convention, held last month in San Diego, California, was one of our most successful meetings yet. Be sure to go online at www.aium.org to view the convention photo gallery and read the blog entries posted during the meeting. Are you interested in reporting live from next year's convention? We will provide free convention registrations to 2 AIUM members who would be willing to blog 1 or 2 times per day from next year's meeting site, New York, New York, April 2-5, 2009.Congratulations and Thanks During the convention, I had the opportunity to thank the outgoing and welcome the incoming individuals that make up the AIUM's leadership. My appreciation goes out to all those who serve in a volunteer capacity for the AIUM. Without your help, the AIUM could not grow and expand as it has over the years. I would like to make special mention of those who served on the Executive Committee and Board of Governors: Gary Whitman, MD, who, after 3 years, is stepping down as AIUM's treasurer and Finance Committee chair; and also the 2005-2008 class of the AIUM's Board of Governors: Alfred Abuhamad, MD, Diane Dalecki, PhD, Ulrike Hamper, MD, MBA, Marie King, RDMS, RDCS, and Anthony Vintzileos, MD. In addition, I extend my congratulations to incoming First Vice President Carol Benson, MD, Treasurer Steven Goldstein, MD, and the 2008-2011 class of the Board of Governors: Brian Coley, MD, Giancarlo Mari, MD, Dev Maulik, MD, PhD, Kelli Powell, RDMS, and Mark Schafer, PhD. I look forward to working with all of you in the coming year. Each year the president also gets to recognize special individuals, who have worked particularly hard for the AIUM over the last year by presenting them with the AIUM's Presidential Recognition Award. The award honors outstanding contributions and service to the AIUM and to the broader ultrasound community. Its recipients are extremely active within the organization, frequently as committee chairs, and their names remain secret until the presentation ceremony at the Leadership Banquet held during the convention. This year there were 3 Presidential Recognition awards. Two were given to Jay Smith, MD, and Levon Nazarian, MD, for putting together a unique, informative, and sold-out postgraduate course, Hands-on Musculoskeletal Ultrasound: Diagnostic and Interventional Techniques, July 13-14, 2007, at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. A significant portion of the course was dedicated to hands-on experiences, during which attendees learned basic ultrasound machine knobology, scanned live models, and practiced basic interventional procedures on unembalmed cadavers. The award also went to Thomas Shipp, MD, for his work as Continuing Medical Education Committee chair in completing an extensive reaccreditation application to maintain our ability to award CME credits to physicians through the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). AIUM Sections Evolve Into "Communities of Practice" Where Collaboration Is Key This year was not "business as usual" for the AIUM's 13 sections. Rather than handle most of their affairs on-site at the convention, each section used the Internet to survey its entire membership on future convention topics and agenda items and, for those sections with retiring officers, hold online elections to nominate and vote in new secretaries. As our sections, or "communities of practice," grow, so will their online presence. Keep an eye out in the coming year for new developments, projects, and opportunities to collaborate with your colleagues, both online and offline. New Member Benefit Results in an Immediate 54% Increase in CME Test Submissions and a Flood of New Members On January 1, 2008, the AIUM unveiled a valuable new member benefit: free continuing medical education (CME) credits for all members, and with no dues increase! As of January 1, the complete selection of online CME self-study tests from the Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine (JUM) - as many as 84 CME tests, each worth up to 1 CME credit-became available to AIUM members, and if you submit your test answers online, the CME credits are free. This will continue all year, for every CME test that appears, in addition to those available in our archives. Comparing the first 2 months of 2008 with the same period in 2007, there has been a 54% increase in the number of CME test submissions. In addition, approximately 458 individuals have joined the AIUM since January. Take a look at the listing of new members on the opposite page. The value that this benefit adds to your membership more than pays for the cost of membership itself, all while supporting your continuing education needs. The launch of this valuable member benefit further supports the AIUM's commitment to providing quality educational opportunities for our members. JUM CME self-study tests are a fast, convenient, and economical way for members to obtain their needed credits. Endowment for Education and Research Puts Out Request for Proposal on the Study of the Costs, Accuracy, Risks, and Benefits of Ultrasound Compared to Other Imaging Modalities The AIUM Endowment for Education and Research (EER) is issuing a request for proposal (RFP) for studies of the costs, accuracy, risks, and benefits of ultrasound compared to other imaging modalities. Proposals should address decision analysis regarding a specific disease entity, patient symptom, or anatomic region. In addition to cost, radiation exposure can also be addressed. The purpose of the RFP is to evaluate the cost consequences (projected nationally with current practice and projections of future cost savings) and safety of the use of ultrasound in the initial evaluation or follow-up of patients with specific indications. The analysis should take into account the detection rates of diseases, false-positive and -negative rates of different imaging techniques, and consequent costs and morbidities, including unnecessary surgery and failures to perform needed surgery. Submission details are available at www.aium.org. Are You "Pushing for a Million?" The EER, a key source for funding and advancing ultrasound education and research, is approaching the $1,000,000 milestone. Your contribution will make a difference! Over the past 6 years, the AIUM and the EER have awarded $260,000 toward ultrasound education and research. These important ultrasound grants, such as the imaging modality comparison study mentioned above, are made possible by members who generously-and annually-donate to the EER. You can help further these efforts by contributing to the EER. Visit www.aium.org to make your tax-deductible contribution in any amount today. Occupational Injury Survey Sound Ergonomics is one of our corporate supporters with a distinctive mission, the health and safety of ultrasound professionals. They have looked in the past at causes of sonographer injuries, and now they are attempting to identify the factors causing the rapid rise in injuries among physician sonologists and help find ways to reduce or prevent those injuries from causing permanent damage and possibly ending careers. We invite you to help Sound Ergonomics in this effort by participating in a brief survey. Your responses will help determine the scope of the injury problem and find ways to address it. Please go to the Sound Ergonomics website at www.soundergonomics.com, and click on the physician survey link on the home page to begin the survey. I've completed the survey; please consider doing the same. Clinical Sonography Specialist Needs and Interest Survey During the 2006 National Sonography Advanced Practice Consensus Conference (APCC), a model profile for a sonographer physician extender was developed under the working title of Clinical Sonography Specialist (CSS). To fill in the "information gaps" that existed regarding the level of interest and support for this concept within both the sonographer and physician populations, a national survey has been developed to gather data. A sonographer survey was completed, and the summary results are now available. The APCC is now surveying the physician specialty organizations to determine the level of physician support for the CSS concept. To view the summary report and participate in the CSS Needs and Interest Survey, go to the AIUM website at www.aium.org.  Joshua Copel, MD President |
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