American Pain Society's 34th Annual Scientific Meeting

May 13—16, 2015
Palm Springs Convention Center
Palm Springs, CA

General Information | Important Dates | Faculty Disclosures

General Information Regarding Symposia

The American Pain Society will hold its 34th Annual Scientific Meeting May 13-16, 2015 in Palm Springs. The APS Scientific Program Committee invites the submission of proposals for Symposia for presentation during the Palm Springs meeting during this meeting.

The Scientific Program Committee requests that all proposals reflect APS’ multidisciplinary approach to pain, and should therefore include speakers representing varied areas of pain science, translational research, and treatment. For example, translational proposals that include both basic science and clinical treatment are encouraged. 

The committee will also be looking for proposals which include perspectives from several disciplines (e.g.; basic scientists, dentists, nurses, physical therapists, psychologists, etc.). The maximum number of participants per proposal is 1 moderator and up to 3 additional speakers but proposals can include fewer than 3 speakers. Proposal submitters should be creative in terms of designing their sessions to offer attendees an opportunity to interact with the faculty (e.g.; facilitate lively discussions, include sufficient time for Q&A, make use of case-based learning, debates, etc) and to provide attendees with clear ideas for how they can use the information learned in the session in their day to day research and/or clinical settings. Submitters are required to describe methods for achieving these outcomes within the body of the abstract; submitters can also use the "Comments to Organizers" section of the submission system to highlight unique ways in which faculty will involve participants during the session.

Please review the Strategies for Interactive Lecturing information prior to completing your proposal submission.

Shared Interest Groups (SIGs) are invited to submit formal proposals for their SIG meetings via this Call for Symposia. SIG chairs may submit one proposal per SIG. Please check the appropriate box within the submission system to indicate that this is a SIG submission, and enter the name of the SIG in the field provided. SIG proposals will be reviewed by the Scientific Program Committee and if approved, SIGs will be granted continuing education credit for the SIG meeting.

The APS Education Advisory Committee has identified the following topics as educational needs for the 2015 Annual Scientific Meeting, and the Scientific Program Committee is especially seeking submissions which address these topics:

Proposals should include the following information; fields for this data are provided in the submission forms:

• A brief statement describing the rationale/need for this topic at the APS meeting;
• One source of data which speaks to the need for this topic (this can be needs assessment data, statistics regarding the topic, etc.);
• A description of what practice gaps will be addressed during the symposium.

Please remember to describe plans/methods for creating an interactive learning environment during the session.

Proposals for previously presented or published work may not be submitted to APS without modification. Original work must be changed or expanded, resulting in a new proposal.

Important Dates

Submission

The submittal system will remain open from April 30, 2014 to July 14, 2014. The system will close at 11:59 pm Pacific Time on July 14, and additional submissions will not be accepted.

Notification

Moderators and faculty will be notified in October 2014 regarding selection of their proposals. All presenters will receive complimentary conference registration. Other terms of participation will be communicated to speakers upon acceptance of the proposal.

Faculty Disclosure Requirements

The American Pain Society requires full disclosure of relevant financial relationships from every moderator and faculty. Completed disclosure forms must be received by July 16, 2014 to be reviewed and discussed by the appropriate monitoring group, i.e. the American Pain Society's Scientific Program Committee. Please note that the submission system will close on July 14, but the disclosure forms will remain accessible to faculty until July 16. Faculty members failing or refusing to complete the disclosure form in ample time to be reviewed by the Scientific Program Committee shall be automatically disqualified as a speaker, planning committee member, or author. In addition, the American Pain Society requires that all contributions to a CE activity are based on the best available evidence (refer to policy on content validation).  All proposed speakers named on this proposal will receive an email notice which instructs each of them, individually, to visit the proposal before July 16, 2014 to complete their disclosure forms. This notice will be sent to all speakers as soon as the submission forms are complete and the "Submit to APS" button has been selected. Please note that the completion of the moderator's disclosure form is a required part of the online submission. Additionally, moderators should contact the speakers named on the proposal to notify them of their inclusion in the submission, and to remind them to complete their disclosure information before July 16.

Proposals for Symposia

Symposia are scheduled to take place Thursday, May 14—Saturday, May 16, 2015. All faculty must be willing and able to present on these dates. Symposia sessions are 90 minutes in length.

To submit your symposium proposal, please click on the link below. A complete symposium submission should include the following:

• Statement describing the rationale/need for the topic, identification of a data source, and description of the practice gap(s) which will be addressed
• Focus statement (the focus statement should give a succinct description of what topics will be discussed during the symposium; it will be printed in the conference brochure so that attendees will be able to make decisions on which symposia they would like to attend)
• Educational objectives (geared toward knowledge, skill, and/or attitude)
• Title
• Moderator/Presenter information, including disclosures
• Abstract text of 200 words, including information about each presenter’s contribution to the symposium. Please remember to describe the plans/methods for creating an interactive learning environment during the session.

Each symposium submission is limited to a moderator and up to 3 additional presenters, but submissions can include fewer than 3 presenters. Only one of the presenters can be a nonmember of APS.

The Scientific Program Committee will also select 3 workshops from the submitted symposia proposals. If you would like your submission to be considered for a 3-hour workshop, please state this in the Comments to Organizers field within the submission form.  Please also include evidence of the inclusion of active learning strategies in your abstract text.

Handout materials (including articles, references/bibliography, or copies of speakers' PowerPoint slides) are required of all speakers in symposia and workshops. The session moderator will be expected to assist APS staff in the collection and organization of all handout materials.