Satellite technology brings cutting-edge course to three sites

It isn’t easy to schedule time away from your practice to attend continuing medical education (CME) courses. Traveling to distant locations is not only time-consuming, it can be costly. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the courses came to a location near you?

That’s the idea behind the “Cutting-Edge Developments and Controversies in Total Joint Arthroplasty” course, cosponsored by the AAOS and the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons (AAHKS), May 2-3. This completely new course uses satellite and Internet technology to bring top-notch instructors and focused content to three locations simultaneously.

“The idea of an interactive multi-site course developed during discussions with leaders in adult reconstructive surgery about what educational opportunities might be of most value in today’s climate. From those discussions, a collaboration developed between the AAOS and the AAHKS,” explains Daniel J. Berry, MD, AAHKS immediate past president and one of the course directors. “The course is designed to deliver focused content that addresses the issues that matter most to orthopaedic surgeons with a practice in adult reconstruction.”

One course, three locations
Satellite and Internet links will enable participants in the Orthopaedic Learning Center in Rosemont, Ill., to share sessions with participants in Cambridge, Mass., and Los Angeles. In addition, local faculty teams at each site will hold small group sessions to maximize faculty-participant interaction.

“Rather than a broad-based program, we have created a program focusing on several specific controversies and complications with the following two goals in mind—first, to help orthopaedic surgeons sort out the issues on controversial topics and second, to improve care by reducing postsurgical problems like infections and instability,” says Dr. Berry.

Sessions shared by all three sites will cover the controversy over hip resurfacing and optimal management of single compartment knee arthritis. Individual-site, small group sessions will focus on advances in managing infections and treating hip and knee instability. Surgical demonstrations, panel discussions, and case reviews will be featured.

Just the beginning?
“The CME Courses Committee wants to use technology to bring education to Academy fellows at or near their practice,” says Edward Akelman, MD, chair of the committee. “If this program on adult reconstruction is successful, we plan to expand the number of receive-only sites for future courses. In addition, we are planning a series of Webinars, all designed to reduce the time AAOS members have to spend away from their practices and their families.”

For more information on this or other AAOS-sponsored CME courses, call AAOS customer service at (800) 626-2726.

Howard Mevis is director of the AAOS department of electronic media, multimedia education, course operations, and practice management. He can be reached at mevis@aaos.org