Dear Colleagues,
This fall, for the first time in its 43-year history, ASHT's Annual Meeting will be fully virtual. We cordially invite you to join us for this historic event. This year’s theme is “Ignite the Leader Within: Collaborate-Innovate-Advocate,” and you will see these ideas woven throughout the program. With technology changing at a rapid pace, innovation in care delivery will be imperative to our future, as we’ve seen with the recent sweeping legislative changes and adoption of telemedicine. Collaboration with other hand care professionals and advocating for the hand and upper extremity therapy specialty continue to be essential components for the success of our profession. Our hope is that each and every one of you will be inspired to be a leader in hand therapy!
The Annual Meeting has been designed to provide innovative educational delivery methods, including live virtual sessions, and pre-recorded sessions for hands-on learning sessions from hand surgeon and hand therapist speakers. All plenary sessions will be live broadcast presentations. These sessions will be held every Thursday from October 1 to November 19, 2020, starting at 7 p.m. ET. All sessions presented during the live broadcast will also be available to view on-demand. Our pre-recorded instructional sessions will be available to all registered attendees through October 1, 2021. The meeting kicks off October 1 with our opening ceremonies, “Leaders and Legends,” which will include leadership-driven interviews with professional athletes, followed by “Timeless Tendon Takeaways,” presented by Dr. Peter Amadio, MD, Rebecca Neiduski, PhD, OTR/L, CHT, Dr. Wyndell Merritt, MD, FACS and Gwendolyn Van Strien, PT, CHT-NL.
The virtual platform will allow us to find new ways to collaborate, innovate and advocate! One benefit of this year’s meeting is that all Pre-Conference Institutes will be included as part of your full meeting registration at no extra cost. These courses include a step-by-step Hands On Orthotics workshop you can play and pause as you practice in your clinics, as well as three additional Pre-Conference Institutes: Cadaver Dissections; Management of Lateral Epicondylosis, which includes taping techniques, mobilization with movement, cross-friction massage, cupping and IASTM; and Taping Techniques for the Cutaneous Nervous System.
To adapt to the changing preferences in how we absorb education, we’ve included shorter 30-minute sessions and increased the number of one-hour sessions. We have exceptional surgeon and therapist speakers throughout the program, and hope to demonstrate surgeon/therapist collaboration during our live plenary sessions. This program truly showcases how many leaders have advocated for our patients and profession over the years.
We would like to take a moment to acknowledge the physical, emotional and financial hardships many are facing as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. While we look forward to the comradery of meeting face to face once again, the virtual platform has allowed us to offer an amazing 62.5 hours of continuing education! We hope this offers you the opportunity to participate in a top-notch program and meet your professional goals all while staying safe. On behalf of the ASHT Board of Directors and the Annual Meeting Committee, we look forward to connecting with you virtually this fall and hope to ignite the leader within!
Kind Regards,
Kim McVeigh MBA, OTR/L, CHT
2020 ASHT Annual Meeting Committee Chair