President's Message
President or Executive Director - Either Defines Service
I am humbled to have been asked to serve as the Executive Director of the American College of Medical Toxicology. Over the last 10 years I have attempted to live up to the expectations of the membership, first as one of the Directors, and over the last few years as an Officer culminating with my service as President. It has been a wonderful experience, full of challenge and opportunity to help shape our young specialty. Our membership is now 500 strong. We have established our own annual spring meeting as well as a biennial board review course. We have our own indexed clinical scientific journal. And we have built bridges with those outside the medical toxicology community through our federal grants and contracts.
But such growth is not without its bumps and bruises. Although many of our activities were developed and implemented solely on the voluntary efforts of dedicated ACMT members serving on committees and the board, as ACMT has grown we have required more administrative assistance to support our programs. Make no mistake, we would be at a loss without the incredible voluntary contributions of so many members of this organization. These efforts are essential to ACMT now and in the future. The leadership of the organization comes from the volunteer Board of Directors whose time limited terms facilitates the development of fresh leadership and ongoing strategic reassessment.
Nonetheless, effective administrative support is critical to the Board and Committees as they strive to fulfill the ACMT mission and implement the components of the strategic plan. Over the years the administrative support has been outsourced to Association Management Companies (AMCs). These organizations provide support to non-profit organizations such as ACMT, but such support is often fragmented since these organizations serve multiple clients and, in the end, these companies are often stand alone for- profit businesses whose mission is to grow their own profit base and cultivate additional clients. Furthermore, many of AMCs can only provide dedicated personnel to the professional society if the society's operating budget can afford such support. We have found that some of the most successful AMCs wont even consider supporting societies whose operating budgets are under one million dollars.
Alas, after much discussion, based on our experience with these AMCs, the ACMT Board of Directors has decided to change directions and hire our own support staff to manage ACMT operations. Employing our own dedicated staff will provide the ACMT Board with a much more accountable relationship with the management team. With the new setup when a member calls ACMT, the phone will be answered by a full time ACMT staffer and not by someone who is simultaneously serving a half-dozen other clients.
After solicitation of interest from College members, the Board of Directors has asked me to serve as the Executive Director. My main responsibilities will be to provide direct supervision of ACMT staff as well as to provide executive support and guidance to the Board. While my background has been mainly clinical, my many years of service to the Board brings with me to the position a thorough knowledge of all of the ACMT programs as well as a knack for understanding some of the peculiarities of our specialty.
For me, this will be a part-time position; but a part time position that will be 24/7, driven to a large part by my passion for medical toxicology and my desire to make this arrangement work. I will continue my clinical practice of medical toxicology as well, but this opportunity provides a niche for me as well and I am grateful to the Boards support and encouragement.
We will be transitioning through May and will bring all the day to day operations to our new "virtual" office in Phoenix. Trish Steffey, who has been hired as ACMT's full time executive assistant, is off to a great start, showing dedication and focus to the needs of ACMT, staff qualities which we have never really enjoyed in the past. We plan to hire a part time meeting planner/grant manager to support these activities as well.
Once we get through this transition time, I hope to devote significant energies to enhancing the capacity of ACMT under the direction of the Board. This will entail reaching out for additional revenue potential through marketing our courses and publications, and identifying additional external grant opportunities for ACMT. Some may wonder why does ACMT need to continue to develop our revenue base. But revenue diversification should lead to a healthier fiscal base of support. There are many additional program areas of importance which ACMT members have requested receive attention, including, but not limited to, the development of an inservice examination for fellows in training, building a public relations program for medical toxicology and ACMT, and fostering training and practice opportunities in skill areas traditionally underemphasized in current training programs. Such activities require funding and partnerships. I hope to provide such assistance and support to the ACMT Board in the years to come. Paul M. Wax, MD, FACMT Executive Director American College of Medical Toxicology |
The sixth annual ACMT Spring Conference, The Vanguard Toxicologist: Advanced Concepts and Changing Opportunities, was held on a glorious March 7-8 weekend at the historic Hotel Del Coronado resort in San Diego, California. The conference was developed under the guidance of ACMT Education Committee Chair, Dr. Suzanne White, with ACMT members Kavita Babu, Kevin Osterhoudt, and Javier Waksman assisting with organization. Over 90 participants attended the two of seminars which included state-of-the-art didactic lectures, small group professional development workshops, and special programming for fellows in training.
Invited faculty for the spring conference included: ACMT president Dr. Paul Wax, ACMT past-president Dr. Paul Pentel, AACT president Dr. G. Randall Bond, and ACMT members Steven Bird, Edward Boyer, Jeffrey Brent, Richard Clark, Mark Kirk, Steven Munday, Lewis Nelson, Aaron Schneir, and Christian Tomaszewski. Evaluations of the conference content and
speakers, by attendees, was almost uniformly excellent. The academic level of the presentations, geared specifically toward the physician as medical toxicologist, was well appreciated. The President's Reception, on the veranda of "the Del," provided a stimulating social atmosphere close to the beach. San Diego proved to be a fun Spring location for hiking, biking, fine dining, and relaxing.
The ACMT Spring Conference provides an excellent opportunity for ACMT members to reinforce their toxicology knowledge, get exposed to novel concepts, and network with colleagues. And it provides the ACMT with an opportunity to demonstrate the expertise and ability of its membership. Please mark your calendars for the 2009 Spring Conference, to be held March 27-28 in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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Sunset, San Diego
Enjoying some down time
 Dr. Bond lectures
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El Yunque Rain Forest
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Beautiful San Juan Beaches
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Save the date!
The 7th Annual Spring Course San Juan, Puerto Rico March 27-28, 2009 |
CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
FOR RESEARCH AWARD
ACMT is pleased to announce that applications
are now being accepted for the 2008 ACMT/McNeil Products Award for Acetaminophen-Related
Research.
This research award provides $7,500
to support new in vitro, animal, or human research related to acetaminophen
or other analgesic drug including toxicity management. This award is
open to all members of ACMT, and toxicology fellows-in-training are
encouraged to apply.
Detailed application guidelines for
this award can be found on the ACMT website. Deadline for applications
is May 15, 2008.
Contact Christine Haller, M.D. (challer@amgen.com ) with questions.
IN THE NEWS. . .
The American Heart Association releases new guidelines and education for the management of cocaine-associated chest pain. Follow any of the links to read about this information:
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The ACMT Newsletter
The newsletter is always looking for material to publish. Have a story you'd like to send to the membership? Requests for new features, ideas, content and images can be sent at anytime to lnelsonmd@gmail.com.
The deadline for submissions to be included in the next newsletter is June 1st, 2008. This is your newsletter, make your voice heard.
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According to the Oxford
English Dictionary a journal is simply "a register of daily
transactions kept by a public body or an association." While today's
medical journals aren't usually daily accounts, they do provide a
register or record, and they serve to communicate to members and the
public at large. Medical journals serve to advance scientific
understanding, stimulate discussion, and challenge other researchers to
add to our core knowledge. In today's electronic age, having the keys
to easily access these journals is essential. The National Library of
Medicine indexes many journals. But they don't index all journals, and
new journals aren't initially indexed. They have to earn that
distinction. Such indexing is never a sure thing. To complicate
matters, authors who have submitted their research to the Journal of
Medical Toxicology (JMT) have done so despite knowing that the journal
was not indexed and without a guarantee of future indexing.
I
am delighted to announce that the Journal of Medical Toxicology, the
official journal of the American College of Medical Toxicology
published by the University of Pennsylvania Press, has now been
reviewed by the National Library of Medicine and has been accepted for
indexing and inclusion in MEDLINE/PubMed. This indexing is retroactive
to all issues, beginning with the inaugural issue in December 2005.
This
was a team effort. ACMT owes its gratitude to a number of its members
who spearheaded this effort beginning in 1998 with Paul Pentel who
served as the first editor of the Internet Journal of Medical
Toxicology (JMT's forerunner) and Keith Burkhart who persevered to
bring creativity and depth to ACMT's initial effort into medical
publishing.
In 2005 the ACMT Board of Directors voted to launch
a print journal, the Journal of Medical Toxicology. Dedicated to
advancing the science and practice of medical toxicology, the Board
realized that this endeavor was not without its risks, and indexing by
the National Library of Medicine would be a critical hurdle. Moreover,
given the necessity of authors' recognition by colleagues and the
greater medical community through indexing, the lack of inclusion in
MEDLINE/PubMed was a potential deterrent to attracting the type of
submissions proving the journal's worthiness for indexing.
ACMT
thanks Kevin Osterhoudt, ACMT's Past-Publications Chair, for
spearheading the creation of JMT and finding the University of
Pennsylvania Press to partner with this new endeavor, Scott Phillips
and Chris Tomaszewski, JMT's first editors-in-chief, along with Sean
Kullman our first managing editor, who took up the reigns and set the
standard for high quality that attracted top notch submissions, and
Leslie Dye who has provided considerable assistance as Associate
Editor, and who has recently also been named Managing Editor. In
addition, we owe our gratitude to the JMT's Editorial Board: Steven
Bird, Richard Dart, Andis Graudins, Charles McKay, Jeanmarie Perrone, Anne-Michelle
Ruha,
Marco Sivilotti, Daniel Sudakin, and David Tanen, and JMT Feature
Editors: Jeffrey Suchard, Christine Haller, Joshua Schier, and Robert
Poppenga, as well as Lewis Nelson, the current ACMT Publications
Chairperson. If not for their dedication, JMT would never have advanced
beyond the 20 year line. Finally, we would like to thank the authors
who took the risk and accepted the challenge by submitting
communications about their research efforts to JMT. Without these
brave souls, we surely would not have won acceptance into the National
Library of Medicine.
To the ACMT membership, we now have a fully
indexed journal. Please send your papers for consideration. If it is
meant to advance the science and practice of medical toxicology, we
want it. This is the journal of the American College of Medical
Toxicology. It is your journal. We look forward to your submissions.
Paul M. Wax, MD FACMT
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