The improved CUA Office of Education

Abstract

The CUA has taken a major initiative in establishing the Office of Education. This is an important step forward and offers an opportunity for enhanced medical education in a number of ways. The office acts as a conference organizer. To this end, it plans and implements continuing medical education events. As an accredited provider of continuing professional development activities for specialists, the CUA Office of Education provides advice and guidance to conference organizers who wish to put on a meeting that satisfies the criteria for section 1 (group learning event) and section 3 (self-assessment program) activities. These criteria, as defined by the Royal College, are quite rigorous, but achievable. The office can also organize activities for section 4 (structured learning projects, such as workshops and courses). A good example of section 4 is the recent Pediatric Laparoscopic Surgery course. An important benefit of the structure of the office is that, since meetings organized by the office are considered an extension of the association, federal and provincial taxes are not applicable to the management fees. This represents a significant cost savings for any member looking to put on a meeting. The office organized 4 accredited satellite symposia at the CUA Annual Meeting in Edmonton, sponsored by Merck Frosst, GlaxoSmithKline, Bayer HealthCare and sanofi-aventis. A highlight of the Office of Education was its recent symposium in Edmonton entitled “What the urologist needs to know about clinical trials: an overview,” chaired by Dr. Luis Guerra. This popular symposium attracted over 100 participants. Feedback for all symposia were consistently positive. The office also organized 2 other meetings: the Canadian Senior Urology Residents program and a course on techniques in pediatric laparoscopic surgery, chaired by Dr. Walid Farhat and Dr. Darcie Kiddoo. The office is developing under the careful guidance of Peter Anderson, the vice-president of Education. Over the last year, the office has gone through some growing pains, including a change of leadership. In spite of this, it now has a compelling record of success. We encourage those of you who are planning conferences to contact the office, whether to organize your meeting or to obtain accreditation. The new director of the Office of Education, Ms. Tiffany Pizioli, MBA, will be happy to walk you through the process. She has moved from the central office of the SIU/CUA to become a full-time CUA employee. She is a bundle of energy and competence. I am confident that she is the right person to make the Office of Education a source of pride and excellence for our association. Ms. Pizioli can be reached at gro.auc@iloizip.ynaffit. The development of the Office of Education reflects the maturation and growth of our organization from a volunteer-run association, whose main task was putting on the annual meeting, to one that is professionally managed and that works year-round in the interests of our urology community and our patients.