38th Critical Care Congress Special Sessions
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Presidential Address
Mitchell M. Levy, MD, FCCM, began his term as Society of Critical Care Medicine president by encouraging members to remember to care. Practicing critical care requires that all intensive care unit team members balance intellect and compassion in a strenuous environment. Often, simply remembering to care by attending to the details of bedside care is the greatest challenge.
View the Presidential Address on the right.
Peter Hackett, MD
Institute for Altitude Medicine
Telluride, Colorado, USA
Altitude Research Center,
University of Colorado
Denver, Colorado, USA
Hypoxia: The Mt. Everest of the ICU
Peter Hackett, MD, has spent decades researching the body's reaction to high altitudes. A lifetime of adventure has led him to make remarkable discoveries about how the body adjusts to oxygen delivery in the face of severe hypoxia.
View this plenary session on the right.
Ake Grenvik Honorary Lecture
Paul Rogers, MD
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Teaching Medicine Is An Art, Valuing It Is Critical
Paul L. Rogers, MD, discussed strategies to recognize and reward teaching excellence while stressing the importance of providing quality education. Dr. Rogers recently was awarded The Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teaching Award, which recognizes significant contributions to medical education made by gifted teachers.
View this plenary session on the right.
Listen to SCCM Pod-97 Congress Preview: Teaching Critical Care Medicine
Monday, February 2, 2009
William C. Shoemaker Honorary Lecture
Peter Buerhaus, RN, PhD
Center for Medicine and Public Health
Nashville, Tennessee, USA
The Future of Nursing Workforce in the United States: Data, Trends and Implications
Peter Buerhaus, RN, PhD, highlighted the nursing shortage and outlined the implications for the future, particularly those related to quality. The clinical and economic interests of physicians are tied to the development of a robust nursing workforce, but it is important to note the various ways members of the healthcare team perceive the problem.
View this plenary session on the right.
Max Weil Honorary Lecture
Arthur Caplan, MD
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Beyond Band-Aids: How to Cure America's Ailing Healthcare System
Arthur Caplan, MD, argued that the United States healthcare system is broken, and it is important to evaluate the various healthcare reform proposals and their political feasibility. Healthcare professionals should have a prominent place in the discussion to ensure ethical and meaningful reforms.
View this plenary session on the right.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Mark Gladwin, MD
Hemostasis and Vascular Biology
Research Institute
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Haldane, Hot Dogs and Halitosis: The Emerging Biology of the Nitrate Anion Physiology and Therapeutics
Mark Gladwin, MD, discussed the emerging biology of the nitrate anion with focus on how his extensive work in this field relates to critical care. He stressed that nitrate biology likely is important in hypoxic signaling and has other important physiologic and therapeutic implications.
View this plenary session on the right.
L. Rudo Mathivha, MD
Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital
The University of Witwatersrand
Johannesburg, South Africa
Out of Africa: Critical Care When Resources are Scarce
L. Rudo Mathivha, MD, shed light on critical care in South Africa, explaining the structure of the healthcare system and the challenges presented in the face of limited resources. Providing care in such an environment requires balancing patient expectations with resources as the number of critically ill and injured patients increases due to epidemics and other outside influences.
View this plenary session on the right.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Peter Safar Honorary Lecture
Peter Holbrook, MD, FCCM
Children's National Medical Center
Washington, DC
Critical Care: A Milepost on the Journey to True Healthcare Reform
Peter Holbrook, MD, FCCM, outlined the problems in the U.S. healthcare system, focusing how these challenges may affect the critical care community. Specifically, he outlined how multiprofessional critical care teams can work to address problems related to healthcare costs, quality, allocation of resources and other issues. However, high-functioning teams do not emerge spontaneously, and he offered several strategies to develop such teams in the intensive care unit.
View this plenary session on the right.
