"Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought."

January 31, 2023

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“Well, that wasn't as bad as I thought.”
~ Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles

On a January afternoon 14 years ago, birds collided with an Airbus 320 transforming it into a glider 3,000 feet above New York City. The two pilots, just before the bird strike had remarked, “What a view of the Hudson today.”  Three and a half minutes later, the plane touched down in that same Hudson River. Did the pilots really turn to one another after their water “landing” and comment, “Well, that wasn’t…” nearly in unison?

The only way to know for sure is for you be at your SCMA Annual Meeting April 27 – 30 in Myrtle Beach!

Captain Jeff Skiles will be our keynote speaker on Friday in the House of Delegates. His presentation will offer details of that remarkable day, as well as translational techniques from the airlines industry applicable to error management in healthcare.

Just as the passengers and crew were grateful to Captain Skiles and “Sully” that day, I want to say “Thank you” to the physicians and other professionals volunteering their talents during this annual meeting.

Thursday Afternoon: Hot Topics

• Eating Disorders – Michael Guyton, MD, FAAP, FACP
• Colorectal Cancer Screening – John K. Corless, MD, AGAF; Kent N. Cunningham, MD; Andrew N. Pearson, MD; March E. Seabrook, MD, FACG
• Reconsidering of Race in Clinical Algorithms and Calculators – Octavia Amaechi, MD, FAAFP; Adu Adwoa, MD
• Infectious Disease and Monkey Pox – Helmet Albrecht, MD
• Reproductive Access and Options in South Carolina – Dawn Bingham, MD; Ponce Bullard, MD, Kristi Tomlin, MD, FACOG; Steve Williams, JD

Friday Morning: SCMA Bioethics Committee Education Sessions

• Active Listening: An Essential Ingredient of Communication – Sewell Kahn, MD
• EHR: Nonverbal Communication – Franklin Coulter, MD
• Talking to Ourselves: Team Communication and Patient Care – M. Carmela Epright, Ph.D.
• Truth, Transparency, and Trust: Ethical Aspects of Medical Communication – John Roberts, MD
• First Do No Harm: Communicating Trauma-Informed Care – Joy B. Scurry, MD
• Cultural and Ethical Considerations of Communication at the End of Life – Marisette Hasan, RN, BSN
• Misinformation, Ideological Immunity & Vaccine Hesitancy – Jane Kelly, MD

Saturday Morning:

• Controlled Substance Training – Kevin Walker, MD, Anesthesiology, Pain Medicine, Prisma Health; Douglas Furmanek, Pharm.D., BCPS, Prisma Health
• Resident and Medical Student Scientific Poster Presentations

Saturday Morning – Afternoon (10AM-2PM): President’s Session
Safety in Healthcare and Within Our Profession of Medicine

A recent book, Still Not Safe, [1] builds upon and illustrates both the history of patient safety in healthcare and the challenges that remain. While the beach may be a tempting safe location that Saturday, you will not be disappointed to choose, instead, attending this session with the following experts in this critical area.

Moderator: Harris Pastides, Ph.D., MPH, President Emeritus of the University of South Carolina, Board of Trustees, AMA

• Applying a Total Systems Approach and Human Machine Teaming to Improve Work and Outcomes in Healthcare – Jonathan Gleason, MD, EVP, CCO, Prisma Health
• Lesson from the Ashes: The Critical Role of Safety Leadership in Keeping Bad Things from Happening – Robert Sumwalt, ED, Center for Aviation and Aerospace Safety, Former Chairman, NTSB
• What Happened? What Do We Do Now? Changing the Culture in Healthcare – Mark Billman, MD, DMD, Chairman, Governing Board Piedmont Medical Center, Chief of Staff, Piedmont Medical Center-Fort-Mill, SC
• Living Your Best Life: Realize Your Unique Definition of Success – Carrie Watson, DO, FACOS, Trauma Medical Director and ICU Co-Director, Piedmont Medical Center
• Burnout? Reach Out! – Elsbeth Chaney, SCMA Alliance President
  
  

In addition to educational sessions, your SCMA Dreamliner staff, Speaker and Vice-Speaker have been working hard to provide so much more:

• SCMA Alliance Meeting celebrating a Centennial year!
• Captain Skiles opening the House of Delegates (HOD) Friday afternoon, followed by Reference Committees. The HOD finishing its deliberations on Sunday morning.
• Opportunities for gathering with colleagues, family, and friends:
  • Exhibit Hall with Friday Reception and Saturday Breakfast
  • New Attendees Orientation
  • Friday HOD Lunch (with Captain Skiles to follow)
  • Young Physician, Resident Physician, Medical Student Meeting and Luncheon
  • Women in Medicine Meeting
• The SCMA Presidential Inauguration of Helen M. Stockinger, MD – 162^nd President of the SCMA, followed by the President’s Gala Awards Dinner

All the details of your 2023 SCMA Annual Meeting can be found on the 2023 Annual Meeting website.

All of the annual meeting planning looks good on paper, but YOUR attendance and participation is crucial. Our profession of medicine faces many challenges from economic, legislative, and regulatory forces. Our meeting provides the opportunities for us to gather, exchange ideas, and collaborate in strengthening the powerful voice for change that improves our profession, healthcare of our patients and the health of all South Carolinians.

As always, I welcome hearing your voice at scmayeakel@gmail.com and seeing all of you in Myrtle Beach!

 

References:

[1] Robert L. Wares, Kathleen M. Sutcliffe. 2020. Still Not Safe. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.