ISTM News

Honor for Bert DuPont

Herbert (Bert) DuPont, MD, one of the founders of the International Society of Travel Medicine and a past president of the organization, has been awarded an honorary degree by the Medical Faculty of the University of Zurich. The award was given to Bert in recognition of his pioneer work in the field of infectious gastrointestinal disease. Especially important have been his contributions to the recognition of the importance of the role played by the E. coli bacteria in such diseases. He has substantially furthered the understanding of many aspects of E. coli: the etiology, epidemiology, pathology, chemoprevention, and immunoprophylaxis, for example; has studied the organisms in various parts of the world; and has authored numerous articles on the subject.

Bert is Clinical Professor, Baylor School of Medicine of the University of Texas; Chief of Internal Medicine at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital; Director of the Centers for Infectious Diseases of the University of Texas; and Medical Director of St. Luke's Travel Medicine, Houston, Texas.

Abstracts from AECTM

The abstracts from the Africa-European Conference of Travel Medicine (AECTM) held in Cape Town this past February are available on the ISTM website. This was the first international conference in travel medicine held in Africa, and many abstracts deal with African issues.

To access the abstracts, go to the ISTM homepage. Click "Conference" on the left. Then click "ISTM Conferences" and go to AECTM.

The abstracts can also be accessed by going to www.sastm.org.za. On the left hand side of the screen just below the scrolling calendar is a block entitled "AECTM Abstracts". Click on this and it will take you straight into the abstracts.

No Continuing Education Units for American Registered Nurses (RNs) in Lisbon

ISTM has offered American RNs the opportunity to receive continuing education (CE) units (formerly CEUs) at the past two ISTM conferences, but will not do so in Lisbon in 2005. As the chair of the Practice and Nursing Issues Committee of ISTM, a US based RN, and a person very involved in previous ISTM CE programs, I will try to explain this decision.

A little background may help. The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) regulates CE. Organizations offering CE must be approved by ANCC and follow specific guidelines to be providers. In order for a conference or educational program to offer CE an application must be filed with an approved CE provider. ISTM has used the application process offered by the Georgia Nurses Association (GNA) because they have a relatively straightforward application process.

The CE application process is rigorous, complex and time consuming. Detailed forms must be completed by the Scientific Program Committee of the organization wanting to offer CE, and by each speaker. In addition each session (e.g., plenaries, symposia) must have learning objectives and extensive details on several representative sessions. For prior ISTM conferences, several US nurses volunteered to assist the ISTM and conference management company with the CE application process. In addition the leadership of ISTM volunteered many hours of time and effort to the application process. Despite the onerous process the ISTM was able to offer CE at prior conferences.

In 2003 the CE application process became even more complicated and burdensome. The revised process requires greater detail on each and every session and about every speaker. In addition the information must be formatted in a special framework. Gathering this very large volume of detailed information from speakers from many distinct professional backgrounds from all over the world, and formatting the information into the required framework would be a huge logistical undertaking requiring significant resources. Logistics are even more complex when meetings are held outside the US and the conference management company is not US based.

ISTM has been very supportive of offering CE for US nurses. The ISTM leadership recognizes that there are many US nurse members who benefit from CE offerings and the leadership recognizes the importance of any initiative that helps nurses further develop their travel medicine practices. The CE offering has primarily been for the benefit of US based nurses as nurses from other countries do not need and have not requested CE. The ISTM has limited resources, including a very small administrative staff plus the volunteer efforts of its members and leadership. It is difficult for the ISTM as an international and multidisciplinary organization to justify the allocation of the resources required to comply with the revised CE application process. Given that the Lisbon conference is being organized from Europe and the expected difficulty in meeting the increased requirements of the application, the Practice and Nursing Issues Committee decided to recommend to the Executive Board not to offer CE for the Lisbon conference.

The Practice and Nursing Issues Committee did request that the CE issue be revisited well in advance of the next conference, scheduled for Vancouver, Canada in 2007. It will be helpful to have a group of ISTM nurse members from the US investigate the various CE application processes to learn if there is one that will work more efficiently within an international, multi-disciplinary organization. ISTM may also need to consider charging an additional fee to American nurses needing CE (if CE is offered), in order to cover additional administrative costs.

I hope that American nurses will continue to recognize the value that ISTM membership offers all of us in travel health. ISTM continues to lead the way in setting a basic international standard for knowledge in travel medicine, offering the Certificate in Travel Health examination. The international conferences remain a premier venue for attaining and refining knowledge and to share experiences and time with colleagues.   We have an excellent journal, a very useful Listserve and other member services (including NewsShare and the clinic directory, to mention just a few). This is a lot of value for a membership fee that is well below that of many professional organizations.

I welcome all questions and recommendations, especially ones dealing with the CE process, and suggestions on how ISTM might pursue CE in the future. Please contact me directly. Getting actively involved is the best way to create change.

Rebecca W. Acosta is Executive Director and Co-founder of Traveler's Medical Service of NY; Co-Chair, Practice and Nursing Issues Committee, ISTM; and member, CTH Exam Committee, ISTM,
rwacosta@travelersmedical.com