First, thank you very much – I am honored to be the 76th President of the American College of Chest Physicians. Next, thank you to Dr. Darcy D. Marciniuk, FCCP, our 75th ACCP President, who worked very hard for the College this past year and did a stellar job. His accomplishments will no doubt stand the test of time. And, the ACCP team will continue to tap into Darcy’s skills in his role as our Immediate Past President.
Let me briefly introduce myself. My wife Barb, my two sons, Tyler and Jackson, and I live in Jackson, Mississippi. My daily Mississippi work life revolves around the University of Mississippi Medical Center, where I have been on faculty for nearly 20 years. We have over 9,000 employees and students on our campus daily. I have the privilege of working with a great group of colleagues who make my day-to-day life quite rewarding. Their considerable support is the reason I’m able to commit the time and energy to the ACCP Presidency this year.
Dr. Michael H. Baumann, FCCP
Plan for the year
What does the ACCP team have planned for next year? Note, the word "team." This is not my plan, but a plan developed with you—our members’ input. The team consists of our ACCP staff, leadership, and, most importantly, members like you. Your guidance and requests have been heard. In fact, I do not have a presidential "theme" for the year, unless "focus as a team" can be called a theme. As a team, let’s finish all of the important core projects we have started! Not exactly a sexy banner-grabbing "theme," but pretty darn important!
I can’t say this any better than Darcy did last year, so I will simply quote him:
"Our core strength is providing what clinicians around the world want most: education which enables them to deliver the best possible clinical care. The ACCP does not purport to be everything to everyone. We’ve adopted a disciplined approach that allows us to excel at exactly what we do – provide the very best and essential learning opportunities for the practicing clinician. Our journal CHEST, the annual CHEST conference, board review courses, simulation offerings, leadership development, and other innovative programs are all planned with that focus and important goal in mind."
This upcoming year, we will continue to focus on our core strength that aligns with the interests we have heard from our members yet again—in three words—more clinical education.
New technology-driven headquarters
To do this, we will harness our new headquarters’ state-of-the-art Innovation, Simulation, and Training Center by offering more simulation and education opportunities that will be even more innovative. The ACCP recently achieved accreditation from the Society of Simulation in Healthcare. The ACCP is the only professional medical society to be accredited. But first, we need to finish building our new LEED-certified headquarters. We still have a bit more to do to finish up. And finish – we will. Our projected move in date is in February 2014.
Our new headquarters will be complemented by our ongoing investment in an all new information technology infrastructure, our new ACCP "central nervous system" - our brain. These technology systems will coordinate our many College projects, including our all-important member-focused activities. This "brain" will provide state-of-the-art connectivity for our members to seamlessly access our educational offerings and other College products. Members will be able to quickly acquire the essential new knowledge they need to care for their patients, for maintenance of certification requirements, and for personalized data to report their quality performance measures to meet future regulatory requirements.
All of these products and services will feature a new look and feel—our new visual brand identity, introduced during CHEST 2013 in Chicago and then launched online later that week
Guidelines, global, and more
More clinical practice guidelines are on the way. Already a trusted voice in guideline development, the ACCP team is developing new guidelines (and, updating prior guidelines) in a more nimble fashion (translate, faster) with a more user-friendly product (translate, more practical for the frontline provider). Work will be accelerating this year to bring you the latest guideline-based information that you need to provide the best and most up-to-date care for your patients.
More than 5,000 attendees experienced CHEST 2013 (a new record!), one of our yearly premier educational programs. The many innovative offerings reflected the hard work of the scientific program chair, Dr. Jack Buckley, and the entire ACCP team. Dr. Mark Metersky, from the University of Connecticut, is our program chair for CHEST 2014 to be held in Austin, Texas. Mark, the program committee, and the ACCP staff are already hard at work designing this meeting. Austin offers a unique venue that I’m sure you will enjoy.