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The Aerospace Medical Association CME Mission Statement

The Aerospace Medical Association is a group of diversified professionals dedicated to the field and practice of aerospace medicine. The largest component of the Association is that of the physician members. CME is an important aspect of the Association’s service to this segment of the membership. The following document outlines the Association’s goals, objectives, implementation strategy, and expected results for the provision of CME to its membership and its role in the cosponsoring of CME with other organizations. To view the organizational structure, click here.

The purpose of the Continuing Medical Education Mission of the Association is to provide a comprehensive educational program for physicians to maintain currency in aerospace medicine clinical practices, to ensure quality patient care and appropriate aeromedical disposition, and to foster related research.

The Association’s mission provides the basis for the following CME goals:

To advance the science, art, and professionalism of aerospace medicine by stimulating investigation and study and by disseminating knowledge;
To establish and maintain cooperation between medical, biological, engineering, and other sciences concerned with aeronautics, astronautics, and undersea exploration;
To promote, protect, and maintain health and safety in aeronautics, astronautics, and undersea operations; and
To encourage, develop and actively participate in educational efforts for certification and Maintenance of Certification.

The CME objectives matched to the above goals are as follows:

To update the knowledge base of association members in the field of aerospace medicine as well as the pertinent areas of the cross related fields of aeronautics, astronautics, and undersea medicine;
To increase the professional cooperation of the association’s members in their ability to provide services to their patients, the public or the profession;
To increase health and safety awareness, attitudes and activities of association members; and
To ensure compliance with the Maintenance of Certification Program.

Strategies utilized to attain the CME objectives are as follows:

By the convening of scientific meetings – primarily the annual scientific program, supplemented with smaller area-specific meetings, when possible;
By the publication of a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal, including self-assessment materials;
By the cosponsorship of scientific meetings convened by other allied organizations (cosponsorship is offered to outside organizations only if the activity is relevant to aerospace medicine); and
By organizing workshops and panels in order to provide educational materials commensurate with Maintenance of Certification objectives.

Events fall primarily into two principle areas; the annual scientific program and the publishing of a monthly journal. The annual meeting combines a mixture of oral presentations with poster sessions, debates and interactive panel sessions, and workshops. Content areas of the Annual Scientific Meeting include aviation and space medicine, aerospace human factors, aircraft accident investigation, psychology, air medical transport, medical standards, health promotion, hyperbaric medicine, and passenger health. It is anticipated that this material will stimulate new aerospace medicine research initiatives, assist Aviation Medical Examiners (AMEs)/flight surgeons in determining aeromedical disposition decisions, improve clinical care, and advise patients who are traveling as airline passengers or who require air medical transport. The results of the CME Program should improve flying safety by ensuring wellness and enhancing crew performance. The journal is peer-reviewed and, thus, contains articles of current importance and relevancy including self assessment.

Expected results of the CME Program are: changes in practice by the aerospace medicine practitioners; decreased error rates on aviation medical examiner medical examinations; decreased aircraft/spacecraft accident/incident rates due to medical factors; changes in organizational policy (the military services, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration); and changes in residency training. These metrics will be followed by the Home Office.

Aerospace medicine has a highly diversified group of practitioners. Some are civilian aviation medical examiners (AMEs) and others are military flight surgeons and flight surgeons in the space program. Their common thread is their practice in the field of aerospace medicine, thus they all qualify for CME credits related to aerospace medicine sponsored activities. Some members, such as the flight nurses and those who attend the Federal Aviation Administration seminars, are eligible for CEU & CME credits, respectively, directly from those organizations.

The Association’s CME activities can be subdivided according to the ACCME’s “Essential Areas” for CME. These include this Mission Statement and those activities related to the assessment of CME needs, setting CME objectives, designing and implementing CME activities, evaluation of programs, expected results, standards for commercial support, conflict of interest procedures, cosponsorship, and all the management resources and activities needed to fulfill these requirements.

Meetings

For future AsMA meetings and the Meetings Calander, please see the Meetings Page. Please remember that Council Meetings are open to all members of the AsMA. Your input and attendance are always welcome. Our next meeting will be at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, May 11, 2008, at the Sheraton Hotel, in Back Bay D. The Annual Business Meeting will be held at 12 noon on Tuesday, May 13, 2008, Commonwealth Room. Your attendance is vital! Your vote is important! (Note: You don’t have to buy lunch to attend the meeting!)