Planning Underway for Two Great CME Opportunities

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

By Kathryn Atkinson, CMP Manager, NCAFP Meetings & Events

~ UPCOMING EVENTS ~

Planning Underway for Two Fantastic CME Opportunities

While we are all currently working hard and being mindful in our actions to help flatten the COVID-19 curve, the NCAFP CME Team still has our sights set on two fantastic live CME events scheduled for later this year. As the dates approach, we will keep you well informed on the in-person and virtual webcast plans for these programs. For now, take a look at what we have in the works and make your plans soon to join us this August and December for fantastic CME, networking, and fun.

Sports Medicine for the Active Patient

Saturday, August 8, 2020 in Greensboro

By continuing our promise to provide relevant, timely topics that you’ve requested, we are delighted to host “Sports Medicine for the Active Patient” on Saturday, August 8, from 7:30 am to 12:15 pm in Greensboro. We’ve tapped Dr. Karl “Bert” Fields to spearhead this lively program complete with eight 30-minute lectures and two question & answer panel sessions. Planned lecture topics include active adults with hypertension, active adults with osteoarthritis, new guidelines for concussions, pediatric sports injuries, common shoulder problems, common hand injuries, tennis and golfer’s elbow, and common running injuries. This unique half-day Saturday CME and networking opportunity will be held at the Greensboro High Point

Marriott Airport Hotel and will include an estimated 4.00 CME credits. Additional guest speakers include Dr. Kevin Burroughs, Dr. Ryan Draper, Dr. Sara Neal, and Dr. Dominic McKinley. The NCAFP is excited to offer this fantastic CME opportunity via an In-Person Attendee option ($100 for Members) and a Virtual Webcast option ($50 for Members). Current NCAFP Board Members are reminded of the August Board Meeting also scheduled this same day from 12:30 pm to 2:00 pm immediately following the CME program. Online registration and additional conference information can be found at www.ncafp.com/sportsmedicine.

Winter Family Physicians Weekend

December 3rd - 6th, 2020 in Asheville

Planning for the annual Winter Family Physicians Weekend, scheduled for Thursday, December 3 – Sunday, December 6 at The Omni Grove Park Inn, is also

in full swing these days. Program chair Dr. Victoria Kaprielian and program vice-chair, Dr. Jay Patel, have prepared a full slate of timely topics that we are confident you’ll find helpful and informative for you and your patients. This year’s top-notch lecture topics include reproductive health, osteoar- thritis and chronic low back pain, kidney dis- ease, depression, chronic heart failure, HCV treatment, HPV related cancers, CGM and primary care, radon and lung cancer, well child-care, and many more. This always popular weekend in the Blue Ridge Moun- tains will include an estimated 25+ CME credits, various unique CME workshops and seminars, along with several optional infor- mative product theaters. Save the dates now and watch your emails for additional infor- mation. In the meantime, please visit the conference site at www.ncafp.com/wfpw for the latest schedule updates and general information.

While these days are certainly like none we’ve ever experienced before, we remain positive, and we are incredibly thankful. Pos- itive that the days will get better and grate- ful for people like you working tirelessly on the frontlines. We continue to look forward to supporting you with fantastic CME via interactive learning sessions (live and/or vir- tual), first-rate faculty, and timely requested topics. On behalf of the NCAFP, thank you for what you continue to do every day with- in your communities. Please continue to be safe and stay healthy. We appreciate you, and we cannot wait to see you again.

Please contact Kathryn Atkinson, CMP, Manager of NCAFP Meetings & Events via katkinson@ncafp.com or 919-214-9058 with any questions about this year’s programs.

NCAFP Delivers Spring Symposium Virtually Over 200 attendees enjoy high quality CME

By Brent Hazelett, MPA, CAE

NCAFP Vice President & COO

It is often said that crisis breeds opportunity. When it became apparent that the April NCAFP Spring Symposium would not be possible in person, the NCAFP was faced with a decision to either cancel the event or provide the education virtually. The NCAFP Meetings Department, along with our partner audio visual team, EZAV, and Program Chair Dr. Takie Hondros, determined that it was very feasible to maintain the existing lineup of high-quality education in a virtual platform, allowing our members and attendees to receive up to eight hours of education from the comfort of their homes. With less than three weeks to prepare for this transition, the team worked tirelessly to ensure the event would be a success, delivering the high-quality CME that our members have come to expect from us.

Thankfully, based on the feedback of those that attended, we were able to succeed.

Much to our delight, over 200 attendees logged-in throughout most of the eight-hour event, participating in high quality topics such as insomnia, diabetes, HIV prevention, vaping, hyperkalemia, migraine, health equity and more. It turns out that having great speakers on timely topics is really beneficial, even when given over the internet. And people happily sent us pictures throughout the day of them learning from the comforts of home, which we loved seeing.

Another thing we learned about virtual learning is that the question and answer part of the presentation is really good online. The presenter can answer a lot of questions in a relatively short period of time, and people are much more likely to ask a quick question during the presentation while they are thinking about it rather than after a live lecture. This was a pleasant surprise both for us, and the presenters. And it turns out that online learning isn’t necessarily for “younger” people. Over 60% of our attendees were over 50 years old – that’s awesome!

While we definitely encountered some challenges along the way, we learned and adapted on the fly. In the end, I think everyone was pleased with the NCAFP’s first foray into virtual learning. We thoroughly enjoyed the positive kudos we received, as well as suggestions about how to improve, and we also enjoyed the fact that we reached people we might not necessarily ever see at our live events. In fact, 13% of the attendees at the virtual event indicated they had never attended an NCAFP CME meeting pre

viously. We also had one participant indicate that while this was their first virtual CME, they never wanted to attend a live event again because they loved the virtual format and ease so much. While we hope there will always be people that crave live interaction and enjoy our live events, we are also more than happy to provide another way for our members to learn and earn credits, while saving money on travel costs and avoiding time away from their practice and their families.

As the NCAFP evaluates how to provide education in a fast-changing world, we already view virtual learning as another feather in the NCAFP cap and we thank all of you who joined us on this first adventure. We look forward to seeing you at our next event, whether in person or not. Thank you for all you do for the citizens of NC, and for all your support of the NCAFP.

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