Are We Meeting Your Needs?

Education continues to be one of the most critical needs for transplant professionals and is the number one reason why people join AST. The American Transplant Congress and the American Journal of Transplantation are two significant offerings most often appreciated by members. But we don’t rest on our laurels — instead we strive to continue to find ways to update skills, highlight critical issues and, moving forward, serve as a resource for maintenance of certification.

Over the last year, we have moved entirely to a volunteer committee responsible for the oversight of all our educational projects. Led by John Gill, the education committee has worked on continued innovation in and attention to the kinds of programs that appeal to members. We continue to offer podcasts and the Timely Topics in Transplantation (T3) series to keep members up-to-date on hot topics in transplantation. Additionally, the AST Fellows Symposium in Transplant Medicine is one of the most highly attended and successful programs aimed at trainees in transplant medicine and surgery.

Our most recent and highly successful offering is the Cutting Edge in Organ Transplantation (CEOT) meeting. The 2013 program in antibody mediated injury brought together basic scientists and clinicians from around the world to provide insights into a critical topic in clinical transplant medicine. Highlights of the program are available on the AST website. 

AST is not a society that simply maintains the status quo. So this past year, we’ve worked to develop new educational programming to keep our members in tune with the latest research and developments in our field. 

• In late 2012, the Society launched a brand-new monthly webinar series, titled “The Business of Transplantation.” This eight-part series has been extremely well received and focuses on quality, operations and finance in transplantation – complementing AST’s other educational programming concentrated on clinical care. 
• At the end of this month, you’ll see the culmination of another new educational effort with the launch of the AST Journal Club. It will provide a forum for open discussion of recently published articles impacting the field of transplantation. 
• Later this year, members will have access to a new practice improvement module (PIM) for maintenance of certification in transplant nephrology. This PIM will help members satisfy requirements for recertification by the ABIM.
• A new consensus conference focused on the use of Hepatitis B core positive organs will incorporate a real-time guideline review, an innovative pilot program that will build a transplant study registry to facilitate efficient evidence review. 
• Finally, we hope to expand the Fellows Symposium to incorporate a longitudinal educational program that provides targeted education to fellows beyond this meeting. 

AST will continue to work towards exceptional educational programming and access to revolutionary technology and research. But we want to know what you’re looking for, what we can offer to enhance your professional career. If you have other ideas about programs and offerings of interest, I’d love to hear from you. AST wants to be your primary source for education in transplantation.

 - Roz