Oct 4 2001
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Oct 4 2001
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Thursday, October 4, 2001 Palm Desert, California MINUTES OF JOINT MEETING OF THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF OSTEOPATHIC SURGEONS, NEUROSURGICAL SECTION AND AMERICAN ORGANIZATION OF THE NEUROLOGICAL SURGEONS
I. The annual business meeting of the American College of Osteopathic Surgeons, Neurosurgical Section and American Organization of Neurological Surgeons was called to order by its president, Lou Jacobs, D.O. II. The minutes from the 2000 meeting in Boston, Massachusetts were submitted by the former Secretary/Treasurer, Dan Miulli, D.O. A motion to approve the minutes was seconded by Dr. Miulli. The minutes were approved as read. III. SECRETARY/TREASURER’S REPORT: Keith Kattner, D.O. The Treasurer’s Report was submitted by Dr. Keith Kattner. Currently, the Neurological Section has three bank accounts. The balance in each of the accounts is as follows: Account #1: Commercial Savings $1878.09 + $28.55 Account #2: Certificate Deposit $3136.93 + $148.68 Account #3: Checking $17,860.14 + $871.40 It was noted that 35 people have not yet paid their dues for 2001. Another 29 have not paid their dues from 2000. Of these physicians, 23 have not paid for either year: . With the lack of dues, the accounts are approximately $8000.00 short of the expected amounts. The previous secretary/treasurer sent two separate invoice mailings, however these attempts to collect were unsuccessful. Dr. Kattner intends to send letters to delinquent members once he returns to the office and will request the most updated address list for the section. IV. VICE PRESIDENT’S REPORT: Dan Miulli, D.O. Dr. Miulli, this year’s Vice President, had two major items for discussion. A. The first issue of the journal for the American Organization of Neurosurgeons was sent to all program directors and other attendings. Articles selected were based on the annual papers submitted by the residency program directors. Unfortunately, no papers were submitted for the next issue of the journal despite several requests. For the journal to be published, papers must be received by the end of October. B. Dr. Miulli gave a brief presentation entitled “Political Competition in Medicine” which focused on possible problems physicians may encounter in private practice. V. ACOS PRESIDENT’S REPORT TO THE NEUROSURGICAL SECTION: Alan Meshekow, D.O., FACOS Dr. Alan Meshekow, the 2001 ACOS President came to the meeting of the Neurosurgical Section to address several issues: A. The ACA is making every effort to emphasize the educational component of the organization. There have been issues in the past with program chairman being selected too late for the individual to properly organize the meeting. Thus, the ACA is revising policies and procedures for ACA Program Chair selection. It is expected that sections should assign program chair duties a minimum of two years in advance. The Neurosurgical Section already complies with the proposed policy, as chairmen are picked two to three years prior. B. The annual Leadership Seminar will be held February 16-18. All members of the Board have attended this beneficial seminar and the Board is now encouraging discipline chairs and officers attend as well. The seminar is subsidized by the ACOS general fund. C. Dr. Meshekow pointed out that the Neurosurgical Section is one of the smallest and as a result it is often difficult to have adequate representation on Boards and Committees. In particular he stressed the importance of the discipline being represented on the Board of Governors. D. Discussion ensued regarding Neurosurgical representation on the Board of Governors and it was asked if the section could send an alternate to the meetings in case the current representative was unable to attend. The President indicated that the section is welcome to send and fund an observer to attend the Board of Governors meetings as they are rarely closed. However, the bylaws do not currently support this person being able to vote in proxy for the assigned representative. E. Dr. Meshekow also introduced the President-elect, Dr. Ken Reed, who will take office at the end of the 2001 conclave. VI. PROGRAM CHAIR REPORT: Steven Hamm, D.O. Dr. Hamm commented on this year’s program and future programs of the Neurosurgical Section. In particular he was concerned about the lack of funds and administrative help from the ACOS in organizing the four-day conference. This year’s budget was $2400.00. Between honorariums and travel expenses, these funds are not adequate to cover expenses. These concerns prompted Dr. Miulli to make a motion for the Neurosurgical Section to match the funds provided by the ACOS not to exceed $2500.00. The motion carried. Program Chairs for the next three years were announced: 2002 Orlando, FL Dr. Scott West 2003 Chicago, IL Dr. Robert Dixon 2004 TBD Dr. Larry Armstrong
VII. COMMITTEE REPORTS A. AMERICAN OSTEOPATHIC BOARD OF SURGEONS REPORT: Stephen Eichart, D.O. Dr. Eichart indicated that members who have been board certified since 1980 should have received surveys over the summer for input needed to outline important examination areas and relative weights for the written and oral portions of the board certification process. Responses to these questionnaires have been underwhelming in the past. He will be asking for members to submit questions for next year’s examination. A record seven individuals took the oral examination on October 3rd, 2001. Four stations, each with one examiner, were set up for the applicants this year. Dr. Eichart will be asking for more volunteers to assist in the oral examination process next year so that each station can have two examiners. B. BOARD OF GOVERNOR’S REPORT: Richard Kanoff, D.O. Dr. Kanoff was unable to attend this year’s conference. No report was submitted. Members reiterated that the position is a 3-year term. C. RESIDENT EVALUATION COMMITTEE REPORT Currently, there is not a representative from the Neurosurgical Section on the Resident Evaluation Committee. Dr. Kattner indicated that Dr. Ken Reed contacted him about serving on the committee. Dr. Kattner agreed and his term begins in January of 2002. D. MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE REPORT: Robert Baker, D.O. Dr. Baker indicated that the attendance at this year’s AOA meeting was low. Dr. Baker emphasized that in order to maintain membership in the AOA and/or to maintain Fellowship status, members are required to attend the AOA meeting once every three years. E. AWARDS COMMITTEE REPORT: Dan Miulli, D.O. A motion was made to present the Reuberg Award to Dr. Maruk at next year’s meeting. The motion carried. Discussion regarding when to make the presentation ensued. It was decided that if a section reception is planned that it should be given at that time. Dr. Eichart offered to get a plaque. Also, a list of the resident’s papers will be distributed at the same event. F. PROGRAM DIRECTORS REPORT Dr. Javed Siddiqi discussed his program at Arrowhead Hospital. He currently has four residents in the program. The students presented at the Congress of Neurosurgeons Meeting earlier this year, and won 2nd prize. VIII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS There was no unfinished business to be discussed. IX. NEW BUSINESS A. REVIEW OF UPDATED RESIDENT SEGREGATED TOTALS FORM The updated log report that residents must submit was reviewed and found to be unacceptable. Volunteers were sought to review and revise the log report based on CPT codes. B. RESC VOLUNTEER INSPECTORS FOR NEUROSURGICAL RESIDENCY TRAINING PROGRAMS Inspection volunteers were recruited for the three neurosurgical residency training programs are due for inspection. The meeting was adjourned. |