Sponsored By

Readers
responding said
pay-for-performance and USP 797 should be top priorities for JCAAI.

America faces an allergy/asthma crisis: You can help!
To call attention to the critical shortage of qualified allergists/immunologists determined in a recent study by the ACAAI GME/Workforce Committee, the College is widely distributing copies of a paper titled Allergist Report: America Faces Allergy/Asthma Crises, and a companion brochure to patients.

Demand for allergists will increase 35 percent by 2020, while the supply of allergists is expected to decline each year. Although the shortage does not affect all geographic locations, it is widespread and becoming worse. The two publications provide details on our specialty's workforce shortage and examine what currently is being done and what needs to be done now and in the future.

Copies of the report and consumer brochure have been mailed to all members this week. Both publications can be downloaded and printed from the College Web site.

Help spread the word that nobody does it better than the allergist by:

• Taking the message to your representatives and senators in Congress, in person or by letter. Contact information is available at http://clerk.house.gov for the House and http://www.senate.gov for the Senate.

• Asking your patients to write their congressmen or senators about this pressing issue that affects families and individuals living with allergic diseases.

• Giving a talk on the looming allergist-immunologist shortage and GME/workforce issues using the PowerPoint presentation downloadable on the College Web site for use in grand rounds and similar events.

The GME/Workforce Committee includes Drs. John E. Moffitt, chair, Susan Rudd Bailey, Gailen D. Marshall, William D. McClendon, Jay M. Portnoy and Richard W. Weber.

The publications are made possible through unrestricted grants from Alcon Laboratories, Inc., Dey, L.P. and Teva Specialty Pharmaceuticals.

Call for Abstracts: Deadline is July 15
The deadline to electronically submit an abstract for the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology's Nov. 9-14, Annual Meeting in Dallas is 11:59 p.m., Sunday, July 15. Only electronic submissions will be accepted.

To submit an abstract, go to the ACAAI Web site and click on the headline "2007 Annual Meeting Abstract Submission." On-screen prompts will take you through the submission process.

If you have already begun to enter an abstract into the system — but did not actually hit the "submit" button — you must go back into the system and submit. After the abstract is submitted, you will receive an e-mail confirmation. Abstracts not officially submitted cannot be considered.

Register your children’s asthma camp in 2007 Directory
The Consortium on Children’s Asthma Camps is currently updating its 2007 Asthma Camp directory. Its goal is to include every asthma camp in the nation. If you sponsor, coordinate, volunteer at, or know about an asthma camp in your state, please check the Consortium's Web site camp locater and make sure it’s included in the directory. You can also update your camp’s information.

To add a camp, please e-mail asthmacamp@alamn.org for a password – or if you forgot your existing password.

The Consortium on Children’s Asthma Camps was founded in 1988 by six sponsoring organizations, including the College, which is recognized on the Consortium’s Web site for its ongoing support. ACAAI’s representatives on its Board of Directors are Drs. Sherwin A. Gillman, Mario Cruz-Rivera and Margaret F. Guill.

Memoriam to College and Alliance past presidents
It is with great sadness that we report the deaths of Dr. Orville C. Thomas, ACAAI past president (1977-1978), who died April 13 at his home in Lake Conroe, Texas, and Sandra B. Barkin, RN, past president of the Alliance (1995-1997), who died April 10. Mrs. Barkin, wife of Dr. Gilbert D. Barkin, ACAAI past president (1982-1983), resided in Potomac, Md.

Orville C. Thomas, MD
Dr. Thomas was born August 23, 1915, in Haynesville, La. He attended Tulane University and Tulane Medical School in New Orleans, where he received his medical degree in 1939 followed by a two-year internship at Charity Hospital in Louisiana. He served in the U.S. Army as a ship surgeon from 1942 to 1946.

He received his residency training in pediatrics at Children's Memorial Hospital of Chicago and was chief resident, 1948-1949, while teaching pediatrics at Northwestern University. Dr. Thomas practiced pediatrics in Shreveport, La., 1949-1961. He completed his training in allergy and immunology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston under Dr. John P. McGovern. He joined the McGovern Allergy Clinic in 1965 and served as president of the clinic, 1983-1988, and retired in 1992.

Dr. Thomas was held in high esteem in the local, national and international medical communities. Dr. Thomas was president of the Houston Allergy Society, 1973-1974; chief of the Allergy Clinic and Allergy Service at Texas Children's Hospital from 1973-1978; chairman of the Allergy Section of the Southern Medical Association, 1970-1971; chairman of the Allergy Section of the Texas Medical Association in 1976-1977; president of the American Association of Certified Allergists, 1979; and served as U.S. representative on the Executive Committee of The International Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, 1979-1982.

Memorial contributions may be made in his name to the Texas Children's Hospital, P.O. Box 300630, MC 4-4483, Houston, Texas 77230-0630.

Sandra B. Barkin, RN
Sandra Barkin served as the 22nd Alliance president, after being an active member of the organization for 30 years.

Mrs. Barkin was instrumental in having the Alliance speak for the first time to the College’s Board of Regents. Her priority was to encourage young members to become involved, and she brought the organization’s historical photos up-to-date.

Memorial contributions may be made in her name to the Make-a-Wish Foundation or to the charity of your choice.