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The continuing medical education courses offered at APA’s annual meeting continue to be rated by members as one of the meeting’s most popular formats.
Prior to last year’s meeting in San Diego, 34 percent of the spaces available for participants in the 97 courses were filled before the meeting opened. The downside to this, however, is that many refunds had to be made to those who did not register early enough for their preferred courses.
"The Scientific Program Committee is sympathetic to those who were disappointed in the past," said Deborah Spitz, M.D., chair of the Subcommittee on Courses, "but the best possible advice we can offer is that participants should enroll as early as possible to ensure admission to the courses of their choice."
The 1998 annual meeting in Toronto, which is being held May 30 to June 4, is expected to pose similar problems because the number of registrants continues to increase.
A total of 34 new courses and 66 updated courses has been scheduled for Toronto. Details appear in the Annual Meeting Advance Registration Information booklet mailed to all APA members last month.
Courses ideally provide an opportunity for learning in small groups and allow ample time for direct exchanges with course faculty. Larger courses often provide breakout rooms for small-group discussion led by one of the faculty. Only a small number of large courses are offered, led by skilled course directors accustomed to speaking before large audiences. These courses may admit as many as 200 participants, but still are regularly sold out before the annual meeting.
Preenrollment for CME courses is open to all annual meeting registrants. All registration and preenrollment forms must be received with payment before April 20. Do not delay in registering as requests will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.