The Annual National Conference of the AMERSA is the major meeting for health professional educators focused on substance abuse. The annual scientific meeting gives physicians and other health professionals the opportunity to increase their knowledge of new educational programs in the substance abuse area. It facilitates the process of networking of faculty from multiple disciplines working in the substance abuse field. AMERSA will hold its 26th annual national conference on November 7-9, 2002 at the Hilton in Alexandria, VA. Meetings in subsequent years are scheduled in the Washington, D.C. area on November 6-8, 2003, November 4-6, 2004, November 10-12, 2005 and November 9-11, 2006. For the 2002 meeting, this proposal aims to strengthen the high quality and diversity of the conference through speaker fees to attract preeminent speakers, provision of continuing education gratis to participants, and outreach efforts to diverse, multidisciplinary health professionals. The primary mission of AMERSA is to encourage the development of educational programs in substance abuse and develop cadres of substance abuse health professional educators who will effectively facilitate the transfer of research to practice. AMERSA 1) provides leadership and improves training for all health care professions in the management of problems related to alcohol, tobacco and other drugs; 2) disseminates state-of-the-art information about substance abuse education and research, through means such as the National AMERSA conference and the organization?s journal, Substance Abuse; 3) provides mentoring for health professionals interested in becoming teachers, clinicians and researchers in the field; 4) promotes cultural competence and inclusiveness among health care professionals in their work with individuals affected by alcohol, tobacco and other drug problems; 5) promotes collaboration among multiple professions including, but not limited to, medicine, nursing, social work, psychology, dentistry, pharmacology, and public health; and 6) builds a national network of substance abuse experts who can advise local, national, and international organizations on health professional substance abuse education through representation of national forums. Plenary topics have been proposed for the 2002 meeting: Juvenile and Family Drug Courts, Tobacco Policy, Contingency Management and Community Reinforcement, Opioid Dependence in Pregnancy, Nicotine Dependence in Minority Populations and Buprenorphine -Early Reports on Primary Care Implementation.
