President's Report 2000-01
Southwest Chapter, AMWA

Membership

Chapter membership is 224, as of February 27, 2001.

Finances

The chapter has a balanced budget and a healthy financial reserve.

Programs — Houston

July
At the July meeting, now traditionally held in south Texas, Lorraine Cherry, Ph.D., provided an update on new advances in breast cancer treatment. Dr. Cherry, whose Ph.D. is from the University of California, Berkeley is in genetics, served as a faculty member at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Texas Health Science Center for 15 years, where she conducted research on the role of genetic instability in diseases of the aged. Registrants = 15

National AMWA conference, Miami
Fifty members from the Southwest Chapter (23% of the chapter) attended the national conference this year.

September
The September meeting, was held in the computer lab in the library at Texas Medical Center. Members learned, hands-on, how to use End-Notes, a bibliographic database, to search for information sources online, to capture references, cite references from within a word document, format reference lists, reformat citation styles, and easily use references in ways that dazzled the minds of many. Registrants = 21

December
The December meeting was a festive and informal meeting featuring six Houston authors; Major's Book Store (long-standing supplier of medical texts) provided the perfect venue for the gathering. Dr. Christina Stemmler, Director of the Center for Integrated Medicine spoke about combining traditional and western medicine. Donald Barclay and Deborah Halsted spoke about the role of libraries in helping consumers interpret medical language, legal issues, and evaluate consumer health information. The other authors who spoke included Dr. Bryant Boutwell, author of a recent history of the UT medical school, Dr. William Kellar, author of a history of the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, Dr. Mavis Kelsey, author of the autobiographical book Twentieth-century Doctor, and Dr. Blair Justice, an often-published author on the subject of mind/body integration and its relationship with illness and recovery. Registrants = 26

January
The annual McGovern Award banquet and ceremony honored Walter Pagel, ELS(D), Director of Scientific Publications at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, TX. At the award banquet, Mr. Pagel presented a lecture titled "Not just the facts, Ma'am: Ideas for engaging readers in the story of your science." Registrants =76

March
The March speaker will be Bill Silberg, Executive Editor of Medscape, a free-access online publisher of full-text medical articles, as well as medical news, next-day summaries of medical conferences, drug information, financial information for health professionals, and CME training programs. Mr. Silber will speak about the challenges of publishing peer-reviewed journals on the Internet. Registered to-date = 76

May
By popular demand, the May meeting will again feature the roundtable discussions. A chapter member with particular expertise will lead the discussion at each roundtable. The chapter will also conducts its annual business meeting and election of new officers, and will honor the recipient of its new student essay award for excellence in biomedical communications.

Programs — Albuquerque

June
Celeste Nossiter, who works for Prentiss Hall in manuscript acquisitions, discussed the process of textbook publication, from submition of a proposal to printing of the final text.

October
Janet Johnson, archivist, gave a tour of many of the materials in the Historical Archives at the University of New Mexico Medical School Library in Albuquerque. The archives contain oral histories from doctors, nurses, and medical administrators, materials from the tuberculosis era, and documents on Hanta virus outbreaks.

February
Kathryn Ott, ELS, managing editor of Radiation Therapist, and Katie Racette, ELS, managing editor of Radiation Technology, gave a presentation "What Clients Expect from Contract Writers."

May
Judith Ribble, Director of CME for Medscape in Santa Fe, has been invited to speak.

Other Activities

Web Site
Tom Gegeny has ushered the Southwest Chapter website through its first full year in service. The website has been very successful, in bringing potential new members in contact with the chapter, and providing information to current members. The website provides a list of officers, a calendar of chapter meetings, upcoming events the current and archived newsletters, and links to a wealth of online writer's resources.

E-group
The chapter established an e-group this year for informal online networking. While the e-group can never fully substitute for personal contact at a meeting, chapter members do use it to ask for advice on tricky problems, to post news of upcoming local events that might be of interest to others, to toss out interesting ideas for discussion, and to become better acquainted. The e-group promises to enhance communication and a sense of cohesiveness within the chapter as more members enroll in the e-group and become comfortable using it as a means to interact with other members.

Video/Audiotaped presentations
Beginning in March 2001, we will video- or audiotape each guest speaker's presentation, and make duplicate tapes available for screenings at regional meetings or for loan to individuals. The tapes will form a resource library for the chapter

AMWA Southwest Chapter Scholarship for Biomedical Communication
The Southwest Chapter established this scholarship ($500 and a one year AMWA membership) to recognize excellence in biomedical communication, in the hope that the recipient will chose to pursue a career in this field. University students enrolled within the chapter area are eligible (other restrictions apply.)

Newsletter
The chapter publishes six newsletters a year. The editor this year, Leigh Fink, has added several features to the newsletter: graphics; the Writers' Block, a short column devoted to amusing quotations and other bits; and member profiles. A special seventh issue was published to describe new services introduced this year and how members can access these services. It also described the structure of the organization, officer responsibilities, and committee activities and solicited nominations of members/volunteers who have ideas and energy to contribute and interest in keeping the Southwest Chapter a dynamic chapter.

Respectfully submitted,

Ellen Koch, PhD
Chapter President

• Angela Lorio
• Jason Moore
• Diane Hackett
• Janet Shagham
• Barbara Gastel