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The American Thoracic Society International Conference has steadily grown into one of the largest gatherings of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep clinicians and researchers in the world ever since its inception in 1905. Each year, organizers listen to their colleagues and ATS members and commit themselves to building on what attendees find invaluable.

ATS 2013 in Philadelphia is a clear reflection of this pursuit.

More than 400 sessions, 800 speakers, and 5,300 original research abstracts and case reports will be presented at ATS 2013 from May 17 to 22 at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This year, the educational offerings for clinicians will be greater than ever before, and organizers have focused on helping them achieve Maintenance of Certification points.

At ATS 2013, the Society will launch adult and pediatric core curricula in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

For the first time, the ATS has partnered with National Jewish Health^® to provide Nursing Contact Hours for selected sessions.

Complementing all of this programming will be the hands-on clinical workshop on a diagnostic approach to the peripheral lung nodule.

Clinical Core Curriculum 

Carey C. Thomson, MD, MPH

“The aim of the Clinical Core Curriculum is to provide an overview of pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine over a three-year cycle,” said Carey C. Thomson, MD, MPH, chair of the ATS Education Committee and associate director of critical care at Mount Auburn Hospital in Cambridge, Mass.

The corresponding modules have been submitted to the American Board of Internal Medicine for consideration for Maintenance of Certification Part II points, which would allow 2013 conference attendees to obtain both CME credit and MOC points. Currently, the ABIM requires recertifying physicians to earn 100 MOC points within 10 years.

Tao Le, MD

The Pulmonary Core Curriculum will cover vascular diseases, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, obstructive airway disease and others, congenital/neuromuscular/skeletal disorders, and rare lung diseases. The Sleep Core Curriculum will feature sleep evaluation, hypersomnolence unrelated to sleep-related breathing disorders, parasomnias, and sleep in other disorders. The Critical Care Core Curriculum will include renal/endocrine/metabolism, surgical/trauma/transplantation, hematologic/oncologic disorders, and gastrointestinal disorders.

“ATS is ahead of the curve in terms of providing this kind of service to its members,” said Tao Le, MD, vice chair of the Education Committee and assistant clinical professor at the University of Louisville Allergy/Immunology Clinic. “The Clinical Core Curriculum is designed to appeal to the mainstream practitioner who wants to gain his or her competencies in those areas and identify any weaknesses based on the tests. This is a high-profile change to the International Conference.”

Pediatric Core Curriculum
New self-assessment modules associated with three sessions in the brand new Pediatric Clinical Core Curriculum and two pediatric postgraduate courses have been submitted to the American Board of Pediatrics for consideration for MOC Part II credit. When approved, attendees with full conference registration will have access to the modules to earn MOC Part II credit by passing a pretest, attending the sessions or postgraduate courses, and passing a post-test, which will be reported to the ABP.

The Pediatric Core Curriculum sessions will cover asthma, interstitial lung disease and diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, and sleep and bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

The pediatric post-graduate courses, which were popular at ATS 2012, are “Pediatric Respiratory Physiology: What’s Right and When It Goes Wrong,” led by ATS Pediatrics Assembly Chair Howard Panitch, MD, on Friday, May 17, and “The Cellular Foundation of Pediatric Respiratory Disease,” led by Marc Hershenson, MD, on Saturday, May 18. Dr. Panitch is director of Clinical Programs and the Technology Dependence Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Dr. Hershenson is professor pediatrics, communicable diseases, and molecular and integrative physiology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich.

“The Society’s embrace of MOC sends a powerful message: We are eager to help clinicians in their efforts to stay current because their practices will be of higher quality, and we want to do it in a way that is interesting and fun,” said Mary Nevin, MD, chair of the Pediatric Clinical Core Curriculum and a pediatric pulmonologist, physician, and director of continuing medical education at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

Nursing Contact Hours
In another first, the ATS has partnered with National Jewish Health to provide Nursing Contact Hours for selected sessions. National Jewish Health is a provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number, CEP 12724. Attendees will be able to claim credit for sessions by completing an evaluation online or at a kiosk, which will require their registration emails, badge numbers, and nursing license numbers. Nursing Contact Hour certificates are created upon completion of the evaluation. Once completed, attendees will have the option to email themselves a copy of the certificate. The Nursing Assembly selected sessions with content that is appropriate for and relevant to the needs of its members, and several courses are eligible for nursing contact hours credit.

Hands-On Clinical Workshop
The Assembly on Clinical Problems will present the hands-on clinical workshop “Diagnostic Approach to the Peripheral Lung Nodule,” on Sunday, May 19. The session will discuss the current evidence and approach to the peripheral lung nodule, and evaluate clues and signs that would lead the chest physicians to an observation strategy versus sampling or resection. A one-hour hands-on session will expose the learners to current bronchoscopic technology that can reach the peripheral lung nodule such as radial endobronchial ultrasound and navigation bronchoscopy.

Attendees will be able to outline the optimal approach to the solitary lung nodule, gain an understanding of current and emerging bronchoscopic approaches to the solitary lung nodule as well as gain hands-on practice in bronchoscopic technology that target the peripheral lung nodule.

The workshop will include a boxed lunch. Pre-registration and a fee of $95 are required.

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