Left to right: seated, Barbara Barnes of the University of Pittsburgh, Lisa Faltyn, PhD of PharmAdura LLC; standing, Joyce Fried, Chair of the Award Selection Panel, mark Schaffer representing Thomson Professional Postgraduate Services, grantor of the $2,500 cash award, Will Riley of PharmAdura LLC
The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (ACME) will honor the Melanoma Care Coalition, PharmAdura, LLC, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and 3 regional cancer centers for outstanding collaboration in the 2006 continuing education initiative The Melanoma Care Coalition Takes on the Controversies. This initiative was jointly sponsored by PharmAdura and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and developed by the Melanoma Care Coalition, a faculty of experts in medical oncology, surgical oncology, dermatology, and oncology nursing, whose mission is to advance a multidisciplinary approach to melanoma care.
This series of CME symposia was based on actual cases that reflected current controversial issues of interest to local clinicians in cities around the country. For each of the first three symposia of the series, PharmAdura and the University of Pittsburgh worked closely with a local host physician recommended by the Melanoma Care Coalition steering committee. The host identified the melanoma controversies of interest in the local community, which ultimately determined the selection of cases to be presented. The local host also helped recruit attendees who would contribute to the symposium proceedings and often participated in the discussions and content development.
Because of the collaborative nature of the initiative, ACME recognized several individuals as winners of this award, including joint sponsors Lisa A. Faltyn, PhD, of PharmAdura, and Barbara Barnes, MD, MS, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Also honored were local hosts Alexander R. Miller, MD, FACS, of the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, Texas; Grant F. Swanson, MD, of the Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula (CHOMP) in Monterey, California; and Jose Lutzky, MD, FACP, of Mount Sinai Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Miami, Florida.
According to Dr. Barnes, who is Associate Dean for CME at the University of Pittsburgh, “The Melanoma Care Coalition represents a comprehensive, multidisciplinary effort to improve clinical outcomes among patients with a potentially life-threatening and relatively common disease. The partnerships created among educators, domain experts, and practitioners resulted in a synthesis of the best available evidence delivered in a manner that was relevant to clinicians serving diverse geographic areas and patient populations. We have been privileged to participate in this project for the last 2 years and sincerely appreciate the recognition afforded by the alliance for CME award.”
The Award for Outstanding CME Collaboration will be presented by the ACME at a ceremony during its annual meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2007.