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Dear colleagues:
Last year offered plenty of opportunities to reflect upon what is most important to each of us—personally and professionally.
The economic instability, voluntary pharmaceutical code changes and more stringent accreditation rules led most associations to alter policies and trim budgets. The Academy was no exception. While the Board of Directors reworked this year’s budget in order to stay on sound financial footing, every effort was made to retain our core educational services and member benefits; yet staff cut-backs and some program elimination became unavoidable.
Adaptive Solutions
Circumstances in 2008 compelled us to reassess many resources and programs that we’ve come to take for granted. By now you’ve heard that we will be cutting back on shuttle buses and the number of box lunches at the Annual Meeting. As we are slimming down, we are finding additional healthy alternatives to delivering the benefits you expect from the AAAAI.
As we reviewed how we send news and information to you (such as the costs, as well as the carbon footprint involved with producing and mailing 7,000 copies of AAAAI News each month), viable alternatives emerged. We are pleased to announce the launch of Footnotes, a monthly newsletter contained within the pages of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology (JACI). Each month, Footnotes will keep you informed about member benefits and services, give you an inside look at AAAAI leaders’ efforts, offers tips and tactics for the practicing allergist and provides a calendar of current CME activities. You will continue to receive AAAAI News on a quarterly basis. This environmentally-friendly change reduces paper consumption, represents a cost-savings measure and conveniently presents practical news and clinical tips within the JACI.
Thoughtful analysis also came into play during 2008 when the ACCME put new rules in place regarding more extensive disclosure policies. Some of our procedures needed to change, but this hasn’t prevented us from pursuing our goal of providing quality educational programming to our members, including an outstanding line-up for the 2009 Annual Meeting, March 13-17 in Washington, DC.
During tough times, cooperation and collaboration take on added importance. During the past year, partnerships with the ACAAI, the JCAAI and lay organizations produced benefits to our members and to the specialty. Examples include links to the AAAAI Physician Referral Directory that are now embedded within the American Lung Association’s Web site and an upcoming “Capitol Hill Day” in Washington, DC, when representatives from the AAAAI, the ACAAI and JCAAI join forces for one-on-one meetings with legislators.
A Good Year for Initiatives
I’d like to share with you a brief summary regarding my Presidential Initiatives. For more details, I encourage you to turn to my message within the upcoming issue of AAAAI News.
- In 2008, we were able to engage the NIAID in the development of national food allergy guidelines, similar to the NAEPP Asthma Guidelines. To assure broad input into the final document and acceptance of the finished product, a Coordinating Committee has been selected from multiple medical specialties, health care groups and lay organizations. Expert Panel writing groups have been chosen, each chaired by a member of the AAAAI.
- Attracting more under-represented minorities to our specialty is a long-term goal. To this end, the Committee on the Underserved and the Underserved Recruitment Task Force have merged and initiated a number of new programs. My hope is that when Dr. Dennis Ledford, who has played a major role in this initiative, becomes AAAAI President in 2011, we will be nearing our goal of 15% under-represented minorities in our membership.
- A recent report by the NIH indicated that over one-third of Americans use complementary and alternative medicines (CAM). The CAM Task Force became an official committee under FADDA, and AAAAI members recently completed a trial of the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database linked from our Web site. Input from our members has driven future uses of the Database and I’m pleased to report we just signed a one-year agreement to continue this member benefit. You can find the link on the home page of the Members Center on the AAAAI Web site.
While the AAAAI faces many challenges in the year ahead, I am confident that the creativity and ingenuity of our members and leadership, along with a solid, long-term financial base and plan, will carry us through and see us emerge even stronger, more focused and capable of providing the best information and care to our membership and the patients we serve.
Wishing you a happy, healthy new year,
Hugh A. Sampson, MD, FAAAAI
AAAAI President
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