Adjunct Symposia Guidelines
| AAPA Interpretation and Definitions
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CME Adjunct Symposia are formal educational sessions designed to meet the continuing medical educational needs of physician assistants. Thirty two adjunct symposia will be accepted for the AAPA's 33rd Annual PA Conference taking place May 28-June 2, 2005 in Orlando, FL. Acceptance will be based on topic and scientific content. AAPA Standard 1 states: "The provider (not grantor) is responsible for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of the program submitted for CME credit." Therefore, the AAPA has adopted the following definitions used by all organizations which provide CME credit:
Grantor- Commercial source, e.g., pharmaceutical companies, medical device company, providing funding via an educational grant or any other direct payment to the provider.
Provider - Organization responsible for the educational content and development of a CME program, e.g., communications company, medical education company, public relations agency, etc.
Sponsor - Organization responsible for approving programs for CME credit, e.g., AAPA.
| AAPA's CME Standards For Commercial Support of Live Programs
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- The provider (not grantor) is responsible for the content, quality, and scientific integrity of the program submitted for CME credit as well as for the selection of faculty, medium, and evaluation. The provider is responsible for ensuring that when programs consisting of concepts or materials prepared by the grantor are used, they must adhere to the standards, especially with regard to independence in planning, designing, delivering, and evaluating such programs.
- The program must give a balanced view of therapeutic options, use chemical drug names and/or trade names of the products of several companies, be objective in reporting research, and disclose unlabeled uses of commercial products.
- Funds from a commercial source must be in the form of an educational grant to the provider for support of CME programming or honoraria/travel expenses to the faculty. The terms, conditions, and purposes of such monies must be documented by a signed agreement, a copy of which shall be provided to AAPA. All support is given with the full knowledge and approval of the provider. No other funds from a commercial source shall be paid to the faculty or others involved with the supported activity. The commercial support must be acknowledged; however, no reference may be made to specific products.
- Disclosure statements notifying participants of grants received by the faculty are to be prominently written in the program syllabus and verbally stated in the introduction of the faculty at the program. AAPA will be notified of disclosures via the AAPA Disclosure Agreement.
- Funds provided by the grantor are not to be used to pay participant expenses.
Companies
interested in planning an Adjunct Symposium at AAPA's 33rd
Annual Physician Assistant Conference should:
- Complete and return the Adjunct Symposium Proposal Form by January 3, 2005. NO APPLICATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED AFTER THIS DATE.
Please Note:
- AAPA has the right to deny any topic, learning objective, or speaker.
- Provider must submit complete speaker information to include curriculum vitae and specific remuneration arrangements with application.
- Proposals must include an accompanying written confirmation of support from the grantor.
- Grantor must also be an exhibitor at AAPA's 33rd Annual PA Conference.
- Applications may be submitted well in advance of the January 3, 2005 deadline. Faxes will not be accepted. Only complete applications will be considered.
- AAPA will notify all applicants by Wednesday, February 2, 2005 of their tentative approval. At that time the timeslot and location for the session will be established. However, prior to final approval of an adjunct symposium, copies of all slides and handout materials must be submitted to AAPA for review. These items are due April 29, 2005 - NO EXCEPTIONS.
| AAPA Commitments to Provider of Accepted Adjunct Symposia
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The fee for holding an Adjunct Symposium depends on whether you choose a breakfast program or a dinner program and includes the following:
- Meeting space identification and confirmation
- AAPA Category 1 (Preapproved) CME credit
- **NEW** One room drop insert (copies to be produced by provider)
- Signage on the AAPA adjunct symposia wall
- Listing in the final conference program and AAPA News Conference Daily
- Posting on the AAPA Conference Web site, www.aapa.org/annual-conf.
- Listing in AAPA's Adjunct Symposia Playbill to be distributed on-site in registration bag
- Pre-registration services including internet marketing to conference pre-registrants, data entry, registration reports, and confirmation letters and tickets to attendees. NOTE: All registration for adjunct symposia is done through the AAPA registration vendor. Providers of adjunct symposia may not offer independent registration services.
- On-site registration services
- Continuity with AAPA's registration vendor
- Card readers for participant tracking (one card reader per 100 pre-registered attendees.)
Breakfast programs
Administrative Fee: $21,500
Length: 1.25 hours (6:30 - 7:45 a.m.)
Number of concurrent sessions: 3 or 4
Dates available:
- Sunday, May 29
- Monday, May 30
- Tuesday, May 31
- Wednesday, June 1
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Dinner programs
Administrative fee: $31,000
Length: 2.5 hours (5:30 - 8:00 p.m.)
Number of concurrent sessions: 2, 3 or 4
Dates available:
- Saturday, May 28
- Sunday, May 29
- Monday, May 30
- Tuesday, May 31
- Wednesday, June 1
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These fees are due and payable to AAPA no later than March 25, 2005 and should be mailed to:
American Academy of Physician Assistants
Attn: Lauren Miller
950 North Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314-1552
ALL OTHER EXPENSES ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE PROVIDER and include, but are not limited to: speaker honoraria and expenses, a/v, food and beverage, program development, syllabus development and printing.
The following criteria have been established to ensure a meaningful event for the attendees. It is important that the provider have an understanding of these policies so they will be incorporated into every aspect of program development. Failure to comply with the guidelines may affect eligibility for involvement with future AAPA Adjunct Symposia.
Scientific Program Development
- Topic selection must be based on some form of needs assessment and that needs assessment should be explicitly stated.
- All programs must provide a balanced view of therapeutic options, must use chemical drug names and/or trade names of the products of several companies, must be objective in reporting research, and must disclose unlabeled use of commercial products.
- All learning objectives and speakers are subject to AAPA review and approval.
- All programs must include a PA speaker or moderator who is also an AAPA member.
- AAPA must be provided with current curriculum vitae on all proposed speakers.
- All speakers must sign an AAPA faculty disclosure statement, disclosing to participants any relationships with the grantor and/or provider.
- Specific remuneration arrangements with speakers must be provided to AAPA.
- As an additional safeguard to monitor the conduct and content of the adjunct symposia, anonymous observers will be present in all sessions. These PAs will be charged with critically evaluating the content of the presentations, specifically focusing on issues of fair balance and appropriate disclosure.
Pre-conference Obligations and Privileges of Provider upon Acceptance of Application:
Upon acceptance of an adjunct symposium proposal, the following are additional conditions to which the provider will be held accountable:
- Provider will coordinate all speaker correspondence and arrangements (AAPA must be notified immediately in writing of any changes in speakers and/or remuneration. Final speaker approval is at the discretion of AAPA) - AAPA staff does not make travel and/or hotel arrangements for adjunct symposium speakers.
- Provider must give preliminary drafts of program marketing materials to AAPA for approval prior to printing.
- Food and beverage arrangements must be made directly with the meeting facility. NOTE: all meals must be plated and chosen from 3 pre-selected options, buffets are not allowed. In March, provider will supply AAPA with detailed budget to include estimated attendance. In May, provider will supply AAPA with guaranteed attendance given to hotel.
- Audiovisual arrangements must be made through the AAPA's designated AV contractor (AVW-TELAV.) No changes will be made to the standard set which includes: riser set with one 6' draped headtable and podium; two screens with safelock stands; front-screen data projector; presentation PC; Extron P2 VGA DA and switcher; laser pointer; digital speaker timer; lectern, table and floor microphone; and mixer. Payment directly to AVW for the standard set is the responsibility of the provider.
- All food, beverage, and audiovisual charges are the sole responsibility of the provider.
- All programs must take place within the official adjunct symposium times - 6:30 - 7:45 a.m. for breakfasts and 5:30 - 8:00 p.m. for dinner. No other time (such as early registration) may be written, published or otherwise suggested in any promotional materials or on-site.
- Provide 22"x 28" sign copy for display on the sign wall at AAPA conference registration area. Copy must be approved by AAPA. [Sign to be produced by Champion Exposition Services.]
On-site Obligations and Privileges of Provider upon Acceptance of Application:
Upon acceptance of an adjunct symposium, the following represent the on-site conditions to which the provider must agree:
- Provide program syllabus and evaluation form to participants. The evaluation form must include questions that judge the degree to which the session contained fair balance (no detectable bias in favor of the corporate supporter's product(s)) and must be reviewed by AAPA prior to production. The syllabus content will also be submitted to AAPA for review no later than April 29, 2005.
Post-conference Obligations of Provider upon Acceptance of Application:
Upon acceptance of an adjunct symposium proposal, the following represent the post-conference conditions to which the provider will be held accountable:
- Speaker remuneration and thank-you correspondence.
- Tabulate results of attendee evaluations and send summary to Lauren Miller no later than July 5, 2005.
AAPA Obligations to Provider of Accepted Adjunct Symposia:
Upon acceptance of an Adjunct Symposium proposal, AAPA will provide the following items to the provider:
- **NEW** Distribution of flyers (room drops) at official conference hotel properties.
- AAPA Category I (Preapproved) CME credit.
- Meeting space identification and confirmation.
- Pre-conference registration (to include e-mail to all pre-registrants), on-site pre-registration and on-site registration management.
- A registration desk set-up prior to the start of the program, i.e., 5:45 a.m. for breakfast symposia; 4:30 p.m. for evening symposia. Priority will be given to pre-registrants. No on-site registrants may be admitted until 30 minutes prior to the start of the symposium. Pre-registrants will be notified that they must check in no later than 30 minutes before the start of a dinner symposium and 15 minutes prior to the start of a breakfast symposium in order to guarantee their reservations.
- Staff to manage on-site registration and assist attendees in getting to the correct rooms. Staff will not be available for other on-site duties such as distributing syllabi or collecting evaluations.
- Listing in the final conference program, AAPA Adjunct Symposium Playbill and the AAPA News Conference Daily.
- Posting on the AAPA Web site (www.aapa.org/annual-conf).
- Complimentary registration for one PA faculty member.
- Badges for organizers and non-PA faculty upon request.
- A complete list of session attendees following the conference.
AAPA holds function space at official hotels in the housing block as well as at the Orange County Convention Center. AAPA will assign Adjunct Symposium meeting space at the Rosen Centre Hotel based on provider, topic, grantor, length of time required, and preferred day to ensure no conflicts are present. Meeting space will not be adjusted after assignment.
There will be complimentary shuttle service to/from the Rosen Centre before and after the sessions to all official conference hotels.
| Event Promotion and Invitations
|
The selected CME Symposia are considered unofficial (not planned by AAPA). Therefore, there can be no implications in any promotional material or post-show products that they are presented by AAPA. In describing these events, you may use the phrase "presented in conjunction with." AAPA's corporate logo may not be used; however the official conference logo may be used.
The following statement must be located on the cover of the syllabus as well as all conference promotional materials:
"This Adjunct Symposium is not part of the official CME agenda as planned by AAPA's Conference Education Program Committee."
The provider must control the content of all invitation/promotional material. Invitations and solicitations must receive AAPA approval prior to production. Registration information and AAPA's Web site may be added to your text.
Prior to submitting invitations or promotional mailing proofs to AAPA for approval, please make sure that the follow information is included:
- Name of provider
- Acknowledgement of all commercial support
- Disclaimer: "This Adjunct Symposium is not a part of the official conference CME Agenda as planned by AAPA's Conference Education Program Committee."
- AAPA CME Accreditation Statement:
"This program has been reviewed and is approved for a maximum of _____ hours of clinical Category I (Preapproved) CME credit by the Physician Assistant Review Panel. Physician Assistants should claim only those hours actually spent participating in the CME activity" and "This program was planned in accordance with AAPA's CME Standards for Commercial Support."
Invitation Distribution
AAPA will provide the following services:
- Name of provider
- E-mail distribution of an electronic registration announcement to all pre-registered attendees.
- On-line promotion on the conference Web site, www.aapa.org/annual-conf.
- A direct link to registration from the conference website
- *NEW* Distribution of flyers (room drops) at official conference hotel properties.
Corporate supporter organizations may distribute invitations and promotional materials pertaining to an Adjunct Symposium in the following manner:
Advanced Mailing to Pre-registrants
Mailing labels of pre-registered attendees are available through AAPA. A set of mailing labels can be purchased for $500.00 per every 1,000 names for a one-time only use. A second set of labels should be purchased for a second mailing. To receive mailing labels, complete and return the Mailing List Order Form and List Usage Agreement to AAPA no later than May 6, 2005. The earliest date to request mailing labels for advance/preregistration mailings is March 25, 2005. Expect 3,000 to 5,500 labels.
AAPA News Conference Daily
This on-site daily newspaper delivers the latest information on conference activities to the doorstep of each attendee. Eon't miss this cost-effective opportunity to deliver your message in Orlando. Details to follow.
Room Drop
New this year - as part of the adjunct symposium fee, each provider will be allowed to place one flyer in the room drop at no additional fee. Materials are the responsibility of the provider and must be reviewed by AAPA prior to production. Amount and deadlines will be provided at a later date.
AAPA will not allow easel signs to be placed in the registration area or around the Orange County Convention Center at any time. However, AAPA will produce a "sign wall" to be displayed near the attendee registration area. If you would like to promote your event on the sign wall, please submit the artwork for your sign to Champion Exposition Services by April 8, 2005 for production. All artwork must be approved by AAPA. Each symposium is permitted two 22'x 28" signs that may be placed outside the meeting room only no sooner than 24 hours prior to the session start time. No other signs may be placed in the general public space at the Rosen Centre Hotel or any other conference hotel.
AAPA, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to revoke privileges for future Adjunct Symposia for any commercial grantor or provider involved in planning a CME Adjunct Symposium who does not comply with the above-mentioned guidelines.
Violations of AAPA Adjunct Symposia Guidelines and AAPA CME Standards for Commercial Support of Live Programs will jeopardize participation at future AAPA Annual Physician Assistant Conferences.
