AAHPM Preview - 2/16 - AM Sessions

This is the fourth post in a series previewing the sessions at the American Academy of Hospice & Palliative Medicine's Annual Assembly.

You can see all the posts in the series below:
2/14 - Pre-conferences
2/15 - AM Sessions
2/15 - PM Sessions

Click here for the AAHPM Annual Assembly Brochure 2007 (pdf)

Register soon if you have not already!

Friday, February 16th - AM Sessions

Plenary Session
8–9:45 am

Team as a Living Organism: Healthy and Terminally Ill?
Nessa Coyle, NP PhD FAAN & David Giansiracusa, MD
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

I think this is a really good idea for a plenary topic because what person has not been in a meeting and thought that the meeting could be going better, more efficiently, more focused, more whatever, and then the thoughts go to what person is somehow impeding your ideal of a perfect meeting (whether that be short, long, whatever). But this talk is likely much more than the team meeting which I like to think of as the family dinner. The focus of this talk seems to be the whole dynamic of the team in all settings, but obviously I picked on the team meeting because that is one aspect that the medical director really gets to see the team in action. I hope there are some good insights here because I think team building and looking out for one another happens in a few special teams, but it takes work. A lot of work to stay 'healthy.' I guess they should have some good analogies given their title. This talk wins second prize for best title. David is a good speaker as well and an all around good guy so this should be a good talk.

10:15-11:15am
Concurrent Sessions

Well there has always gotta be one session that really doesn't get you particularly excited, although this time has a diverse range of topics, not one particularly grabs me and some I have heard in other venues. The Training Program Accreditation is the one that best fits my needs as a Fellowship Director, so I will be there. Lupu and Portenoy have done some great things to move this process forward and any information from them will be helpful for me to hear. The Children's Legacy talk and the Hurricane Katrina talk should both have some great stories and some particular insight if those areas interest you. Bailey and Ritchie's Evidence Based Order Set talk was pretty insightful last time I went to it, but not much has changed in the past few years in EOL EBM. This session is surely recommended for those entering the field or starting new programs.

11:30-12:30 - AAHPM Business Meeting

If you have never been to this, but are planing to be in this field a while, I reccommend you go to this at least once every few years. Great insight into where we have been and where our professional field is going.