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Specialization, Science and Technology

The St. James Center for Comprehensive Wound and Disease Management along with St. James Hospital and Health Centers invite you to the first annual Wound Care SST Conference, 17-19 July 2008 at the Marriott Chicago Oak Brook Hotel. SST stands for specialization, science and technology.

Over the past 15 years the wound care industry has grown to be a multi-billion dollar industry with an explosion in knowledge, technology and basic science. The wound care clinician of 15 years ago would spend the majority of their time treating chronic non-healing wounds, mostly located on the lower extremity. The current wound care practitioner is commonly asked to evaluate post-operative wounds, traumatic surgical wounds, wounds caused by vasculitis, infectious ulcers, and arterial wounds to name a few. In addition, the wound practitioner is now expected to give advice to numerous specialists who all have a basic knowledge of wound care as it specifically relates to their own field.

The rapid expansion of growth factors, gene therapy, biological dressings and cell therapy along with over 3,500 wound care products and an explosion of scientific information about the molecular basis of healing can make the job overwhelming.

Avocation to Vocation

The time has come for wound care to move from avocation to vocation. A specialty is desperately needed with a formal medical educational track that includes the traditional residency format that currently is standard for fields of medicine. The fact that physicians might become board certified in wound care in no way removes the importance of the multidisciplinary team any more than a board certified cardiothoracic surgeon has eliminated the need for cardiac nursing, physical therapy, cardiologists, pharmacists, or the general internist. With an aging society, an increase in obesity and diabetes and regulatory pressure to control costs while maintaining quality, the time is now for wound care to elevate its status and sit amongst the other fields of medicine.

To this end, the St. James Center for Comprehensive Wound and Disease Management at the Olympia Fields campus of St. James Hospital proudly present the first annual Wound Care SST course.

SST Concept: “A Mini-Residency”

The concept of this conference will be different from all other wound care courses in that the concept of wound care specialization will permeate the entire event. The attendee will in essence, be attending a “mini-residency” in wound care. The topics and faculty have been selected to mirror the experience for the wound care fellowship.

The St. James Wound Care Fellowship

St. James offers the only wound care fellowship in the country dedicated to training physicians to take care of any type of wound, anywhere on the body with confidence. The clinical fellowship is a one-year rotating program, which accepts physicians from internal medicine, family medicine or surgery. The applicants will become board certified in their primary residency and obtain a certificate of added qualification upon completion of the fellowship. It is the long-term goal of our program to expand the program to many universities, and within ten years, to obtain ACGME accreditation for the fellowship.

Enhance Clinical Practice

The wound care course is however designed to give the medical physician, podiatrist, physical therapist, nurse, orthotist, pedorthist, physician assistant or anyone directly involved with wound care patients with a broad, comprehensive educational background that will directly enhance their clinical practice.

The program is divided into three units. The first is named the “Specialization of Wound Care”. This didactic session begins Thursday afternoon and finishes Friday at lunch. The attendee will receive lectures from a myriad of specialist physicians who will direct their lectures to wound care as it relates specifically to their field of study. In this way, the attendee will gain an insight into the world of the physiatrist, general surgeon, vascular surgeon, plastic surgeon, internist, infectious disease specialist, and podiatrist in a way they often fail to achieve back at their home hospital. Often, the wound care clinician seems at odds with several of these specialists and often it is simply nomenclature, perceptions and the culture of the specific field that presents the roadblocks to effective communication and patient care.

Clinically Useful Science

The second unit of study has been termed the “Science of Wound Care”. This section will provide the wound care practitioner with a half-day look into the world of the biologist, chemist, and researcher. The topics are academically challenging but the faculty has been instructed to make the topics clinically useful.

Technologies

The final didactic section is entitled the “Technology of Wound Care”. In this portion of the meeting the attendee will be exposed to a host of new product developments in the field of wound care.

The program is scheduled for three days in the inaugural year and with your input we anticipate the program evolving into one of the leading wound care meetings in the country.

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