The National Consortium of Resident Organizations Annual Forum FREE

Residents have many questions to ponder regarding their future professional lives. What will medical practice look like? Will I be gainfully employed? What professionals, in addition to physicians, will be assisting me with patient care? How will I be able to place my patients before productivity and financial demands? Can I keep up with the onslaught of new medical information and technology?

Each year the National Consortium of Resident Organizations (NCRO) sponsors a forum for resident leaders from across the nation. The 1999 Forum, entitled Residents 2000: Training, Education and Practice, will attempt to answer some of the questions listed above. The forum will explore the future of US medicine by examining physician workforce issues and graduate medical education funding. It will be held September 25-26 at the Doubletree Hotel in Arlington, Va.

The NCRO is an umbrella organization of resident leaders from academic medical centers, specialty societies, state medical societies, and other groups interested in residency training. Its mission is to encourage development and dialogue among resident physician organizations with the goal of allowing resident members to share educational, leadership, and personal experiences. The forum is sponsored by the Health Resource and Services Administration of the US Department of Health and Human Services.

Saturday's program will consist of several educational sessions. Richard A. Cooper, MD, director of the Health Policy Institute at the Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, will deliver the keynote address "The Changing Healthcare Workforce." John Eisenberg, MD, MBA, director of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, will share his vision of medicine's future. Representative Ben Cardin, congressman from Maryland and Gail Wilensky, PhD, chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, will discuss graduate medical education funding. The afternoon session will focus on competition and collaboration with other medical professionals. It will feature a panel discussion with a variety of health care professionals.

Sunday's sessions will focus on life after residency. Steve Miller, MD, executive vice president of the American Board of Medical Specialties, will discuss board certification. Murray Kopelow, MD, executive director of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, will suggest ways to keep up with medical developments. Representatives from the Cochrane Collaboration will discuss how evidence-based medicine will affect the way physicians practice.

Sunday's session will also include a general business meeting and election of the 1999-2000 officers. In addition, the winner of the 1999 Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Award for Outstanding Resident Physician Leadership will be announced. The award, which funds the winner's travel expenses to the annual forum and provides a $500 honorarium, recognizes a resident physician who has demonstrated a commitment to the welfare and advancement of all residents through participation in organized medicine. For more information on this award, please call the NCRO at (440) 230-1020. For more information on the NCRO or its Ninth Annual Forum visit the Web site at http://www.cochrane.org; telephone (301) 495-7808; fax (301) 495-9772.