Education

Educational Offerings
ATS educational offerings serve a broad range of interests reflecting the various assemblies and constituencies of the Society. Most confer AMA Physician’s Recognition Award Category 1 credit™.

In recent years, the ATS has annually “sponsored” or "jointly sponsored" more than 80 Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities. While usually targeting pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine sub-specialists, offerings may also reach out to primary care providers, other health professionals and patients. Increasingly, offerings are designed to support American Board of Internal Medicine recertification and to enhance quality and safety. Live activities include the annual ATS International Conference, ATS State of the Art Course, national-level conferences with other Societies, local-level conferences organized by ATS Chapters and ATS Public Advisory Roundtable member organizations. In addition to live activities, ATS produces educational products and designates them for CME. These "enduring materials" include on-line learning opportunities i.e. webcasts, CD Roms or DVDs and monographs or newsletters. In addition to live courses and enduring materials, ATS awards CME credit to manuscript reviewers of our three scientific journals and is preparing to offer journal CME to readers of selected ATS journal articles. Please consult the Education section sub-menu at left for more information on educational resources. If you wish ATS to designate your activity for CME credit please click on “Obtaining CME Sponsorship”.

ATS - an ACCME-Accredited Provider
ATS is authorized to designate activities for AMA Physician’s Recognition Award Category 1 credit™ by way of earning and retaining accreditation by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). The ACCME rigorously evaluates the overall continuing medical education programs of institutions according to standards adopted by all seven sponsoring organizations of the ACCME: the American Board of Medical Specialties; the American Hospital Association; the American Medical Association; the Association for Hospital Medical Education; the Association of American Medical Colleges; the Council of Medical Specialty Societies; and the Federation of State Medical Boards of the U.S., Inc. On October 17, 2005 the ACCME resurveyed ATS and on March 24, 2006 awarded ATS accreditation status for the next four years. ATS is ACCME-accredited provider #0000165.

Physicians wishing to learn more about the AMA system may contact the AMA at (312) 464-4672 or on-line at www.ama-assn.org/go/pra.

Records of CME Awards
Records of CME credits awarded to individual physicians and records of non-physician completion of CME activities at the ATS International Conference are maintained in the International Conference Unit by Saidah Henderson 212 315 8658. Records of CME credits and non-physician participation in other ATS educational activities are maintained in the Education Programs Unit by Barbara Horner 212 315 8693.

ATS Non Profit Status
The ATS is a non-profit international professional and scientific society for respiratory and critical care medicine and sleep, registered with the U.S. Internal Revenue Service as a 501c-3 non-profit organization.

Program Development and Evaluation
All ATS educational activities are developed and evaluated in concordance with the ATS Strategic Plan. The International Conference Committee is responsible for planning, coordinating, implementing and evaluating the scientific and educational sessions of the ATS International Conference. The Education Committee coordinates all medical and patient/public educational activities of the Society and ensures adherence to standards of ACCME and related regulatory bodies. The Training Committee collaborates with the Education Committee on issues of mutual interest within graduate medical education. The Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee has major responsibilities for ACCME standards related to conflict of interest in CME, including the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support.

Education Programs Staff
The ATS Education Programs Unit lends lead staff support to the ATS Education Committee, Training Committee, Ethics and Conflict of Interest Committee and the Committee on Members in Transition and Training. The Unit also administers the Education section of the ATS website under oversight of the Education Committee and the ATS Web Editor. The Education Programs Unit includes: Eileen Larsson, Director, Education Products and Programs, Rachel Makleff, Ph.D., Director, Tactical Management and CME Development (Chapter and regional CME and accreditation issues), Judith Corn, Director, Patient Education and Document Facilitation, Barbara Horner, Manager, Education Databases and Projects and Elizabeth Guzman, Administrative Assistant. The unit may be reached by telephoning Ms. Horner at 212 315 8693, or by emailing bhorner@thoracic.org. The unit may be reached by telephoning Ms. Horner at 212 315 8693, or by emailing bhorner@thoracic.org. Applicants for CME Joint Sponsorship should telephone Rachel Makleff at 212 315 8644 or by emailing rmakleff@thoracic.org.

Calendars of Upcoming Live Events
Once designated for credit, CME activities jointly-sponsored with ATS are automatically sent to ATS News for inclusion as space permits. Outside organizations wishing to publicize their event in ATS News should contact Susan Martin, Manager, Communications & Marketing at 212 315 8631 or slogan@thoracic.org.

ATS maintains an electronic events Calendar. Organizations wishing to have their offering included may send a request to webpublishing@thoracic.org. Events selected are usually either ATS or Chapter sponsored, but other organizations may also apply.