The ATS will relaunch the Fellows Symposium at ATS 2011. While the symposium’s overarching goal—helping fellows to stay abreast of the latest scientific and clinical advances in pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine—remains the same, this year’s symposium will no longer be a stand-alone course, but instead will be an integral part of the International Conference itself.

“In recent years, we have instituted several programs that support fellows and encourage them to look at learning as a lifelong endeavor in which the ATS plays a pivotal role,” said ATS President Dean E. Schraufnagel, MD, who calls the Fellows Symposium the foundation of the Society’s education of fellows. “Relaunching the Fellows Symposium is a strategic imperative for the ATS because it is of critical importance that the Society engage trainees as part of its community of learners, and make their experience at the annual International Conference as educationally productive as it can possibly be.”

Given its size and scope, the International Conference can be daunting to navigate, which is why the Society has redesigned the Fellows Symposium as an orientation to the conference, with experts providing content background on the major sessions and topics at the conference.

Thanks to educational grants from Underwriting Supporters Genentech and Novartis, the ATS is offering first-, second- and third-year fellows from 125 U.S. training programs awards of $1,425 to travel to the 2011 International Conference.

“We are pleased that Genentech and Novartis have taken an extraordinary first step in funding these travel scholarships,” continued Dr. Schraufnagel, professor of medicine and pathology and program director in the Section of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Sleep and Allergy, University of Illinois at Chicago.

The symposium, which will be chaired by Deborah Shure, MD, will focus on the Society’s three pillars—pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine. To ensure that each specialty receives equal attention, the ATS has selected a co-chair to represent each pillar. Carolyn Welsh, MD, will oversee the pulmonary portion; Neil MacIntyre, MD, will direct the critical care track; and Barbara Phillips, MD, MPH, will oversee the sleep program.

Each topic covered at the ATS Fellows Symposium will be mapped to corresponding sessions and poster presentations that will be given at ATS 2011. At the conclusion of each lecture, faculty members will highlight the scientific symposia and presentations that are relevant to that area of focus, as well as to remind fellows of the day and time he/she will be available in the ATS Center for Fellows and Junior Professionals to further discuss the topic and answer questions informally.

Dean E. Schraufnagel, MD

“The format and structure will encourage questions and interactions with faculty and facilitate one-on-one educational and mentoring opportunities,” said Dr. Shure, who is a consultant reviewer at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. “That, combined with lecture content that provides fellows with stimulating, often cutting-edge ideas about each topic, will make this, we hope, an invaluable learning opportunity.”

The symposium will recognize that participating fellows have different levels of experience. Each training program has its own curriculum, and some fellows might know more about certain disease state than others. Faculty members will tailor the curriculum accordingly.

All participants will take a written pre-test as part of their registration, the results of which will be shared with program faculty so that presentations and cases are tailored to address attendees’ specific needs.

Case-based learning will also be an important part of the program. All lectures will include at least one case study that employs audience response system polling and focuses on “teachable” moments to incorporate into clinical practice. Fellows will also complete a written post-test at the conclusion of the conference, which will help faculty members identify knowledge gaps for future educational activities, as well as to assess the success of the 2011 program.

And, finally, all participants will be required to submit a report in June 2011 that indicates what they learned as a result of attending ATS 2011 and how they are using what they learned to improve patient care.