By Kris Slawinski, ASPE Member and SSH SPAG Chair
The 2013 Standardized Patient Affinity Group Business Meeting was convened by Vice-Chair Dena Higbee. Topics included the SPAG website, membership survey results, SP terminology survey results, Special Interest Group (SIG) status for our Affinity Group, and 2013 activities.
Dena reminded attendees to check for membership updates on the SPAG web page, at http://ssih.org/standardized-patient-affinity-group. The inaugural announcement of the web page launch went to members last July, with the invitation to submit suggestions and content for consideration.
We developed and launched two significant surveys in late November 2012. The SPAG Membership Needs Survey was designed to assess what members want to get out of the SPAG as far as professional support, growth, and resources. However, it received a poor response and will be relaunched in another month.
The SP Terminology survey generated fairly robust results, following announcements posted to both the SPAG membership as well as the SP Trainer listserv. Initial results were reported at the SPAG meeting, and were shared with John Schatzer of Vanderbilt, to be referenced in his presentation on an expert panel on terminology at the 2013 IMSH. A more formal treatment will be posted on the SPAG website and in the ASPE News, in the next few months.
An official request for SIG status was submitted to SSH President Paul Phrampus, MD, in early January, and we anticipate a response soon. The SPAG web page and surveys were cited as achievements worthy of a more advanced status.
Future areas of focus for the SPAG include mentorship of newbies to the field, sponsoring “how to” webinars for new start-up programs, and basic workshops at IMSH 2014. If you want to get involved and/or contribute somehow, please contact us!
Kris Slawinski, kslawins@bsd.uchicago.edu
Dena Higbee, higbeed@health.missouri.edu
ASPE News 