San Francisco Neurological Society
President's Letter
June, 2011
Wow. Last time I checked, we still live in the San Francisco Bay Area, the most civilized place in the world, surrounded by many of the world’s smartest and most talented people, doing some of the most innovative and interesting things in the history of medicine. And despite our quotidian quandaries and the excesses of execrable executives, we still have the coolest jobs in the world: we’re brain doctors.
There are great plans in the upcoming year for the San Francisco Neurological Society. We started off with a topic previously known only in science fiction: intrauterine neurosurgery. Dr. Nalin Gupta MD, PhD, from UCSF told us of the latest efforts at repairing spina bifida with myelomeningocele in the developing fetus at the June 2nd lecture.
The Aird lecturer on October 13, 2011, will be Justin McArthur, MBBS, MPH, Neurologist-in-Chief of Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is an authority on HIV-associated cognitive disorders. The following day, October 14, SFNS will be offering a full-day conference on dementia and cognitive disorders, to include topics such as current concepts of Alzheimer’s pathogenesis, upcoming treatments for Alzheimer’s, diagnosing and differentiating the dementias, cognitive and behavioral consequences of brain injury and infection, driving and competency issues in dementia, and more. Please click here for more information.
There are big plans for the Annual Meeting, which will be May 18-20, 2012, at The Lodge at Sonoma Renaissance Resort & Spa. More details as the date approaches. 
There will be annoying changes in the dispensing of CME certificates for future meetings. Certificates of attendance will be handed out at the end of the event, in exchange for your evaluation forms. 
Why are we being so obnoxious and demanding, you ask? Unfortunately, the regulations for maintaining our status as an accredited provider of CME become more onerous every day. Oscar Wilde said, “The bureaucracy is expanding to meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy”. This is as true in the world of medical billing and Medicare coding as it is in the world of CME accreditation. Rules are imposed on us, and our continued existence is truly dependent on your participation. By this, I mean that we are required to demonstrate in extensive tabulated reports that we are meeting the educational needs of our members, so we MUST have written evaluations from each of you to prove that the San Francisco Neurological Society is worthy. Sad, but true. Despite these further aggravations, our educational programs will continue to be world-class, and the opportunity to mingle with your colleagues will continue to be priceless.
Is there a subject about which you want to know more? Is there an interesting topic in which you are an expert and can educate the rest of us? Please let us know. We are you, and you are us (I am the Walrus… goo goo ga joob).
Fondly,
Eric Collins, MD (your President)
