North American Craniomaxillofacial Education Committee
By Warren Schubert, M.D., Chairman
The North American Craniomaxillofacial Education Committee completed its most ambitious calendar year, with thirteen major programs offered during the year. The year included a name change from ‘Maxillofacial’ to ‘Craniomaxillofacial.’ This change reflects the expansion of the breadth of topics we cover, as well as the new Neurosurgical Faculty we have recruited.
Programs included seven Basic/Regional Principle Courses, two Focused Challenges and Advances Courses, and the Annual Advanced Symposium at St. Pete’s Beach Florida. Our Focused courses included our first endoscopic course. In addition, there was a special Computer Electronics Course cosponsored by the Craniomaxillofacial and Spine group for AO faculty. We also had the first Cranial Neurosurgery Course offered by our Maxillofacial faculty with our new Neurosurgical faculty. Finally, we had our first Craniomaxillofacial International Faculty Retreat held at the Homestead in Virginia.
Our Faculty Retreat at the Homestead was well attended and a resounding success. The program was divided into four parts. The first part was devoted to educating our faculty regarding the various resources available through AOI and AONA. The second part was devoted to breakout sessions to discuss how to improve our educational programs as a whole. The third part was devoted to specific recommendation to improve the syllabus for our Principles Course. The fourth part was devoted to the presentation of scientific papers by AO faculty.
Our relatively new AO Alumni receptions at the national meeting of the three main specialties represented by AO Craniomaxillofacial continue to grow with the number of participants in attendance.
On an organizational level our Education Committee agreed to new principles or ‘guidelines’ by which the Committee is governed. These new guidelines shorten the term of the Chair of NACMEC to one year to allow a maximum leadership opportunity for other faculty. The guidelines also establish a ‘Chair Elect’ position to better prepare the Chair for this position. Numerous subcommittees have been formed which include a Curriculum Committee chaired by Brad Robertson, and a Slide Committee chaired by Craig Vander Kolk. Three major priorities of the Education Committee over the last few years have included:
The respect of the ecumenical nature of the specialties involved in Craniomaxillofacial; Vigilance in defining and preserving the unique autonomy between AO as an educational group, and the producer; Combating the image of an ‘old boys club.’ This has been facilitated by having clear guidelines of governance, by conducting democratic meetings, and by involving gifted and energized young faculty.
We continue to experiment with new ways to publicize our courses. NACMEC has worked to bring our Basic Course to parts of North America where we have not previously offered courses. We have been promoting our Challenges and Advanced Courses at our Basic Courses. NACMEC also continues to spend a considerable amount of time discussing ways to recruit new talented young faculty to become involved inour organization.
Our goal is to continue improving the quality of our Principles Course to the point where it is recognized and regarded as a requirement for the training of all residents in our three specialties.