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Editorial april 2006
The Green Coats Are
Coming! The Green
Coats Are Coming!
Vivian M. Dickerson, MD
This year, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
(ACOG) is operating under a new strategic plan that was adopted
by the executive board in 2005.1
Often, such plans are created with the best intentions and then
put on a shelf and ignored. However, the ACOG leadership has made
a commitment to action that will creatively meet the goals of this
strategic plan.
What is new about this plan? Plenty! Beyond reaffirming the importance
of ACOGÁÃs two major roles—educating health care providers
and patients, and advocating for women's health and welfare—it
also recognizes that these goals cannot be achieved without incorporating
new teaching modalities and information technology.
In a new mission statement emphasizing the importance of community,
professionalism, and service to the membership, the leadership notes
that ACOG, "the preeminent authority on women's health, is
a professional membership organization dedicated to advancing women's
health by building and sustaining the obstetric and gynecologic
community and actively supporting its members. The College pursues
this mission through education, practice, research, and advocacy.
ACOG will emphasize life-long learning, incorporate new knowledge
and information technology, and evolve its governance structure.
To achieve its strategic goals, ACOG will develop an operational
plan that includes the appropriate metrics."1
The plan pledges that ACOG shall:
- Expand and strengthen
membership support
- Advocate for women's health
- Assess and evaluate the
breadth, depth, and practice
of the discipline
- Nurture and improve the
obstetric and gynecologic
community.
This year, ACOG's annual clinical meeting (ACM) will mark its
54th anniversary. The venue—Washington, DC—is not only
the nation's capitol, but it is also ACOG's home. This meeting is
one of the ways that ACOG serves its members, and is an operational
component of the strategic plan. Accordingly, innovations are afoot,
with curricula and meetings designed to address as many of the goals
as possible. Attendees will notice continued improvements, updated
teaching techniques, new types of programming, and a major effort
to upgrade the quality of learning and collegiality.
Members who may feel that the ACM has become too routine should
note how this year's innovations fulfill ACOG's stated goals. Foreign-language
luncheon conferences are planned for colleagues from around the
world (ie, supporting and nurturing
the membership and
improving the OB/GYN community).
There are interactive
and live telesurgery sessions (ie,
using information technology
for medical education, and assessing
the practice of the discipline).
One general session has
been left unplanned until the
last minute to accommodate
late-breaking news (ie, advocating
for womenÁÃs health and evaluating
the depth, breadth, and
practice of the specialty). There
also is a session on the business
of medicine and workshops on
coding (ie, providing membership
support and services). And
with traditional favorites such
as the Cosgrove Lecture, Stump
the Professors, the ACOG Film
Festival, and the 120 and 060
postgraduate courses, this is
shaping up into a meeting that
should not be missed.
The ACMs do not "just happen." Strengthening and modifying
ACOG's goals and mission have created a new template and generated
a mandate for programs that will fall within that template.a monumental
task. Much of the credit for this pursuit of excellence goes to
ACOG's vice president of education, Sterling Williams, MD, and his
capable staff. However, it takes a dedicated and unified effort
on the part of all of the ACOG fellows who spend many uncompensated
hours, using their vast combined experience and education, to create
this wide array of programs. These fellows comprise the hard-working
Committee on Scientific Program, which creates the agenda and lines
up the faculty for every conference, clinical seminar, postgraduate
course, and general session.
Who are these unsung fellows? Attendees will notice that the halls,
rooms, and perimeters at the ACM are monitored by men and women
in green coats. For years, as a junior fellow, I thought they were
akin to "ushers." However, they are actually members of
the Committee on Scientific Program who not only spend countless
hours planning the event, but also arrive early and stay late every
day. They are there to help the lost or confused, facilitate operations,
answer questions, hear complaints and concerns, ensure the realization
of all that they planned and evaluate its quality, and start planning
for next year. They implement a massive agenda throughout the year.
As President-Elect and then President of ACOG, one of my most memorable
experiences was attending the meetings of this scientific program
committee. There was a palpable energy and a remarkable work ethic
on the part of physicians who are doing this in their "spare
time." These "green coats" are not just "meet-and-gree"
hosts. They are the core and spirit of the ACM. And they are coming
to Washington, DC in May under the outstanding leadership of Joseph
Sanfilippo, MD. They have worked hard to bring this meeting to the
membership as the embodiment of ACOG's goals.
I hope that many readers are planning to attend the ACM, enjoy
the fellowship, and, in their own individual ways, further ACOG's
mission. I hope to see you all there, and remember—when you
see a "green coat," take a moment to express your appreciation
for a job well done.
Vivian M. Dickerson, MD
Editor-in-Chief
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References
- ACOG strategic plan.2005. American College of
Obstetricians and Gynecologists Web site. Available at: http://www.acog.org/acog_sections/dist_notice.
cfm?recno=29&bulletin=1666. Accessed February 26, 2006.
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