Spring 2008 Newsletter Article

New Orleans again provided a wonderful backdrop for APA Regions VII and VIII to join together as part of the Southern Regional Meeting, held February 21 – 23, 2008. Following the opening poster session, the APA sponsored a dinner at the Palace Café. Members and guests experienced authentic local cuisine and networked with faculty and trainees from all over the region. On Friday, the APA sponsored an excellent workshop on “Making Learning Fun for All: Working with Your Learner’s Differences,” presented by Marney Gundlach and Rosina Connelly.

The final morning of the conference, 19 members of the two regions enjoyed combining breakfast and business. Each year the regions collaborate to present trainee travel awards to this meeting, consisting of a one-year trainee membership to the APA, and money. This year nine travel awards were presented and the recipients recognized at the regional breakfast. The awardees were chosen for excellence in research presented at the meeting. Their names and project titles are:

1. Marney Gundlach – Do Medical Students Report Achieving Curricular Goals? Self-assessment in a Competency-Based Curriculum
2. Jamie Hixon -- Is There A Correlation Between Obesity And Risky Behavior In Adolescence?
3. Tonya Thompson -- An Objective, Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) For Pediatric Emergency Medicine Fellows Used To Evaluate The Six ACGME Core Competencies
4. Nan Frascogna -- Assessing The Knowledge Of ATV Safety For Children Among Alabama Pediatricians
5. Mary Lauren Scott -- Prevalence Of Metabolic Syndrome In Obese Adolescents And Factors Influencing Systemic Inflammation, Particularly CRP
6. Jeanie Visootsak -- Neurodevelopmental Impact Of Congenital Heart Defects In Down Syndrome
7. James Mcelligott -- Patient-Held Vaccination Records; Do They Improve Vaccination Coverage Rates?
8. Elena Caron -- Prevention Of Allergic Reactions To Snake Antivenom
9. Claudia B Stowe -- Can Hospitalists Be Effective Teachers?

New region co-chairs were announced, with Marny Dunlap from the University of Oklahoma (region VII) and Jimmy Roberts of the Medical University of South Carolina (region VIII) slated to take office in May at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Honolulu. Following other regional business items, Peter Szilagyi, President of the APA, spoke to the group about the organization’s strategic plan and welcomed additional input from members.

We also hope as many of you as possible will join us in Hawaii at PAS from May 3-6. Each region will sponsor breakfast, and our new co-chairs will take office. We will also thank our out-going co-chairs, Bryan Burke of Region VII and Terry Wall from Region VIII for their hard work for these past 3 years.

Finally, next year’s regional meeting will take place February 12-14, 2009 in New Orleans. We hope more people will join us as this particular conference is geared toward trainees and younger faculty. It gives them a forum to learn, network and present data in preparation for future presentations at larger, national meetings.