July, 2015
Diplomates certified in nine subspecialties of internal medicine will no longer need to maintain underlying certifications to stay certified in those areas, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced on July 1, 2015. With this policy change, no disciplines in ABIM’s Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program will require underlying certification. All ABIM diplomates will be able to choose the certifications they wish to maintain.
The new policy, unanimously passed by the ABIM Council, goes into effect on January 1, 2016, and removes requirements of underlying certification in...
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June, 2015
Making Donors Whole Again: How Can We Give Back?
Since 2004, the number of living kidney donations in the U.S. has been in decline. Many blame this trend on the high cost of donation, and some are working to rewrite the rules.
Kenneth Newell, MD, PhD, AST Immediate Past-President
Last year, about 17,000 people with kidney failure received the gift of life through organ donation. Remarkably, each year about 6,000 of these organs come from living donors: people who choose to literally give of themselves to save others.
Knowing the odds
Kidney donation is not the only type of living donation...
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May, 2015
A guidance document and an interview form were updated by a group of subject matter experts, and the Stakeholder Review Group (
roster) finalized their revisions. Both of these Uniform Donor Risk Assessment Interview (DRAI) documents were initially made available on September 10, 2014 and updated versions can be accessed at these links:
Uniform DRAI - Birth Mother 5-20-15.pdf... Read More...
In recognition of exceptional commitment to the field of transplantation and outstanding service to the American Society of Transplantation, the AST is pleased to annouce that the following individuals have been selected as Fellows of the American Society of Transplantation (FAST):
Deborah B Adey M.D.
Khalid Abdulmohsen Al Meshari M.D., F.A.C.P.
James S. Allan M.D., M.B.A.
Rajendra S. Baliga M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.S.N.
William M. Bennett M.D.
Geetha Bhat M.D., Ph.D.
Emily A Blumberg M.D.
Gerald Brandacher M.D.
William E Braun M.D.
Kimberly Ann Brown M.D.
Robert S. Brown, Jr. M.D.
Paul Jeffrey...
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The AST’s Transplantation and Immunology Research Network (TIRN) is proud to launch an initiative designed to support scholarships for pre-doctoral students (including undergraduate students) interested in gaining exposure to the field of transplantation immunology. This program is particularly well-suited to the student interested in having a dedicated summer laboratory experience, but also could be applicable to a mentored clinical experience in the field of transplantation. Mentors must be members of the AST in good-standing.
In 2015, up to four (4) AST TIRN Pre-Doctoral Scholarships will...
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Save the Date for the Second Annual Transplant Quality Institute, sponsored by AFDT
Building on the success of the first Transplant Quality Institute (TQI), this eagerly anticipated second TQI will provide basic and advanced information, tools, and resources to ensure your program's performance meets the rigorous quality expectations to remain competitive and compliant in today's healthcare and marketplace.
In this three-day program, the expert faculty and invited speakers will describe in detail the quality assurance and performance improvement methodologies required for today's Transplant...
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April, 2015
AST/ASTS Workshop on Increasing Organ Donation in the United States: Creating an “Arc of Change” From Removing Disincentives to Testing Incentives
The American Society of Transplantation (AST) and American Society of Transplant Surgeons (ASTS) convened a workshop on June 2–3, 2014, to explore increasing both living and deceased organ donation in the United States. Recent articles in the lay press on illegal organ sales and transplant tourism highlight the impact of the current black market in kidneys that accompanies the growing global organ shortage. We believe it important not to conflate...
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March, 2015
AST has reviewed and provided commentary on 10 OPTN/UNOS policy proposals that were out for public comment.
Read the comments here.
February, 2015
February 18, 2015
AST ID COP executive committee
Camille Kotton, chair
Shirish Huprikar, co-chair
Note: This guidance document was developed and approved by the ID COP Executive Committee but it has not been through an independent peer review process.
Introduction
As of February 13, 2015, 141 people from 17 states and Washington DC were reported to have measles in 2015 alone, most of whom are part of a large, ongoing outbreak related to an amusement park in California.1 There were a record number of cases in the United States in 2014 with 644 cases from 27 states reported to CDC's National...
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