SECTION ON PERINATAL PEDIATRICS - American Academy of ...

www.aap.org/perinatal SECTION ON PERINATAL PEDIATRICSNeWSleTTeR - WINTeR eDITION 2013and with value to our membership.The Quality domain is a new one for the Section, as it mostlikely is for many of our members. A survey was performed whichshowed overwhelming support for the Section to developmodules, preferably on-line, for MOC Part IV. Through the hardwork of Munish Gupta, Patrick Carroll and Dick Powers, our firston-line Performance Improvement Module (PIM) has beenlaunched and is available through the American Board ofPediatrics (ABP) website. This module, ‘Preterm AdmissionTemperature’, will guide users through an improvement project toreduce admission hypothermia in preterm infants, and canprovide both MOC and CME credit. Our second module willfocus on central line associated bloodstream infections, and isunder development. We anticipate additional modules will follow.In addition, we are working to partner with the AAP in their roleas a Portfolio Sponsor for MOC; once this process isestablished, the Section will be able to review QI projectssubmitted by members, and award MOC credit for projectsmeeting specific criteria.The leadership domain is another important part of the 2007strategic plan. The Executive Committee recognized that wehave had very strong leadership during the “growth anddevelopment” phase of our Section, particularly through thewisdom and foresight of people like Joe Butterfield, JerryMerenstein, Av Fanaroff and John Hartline. The questions wereraised “Who will be the next Joe Butterfield?” and “What are wedoing to assure that our section will be strongly represented inthe future?” To assure that our Section will have strongleadership in the future, Trainees and Early CareerNeonatologists (TECaN) was born. TECaN consists of traineesin Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine and Early Career Neonatologistswithin 7 years of graduation from fellowship training who are AAPmembers. Under the mentorship of Judy Aschner, MD, and LindaJ. Van Marter, MD, MPH, TECaN is working to foster careerdevelopment and leadership skills in a new generation of leadersin Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. Members of the TECaNExecutive Committee are selected based on a history ofleadership accomplishments and a passion for advocacy.Members of TECaN have already shown great promise in takingon leadership roles as evidenced by Dmitry Dukhovny’s input onthe “Choosing Wisely” neonatal campaign and Clara Song’soutstanding work in bringing social media to our members.Importantly, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine also needs to developa new generation of teachers, those who can developinstructional materials as well as clear, concise messages in theform of clinical lectures to keep future neonatal meetings vibrantand informative. It takes experience to become a great speaker,and the Section has intentionally sought “new blood” to mix inwith proven leaders for our educational venues. It is our intentionto help develop the next generation of the Alan Jobes, RichPolins, Bill Hays and others who have frequently given their timeto educate us.Blending in Leadership and Quality, the Section has becomeactive participants in the Choosing Wisely campaign. Initiated bythe American Board of Internal Medicine, the original initiativefocused on encouraging physicians, patients and other healthcare stakeholders to think and talk about medical tests andprocedures that may be unnecessary, and in some instances cancause harm. The Section on Perinatal Pediatrics has long heldthe opinion that neonatologists should decide what the bestpractice in neonatology is and recognized that if we stand on thesideline, someone other than us will make those decisions. Ledby immediate past-chair of the section, DeWayne Pursley, the5section hopes to use an evidence-based Delphi approach to offer5 tests/procedures/treatments in neonatology that lack evidenceand may be harmful. This initiative is still in its infancy, but you willbe hearing more about this over the next 6 months.The Global Health domain had a goal to better match sectionmembers with global health opportunities. To this end, the Sectionhas strengthened our relationship with the Section onInternational Child Health. On the SOICH website, members canfind opportunities for international volunteering. The Sectionremains very active in the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB)program, a neonatal resuscitation curriculum for resource-limitedcircumstances.Where do we go from here?Strong institutions set goals and then outline a path to thosegoals. To that end, the Section is in need of critically evaluatingour Strategic Plan from 2007 and revising it to today’s challenges.In 2013, the Section will formally re-evaluate the strategic planwith a goal to have it meet the needs of our membership and ourpatients. Key current issues that we will need to navigate informulating a plan include the impact of the Affordable Care Act,particularly how its effects are likely to be different depending onthe state in which you practice. Also key will be the current realityof a time-limited certificate from the ABP and less time in our livesto meet these requirements. The Section needs to assist themembership not only in developing timely CME for this, but also inmaking the opportunities affordable in costs as well as in timespent. Maybe the most important key issue that the Section willneed to address is the outside forces that may infringe on ourpractice and how neonatologists will maintain autonomy inpractice.Hot Topicsin NeonatologyDecember 8-11, 2013Omni Shoreham Hotel, Washington, DCFor over 30 years, Hot Topics has been THEpremiere neonatal conference, with more than1,000 neonatologists and perinatologistsattending each year.Join us for the Pre-ConferenceNeonatal Quality at Hot TopicsDecember 8, 2013For details on theconference, submittingan abstract, exhibitingor receiving MOC PartIV credit, visitwww.hottopics.org