Committee Co-Chairs

Susan Cymbor, MD
cymbors@ccf.org

Berend Mets, MB, PhD
bmets@psu.edu

Goals and Objectives

1. Attend CAS meetings and represent SEA
2. Act as conduit to CAS resources

CAS Meeting Update

Council of Academic Societies

Report to the Society for Education in Anesthesia Board of Directors

Submitted by:  Berend Mets, M.D., Ph.D., CAS Representative

 The CAS is one of three major components of AAMC.  The others are COTH (Council of Teaching Hospitals) and the COD (Council of Deans).

 The CAS is composed of faculty who represent medical school departments and their chairs, academic societies, and individual faculty members.

 Our mission is to help the faculty of medical schools and teaching hospitals to pursue their primary responsibilities of research, education, and patient care.

 Our goal is to help medical faculty, their institutions, and their societies, improve the health of all Americans.

To accomplish its mission, the Council of Academic Societies is committed to the following goals:

 ·        To analyze, prioritize and articulate information and issues relevant to the core values of faculties and constituent societies.

 ·        To support faculty and constituent societies in the exercise of essential core values.

 ·        To articulate the role of the medical school faculty to academic medicine and to the public.

 ·        To foster networking among scholars.

 ·        To ensure that the CAS represents the broad interests of academic faculty and that constituent societies play an active role in the CAS.

 ·        To ensure that issues vital to faculty and constituent societies surface on the AAMC agenda.

 ·        A new website (password protected) has been established of information on the salary faculty data.

 ·        Important developments are discussed, e.g. Jung v AAMC, et al (NRMP Lehighton).  Judge Friedman dismissed all of the plaintiffs motions on August 12, 2004.  However, alternative litigation is being pursued so this is not over.

 ·        Medical school applicants needs, by 2015 we need 15% more medical schools, i.e. around 3,000 more medical graduates a year.  Currently, male + female + applicants are increased but not as high as in 1995.

 ·        HEAL – The Health Education Assets Library.  Electronic educational support for education and assessments.  Supported by NLM and MSF.  A platform has been developed.  Should provide one-stop-shopping for educational resources and virtual patients.  Possibly there will be a peer-review process to ensure value, authenticity and reliability.  Question is whether the AAMC will sponsor this in the future.

 ·        A Clinical Research Task Force II has been established, to address the “toxic environment” that investigators find themselves.

 ·        A Chairs initiative has been started to establish the essential role of chairs as institutional managers and leaders.

 ·        Tuition and student debt – a taskforce has been developed to yet again address this issue.  Also an issue is that + 50% of medical students come from 20% of the upper income groups in our society, i.e. a rich man’s profession.

 ·        Institute for improving medical education.  First a comprehensive look at the state of medical education across the curriculum of medical school and graduate medical education as well as CME by a Dean’s Report now that this blue print has been established a number of areas of activity have been identified.

 ·        Attendance at this meeting and cocktail party for CAS members was illuminating.