ATS Chapter News

CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

2012 Outstanding Clinician Awards—ATS and Thoracic Society Chapters

Each year, the ATS honors an exemplary clinician through its Outstanding Clinician Award (OCA). Thoracic society chapters (TSC) also may nominate an individual for their chapter OCA award. A recipient of the national and chapter awards will be:

  • A pulmonary, critical care or sleep clinician who spends 75 percent or more of his/her time providing direct patient care.
  • Recognized by patients and families as a caring and dedicated healthcare provider and by his/her peers as having made substantial contributions to the clinical care of patients with respiratory disease. Because providing stellar patient care is the primary defining criteria for this award, nominations must reflect excellence in this area above all else.
  • A member of the TSC for which they are being nominated, as well as a resident of that state to be considered for the TSC award.
  • A member of the ATS to be considered for the national level award.

Any ATS or TSC member interested in nominating an outstanding clinician must first get the approval of the prospective nominee and then forward that individual’s name and other pertinent information to the TSC’s chapter administrator. Contact information for the ATS’s 19 chapters is available on the chapter page of the ATS web site at www.thoracic.org/chapters/index.php. The ATS cannot accept direct nominations from individuals. Once a nominee’s name has been submitted to the Society, they may proceed through the two-phase selection process as described below.

Phase 1: Local Process—Selection of TSC Awardees
Each TSC that wishes to participate will select its local TSC OCA recipient either by vote of its full membership or by action of its Executive Committee. The chapter should then complete and submit an application packet to the ATS to consider the TSC recipient for the national ATS OCA award. TSCs must submit completed nomination applications to the ATS by close of business on Tuesday, January 3, 2012.

Each TSC will set its own deadline for nominations for the local award and may entertain nominations from any and all interested parties within the territory covered by the TSC. Each TSC OCA recipient will receive a plaque presented jointly by the ATS and their respective TSC, and will be recognized in San Francisco at the ATS 2012 International Conference via signage in the Clinicians Center, as well as in other ATS and/or chapter communications.

Phase 2: National Process—Selection of ATS Awardee
After developing a slate of three finalists from all received TSC nominations, the ATS OCA Selection Committee will select the 2012 ATS OCA finalist. This individual will be honored at the ATS Awards Ceremony and publicly, via signage, at the 2012 International Conference.

To download the OCA nomination application or to learn about past awardees, please visit www.thoracic.org/chapters/outstanding-clinician-award.php. If you have questions, please contact Jen Padian, coordinator of ATS member services and chapter relations, at 212.315.8633 or chapters@thoracic.org.

UPCOMING CHAPTER EVENTS

California Thoracic Society (CTS)
What: CTS Annual Carmel Conference: Pulmonary Perspectives: Sleep Apnea & Pneumonia 2012
When: January 27 to 28, 2012
Where: La Playa Hotel, Carmel, California
Contact:  415.536.0287; info@calthoracic.org; www.calthoracic.org/content/events

Metropolitan D.C. Thoracic Society
What: Metropolitan D.C. Thoracic Society Dinner Meeting
When: April 18, 2012 
Where: Inova Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Virginia
Contact: Chapter President Vinayak Jha, MD, vjha@mfa.gwu.edu

New Mexico Thoracic Society (NMTS)
What: 40th Annual New Mexico Lung Disease Symposium: “P4=Pulmonary Potpourri for Primary Practitioners”
When: February 11, 2012, 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Where: Marriott Pyramid North Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Contact: NMTS Chapter Administrator Judy Holcombe, 505.899.1254 or jbholcombe1@q.com

New York State Thoracic Society (NYSTS)
What: 2012 Annual Scientific Assembly
When: January 27 to 28, 2012
Where: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Contact: Peter Brodhead, 646.227.2025 or brodheap@mskcc.org   

Oregon Thoracic Society
What: 50th Annual Chest Disease Conference
When: February 16 to 19, 2012
Where: Sunriver, Oregon
Contact: OTS Chapter Administrator Bev Stewart, 503.718.6146; bstewart@lungmtpacific.org; www.oregonthoracic.com