13th ANNUAL WORKSHOP
TUCSON, ARIZONA
April 18-21, 2007
Wednesday, April
18, 2007
BUSINESS MEETING
The meeting was called to order by the president, Jerry Feldman, who welcomed
everybody to the workshop. The minutes for last year’s workshop were approved
unanimously.
Secretary-Treasurer’s Report:
Jerry Feldman reported this year’s Treasurer’s report (for Mira Irons, who was
not able to be present).
The number of institutions that have paid their 2007 dues is 18, but dues
notices were only recently mailed out. Membership dues were paid by 77 in 2006
and 89 in 2005. Invoices were sent to the medical school deans with a copy to
the institutional representatives. Reminder notices will be sent to those
representatives whose institutions have not paid their 2007 dues by August 31,
2007.
Liaison Reports:
ACMG: Mike Watson provided an update on recent activities. In particular,
he reported that:
Attendance at the recent annual meeting was excellent and the 2007 Genetics Review Course is sold out.
The HRSA grant renewal has been submitted with a focus on genetics education for the non-geneticist. The budget requested is $4m over 5 years.
ACMG is working with the AAP, AAFP and AAPA on primary care education opportunities in genetics.
There are seven bills before Congress that are relevant to medical genetics, including two newborn screening bills and the Genomics and Personalized Medicine Act. There is funding proposed in many of these to support education and training in genetics for a wide range of providers and the public.
ACMG is sponsoring another review of the genetics content for Steps 1, 2, and 3 of the USMLE exams. The previous review was done several years ago.
There is interest in ACMG in developing a number of grants to address areas of genetics education including that for residency programs that would allow ACMG and APHMG to work more directly together to address issues of shared interest.
ASHG: Joann Boughman encouraged the group to visit the ASHG website for new information on educational activities being developed by the education director, Dr. Kenna Shaw. She mentioned in particular, the mentor network, the upcoming DNA day (April 25th), and the essay contest sponsored by Applied Biosystems. Other topics included:
Growing support for the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA)
Outreach efforts to the public
New publisher for the American Journal of Human Genetics
An initiative to tackle new IRB issues related to incidental findings
Policy fellow (jointly supported by NHGRI) working with Senator Barack Obama and 3 public health fellows working at CDC
Activities of the ASHG Professional Development Committee
ABMG: Update
delivered by Mimi Blitzer, who began with the reminder that MOC is required for
all diplomates with time-limited certificates and the Board is urging all others
to participate as well. She also discussed the new subspecialty in “Medical
Biochemical Genetics” that is currently under review by the American Board of
Medical Specialties (ABMS). It requires one year of additional training after
the completion of a Clinical Genetics fellowship. The first of two reviews at
the ABMS went well with general positive feedback. The ASHG and SIMD have
strongly supported this proposal and the ABMG is hoping that the ACMG will also
support this application.
NCHPEG: Joe McInerney was not able to attend the meeting, so Mimi Blitzer
gave his report. Some highlights from NCHPEG are:
Membership: There are presently 71 paid member organizations with seven
applications pending. There is also a new membership category for individual
membership.
Annual Meeting: In February the annual meeting took place in Washington, DC with
the focus on pharmacogenomics. Over 190 attended.
Targeted Educational Programs: The target group for 2007 is physician’s
assistants. NCHPEG and the American Academy of Physician’s Assistants are
developing a web-based program. In 2008 the target audience is dieticians.
Genetics at the Point of Care: NCHPEG intends to develop point-of-care genetics
content that has immediate clinical relevance for primary care providers and
other health professionals not trained in genetics. They will accomplish this by
teaming non-genetics providers with genetics specialists to revise selected
content now contained in GeneReviews.
ABGC: Anne Matthews provided an update on recent activities, including:
Accreditation: There are currently 30 active programs. Northwestern University
and Virginia Commonwealth University were recently re-accredited for eight years
and Wayne State University for six years.
Certification: The total number of applications received for 2007 certification
examination is 421. The first recertification process was held in 2006, and 198
(of the 258 individuals for whom recertification was mandatory) were
recertified.
Administrative Office: Sharon Robinson will be leaving ABGC to work full-time
for ABMG on July 1, 2007. She is working closely with the ABGC Board of
Directors and Executive Director to ensure a seamless transition for ABGC.
NSGC: An NSGC representative was not able to attend the workshop. This
report was provided by Angela Trepanier (president elect, NSGC) and Cathy
Wicklund (current NSGC president) and added after the workshop.
NSGC held a strategic planning session in 2006. Three key initiatives were
identified:
(1) Expand access to genetic counseling services by pursuing reimbursement for
Certified Genetic Counselors;
(2) Promote an organizational culture that will enable NSGC to adapt to the
evolving needs of genetic counselors;
(3) Position genetic counselors as key players in the integration of genetics
across the healthcare spectrum.
CMSS/OPDA: These reports are from Mira Irons and were added after the
workshop.
CMSS Annual Council Meeting (Nov, 2006): The main focus of the meeting was the
report of constituent groups and a special session on the "future of the
profession". The shortage of expected MDs in the future was discussed, as was
quality improvement, including the interaction of health care and the federal
government.
OPDA: The majority of the discussion focused on the Match, which most Medical
Genetics Residency programs do not participate in. In addition, the
Competency-based Learning Portfolio was discussed. This was a topic addressed by
Dr. Stephen Nestler in the first plenary session (see summary below).
AAMC/CAS/Caucus: Bronya Keats reported that the 3rd AAMC Basic Biomedical
Science Chairs meeting is in the process of being organized. It will probably be
held in 2009, with Tony Mazzaschi taking the lead in the development of the
program.
The National Caucus of Basic Biomedical Science Chairs meets annually at George
Washington University in DC. Member organizations are the eight professors and
chairs associations that represent the basic sciences and 1-3 members of the
council of each participate in the Caucus meeting. A summary of the 2006 meeting
was provided. The next Caucus meeting will be June 27-29, 2007.
Nominations Committee Report:
Bronya Keats chaired the nominations committee to recommend a new Council member
to replace Diane Cox, whose term officially ends on June 30, 2007. The other
members were Robb Moses and Reed Pyeritz. The candidate recommended by the
nominations committee was Laurie Demmer. A motion to approve this recommendation
was moved and seconded, and the vote in favor was unanimous.
For personal and professional reasons, Diane Cox resigned from Council effective
March 29, 2007. According to the By-Laws, it is the responsibility of the
Council to appoint a replacement until the membership elects a new Councilor.
Because Laurie Demmer was elected to replace Dr. Cox, the Council and the
membership voted to add Dr. Demmer as a member of the APHMG Council immediately.
Diane Cox has submitted a formal letter of resignation to the APHMG President.
APHMG 2008 and future Workshops:
Savannah, GA is being considered for the 2008 workshop. Concern was expressed
over the dwindling number of attendees at the workshop and also the number of
institutions that are not renewing their membership. The reasons are being
explored.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
8:00-10:00AM
Update from the RRC and the ACGME
Dr. Steven Nestler from the Genetics RRC reviewed some recent developments both
at ACGME and specifically the genetics RRC. There have been changes in wording
in the residency requirements both for medical genetics and for molecular
genetic pathology. These documents will shortly be available on the ACGME web
site. In addition, the RRC has approved the new program requirements for medical
biochemical genetics, which would be a subspecialty track within medical
genetics. This program awaits final review by the ABMS, however. Dr. Nestler
also spoke about the continued progress towards implementation of the six
general competencies. These now must be addressed both in goals and objectives
for each rotation and in evaluation. Beginning soon, programs will be cited for
lack of compliance with the requirement to address the competencies and
suggestions will be made for improvement. Following Dr. Nestler’s suggestion,
there was a discussion about a proposal to devote a full day at the next APHMG
meeting to preparing program directors for compliance with ACGME requirements
regarding the competencies.
10:15AM-12:15PM
Development of the APHMG-sponsored test question databank
Tony Wynshaw-Boris discussed a new initiative to develop an APHMG-sponsored web
site housing a question bank for a variety of levels of trainees. Based on the
successful use of on-line questions for his MS1 class, with Bridget Quinn, it
was proposed that APHMG support an online question bank, curated and vetted by
Bridget, that would be available only to APHMG members. Samples of questions
were presented at the meeting. There was a great deal of enthusiasm for the
proposal among the attendees. It was suggested that these efforts could
complement those of the ACMG. A general discussion underscored the need for such
a question bank at a variety of levels of training, including first and third
medical students, as well as residents/fellows.
Friday, April 20, 2007
8:00AM – 10:00AM
NBME Item-Writing Workshop: Developing High-Quality Multiple-Choice Test Items
for Medical Genetics
Two sessions were provided by National Board of Medical Examiners
representatives. Reflecting world-wide shifts toward integrative curricula, the
first workshop focused on writing test items that assess application of
knowledge to clinical situations, rather than recall of isolated basic science
facts. After an overview of item-writing skills, the attendees were divided into
small working groups and critiqued prior genetics questions for principles of
good item writing. The workshop was presented by Kathleen Holtzman and David
Swanson, PhD from the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME).
10:15AM -12:15PM
Using the NBME Web-Based Customized Assessment Services to Build an Examination
in Medical Genetics
In the second workshop, in order to meet the need for high quality standardized
assessment materials at medical schools, the NBME presented their version of a
web-based, customized assessment program that permits faculty members at
participating schools to build unique examinations from secure NBME item banks.
Specifically, this assessment program was focused on genetics content. This
workshop was presented by Agata P. Butler, PhD and David Swanson, PhD from the
National Board of Medical Examiners.
1:30PM – 3:30PM
The Genetics of Human Variation
Dr. Lynn Jorde, Professor of Human Genetics in the University of Utah School of
Medicine, gave the first talk on “Race and Genetics: Biomedical Implications”.
He emphasized the importance of studying genetic variation in populations to
advance understanding of the distribution, prevalence, and etiology of genetic
diseases, and also to evaluate differences in responses to drugs.
Dr. Howard McLeod, Professor of Pharmacotherapy and Experimental Therapeutics at
the University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy, was the second speaker in
this session. His title was “Using the Genome to Guide Therapeutics”, and he
discussed his work on characterizing genetic variants that predict therapeutic
outcome for several drugs, including warfarin and tamoxifen.