Educational Programs*

• Ethics Forum 
• Annual Education Program
• Shattuck Lecture

Ethics Forum

Thursday, May 7
3:30 p.m.

Lenny López, MD, MDiv, MPH
Assistant in Health Policy, Institute for Health Policy, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Associate Physician, Brigham and Women’s Hospital

Presented by the Committee on Ethics, Grievances, and Professional Standards, the Ethics Forum alerts physicians to the ethical implications of issues that arise in daily practice and offers information and education on issues at the intersection of ethics, medicine, and professionalism.

Dr. López, an internist trained at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), completed the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship Program in Minority Health Policy at the Harvard School of Public Health and a fellowship in hospital medicine at BWH, where he currently serves as a hospitalist. Dr. López joined the Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in 2008 after completing a fellowship in general internal medicine at MGH. His research interests extend across a wide range of issues relating to the quality of hospital care, including the effect of hospitalists and racial and ethnic disparities in care. He is widely published on these topics as well as on the ethics of health care delivery and graduate medical education. Dr. López also teaches medical students and residents, with lectures and preceptorships addressing clinical skills, prejudice and discrimination relating to race and ethnicity, and quality-of-care reporting.

Dr. López also received the Aetna /Disparities Solutions Center HealthCare Disparities Fellowship. He serves on the Cross-Cultural Committee at Harvard Medical School, and the Massachusetts Medical Society Committee on Workforce Diversity. He is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society, the National Hispanic Medical Society, the Society of Hospital Medicine, and the Boston Association of Academic Hospitalists in Medicine.

• Download the Ethics Forum brochure (.pdf, 2 pages)
• Click here to visit the MMS website for the presentation handouts

Program Objectives:

1. Examine the effect that racial and ethnic disparities have on the treatment and outcome of disease
2. Explore how the role of decision-making in the doctor-patient relationship contributes to such disparities
3. Consider “default” decision-making as a method to ameliorate decision biases

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Annual Education Program

To Age or Not to Age... Health and Wellness for Physicians and Patients

Saturday, May 9
8:00 a.m.

This year’s Annual Education Program, “To Age or Not to Age… Health and Wellness for Physicians and Patients,” will delve into the medical, societal, and technological opportunities available to the aging population of the future. Many subscribe to the notion that we are not getting older, but, in fact, we are getting better. Retirement is now measured in terms of decades, not just years. As a society, we are productively working longer, seeking out work and activities as a form of motivation and enjoyment. As a result, as physicians, we need to encourage our patients to review options for wellness and a healthy lifestyle. This year’s Annual Educational Program will stimulate the mind, body, and soul.

Annual Education Program Speakers:

Paula A. Johnson, MD, MPH, is the executive director of the Connors Center for Women’s Health and Gender Biology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. Dr. Johnson is a graduate of Harvard University and Radcliffe College. She received her medical degree and master’s in public health from Harvard. Dr. Johnson is the recipient of many awards including the Abigail Adams Award from the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus, she was named a “Top Doctor” by Boston Magazine, and she was featured in the Boston Globe’s “IDEAS Boston 2005” as one of 24 leading innovators in Massachusetts.

David Satcher, MD, PhD, was sworn in on February 13, 1998, as the 16th surgeon general of the United States. He served simultaneously as surgeon general and assistant secretary for health. Dr. Satcher is a former Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar. He is the recipient of 18 honorary degrees and numerous top awards from the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, and Ebony magazine. Dr. Satcher graduated from Morehouse College and received his medical and doctoral degrees from Case Western Reserve University.

Aaron P. Nelson, PhD, ABPP, co-founded the Division of Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. Dr. Nelson received his undergraduate education at Rutgers College and his master’s and doctoral degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University. He has served as a reviewer for Journal Watch Neurology, and is published by the New England Journal of Medicine and Neuropsychology. Dr. Nelson recently authored a book entitled The Harvard Medical School Guide to Achieving Optimal Memory, published by McGraw Hill.

Kenneth H. Cooper, MD, MPH, published his first bestseller, Aerobics, in 1968. Millions of people started exercising, motivated by his preventive medicine research and persuasive public appearances. Dr. Cooper completed his undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Oklahoma. He has received more than 70 awards, including the Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the President’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, and Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst and Young.

Joseph F. Coughlin, PhD, is founder and director of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s AgeLab. Dr. Coughlin’s research focuses on how the convergence of babyboomer expectations and technology will shape the future of public policy and drive innovation across global industries. His work has been published in a variety of business and policy journals. Recently, The Wall Street Journal named him one of America’s 12 pioneers inventing the future of retirement and aging.

Billie Jean King, as one of the 20th century’s most respected and influential people, has long been a champion for social change and equality. She created new inroads for both genders in and out of sports during her legendary career, and she continues to make her mark today. During her illustrious tennis career, King won 39 Grand Slam singles, doubles, and mixed doubles tennis titles, including a record 20 titles at Wimbledon. In 2008, she authored Pressure Is a Privilege: Lessons I’ve Learned from Life and the Battle of the Sexes to commemorate the 35th anniversary of her historic 1973 match against Bobby Riggs. 

• Click here to visit the MMS website for the presentation handouts

Annual Education Program Objectives:

1. Cite the benefits of regular exercise and proper diet with regard to quality of life, longevity, and productivity.
2. Improve the quality of their own lives through exercise and dietary changes, and inspire and encourage patients to do the same.
3. Identify neurological changes throughout the aging process and how to improve one’s mental status.
4. Describe the role of technology and research in improving quality of life in an aging population.
5. Recognize potential disparities in care for aging women attributed to psychological, sociocultural, and economic factors.

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Shattuck Lecture

The Hypertension Paradox: Remarkable Advances in Therapy but Continued Increase in Worldwide Prevalence

Saturday, May 9
1:00 p.m.

Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for cardiovascular and renal diseases. Currently, approximately 73 million adults in the United States and approximately 1 billion adults worldwide have hypertension. This CME activity explores the paradox that hypertension prevalence continues to increase despite the fact that remarkable progress is being made in hypertensive therapy.

Shattuck Lecturer: Aram V. Chobanian, MD Aram V. Chobanian, MD, served as president of Boston University from 2003-2005. He has authored two books and more than two hundred and fifty scientific articles. Dr. Chobanian has made seminal contributions to the field of cholesterol-lowering pharmacotherapy that have profoundly impacted the practice of medicine both in the United States and abroad. He has dedicated his career to basic and clinical research on hypertension and vascular disease, patient care, and educating students and trainees. In 1973, he founded the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute at Boston University School of Medicine, and oversaw its rapid development into a center for pioneering research on the biological and clinical aspects of cardiovascular disease. Dr. Chobanian holds a bachelor’s degree from Brown University and a medical degree from Harvard Medical School. He has been honored with numerous awards, and he was the first recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award in Hypertension from the American Heart Association.

• Click here to visit the MMS website for the presentation handouts

Program Objectives:

1. Describe the latest developments in hypertension therapy, comparing more recent clinical trial data to the JNC7 report recommendations.
2. Discuss the rational for the first-line use of antihypertensive combination therapy.
3. Design specific treatment regimens to improve hypertensive management and meet the individual needs of patients with hypertension.

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To register online, visit www.massmed.org/annual2009/register.