Pediatric Academic Societies

EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
Educational Workshops	These small, interactive training seminars address practical topics of concern for trainees, junior scholars, and the more senior practitioner, investigator, or academic leader. The format of the workshops usually includes a combination of didactic presentations, interactive discussions, and hands-on techniques, depending on the topic presented. Attendance is limited to make the sessions highly interactive. Open to all attendees.
INVITED SCIENCE PROGRAM FORMATS
State of the Art Plenaries	A means of updating and solidifying understanding in interdisciplinary areas of pediatric medicine. These sessions are also commonly forums for the presentation of new developments and seminal advances in biomedical research. They consist of invited lectures from international leaders in the field and are designed to be of interest to a very broad range of attendees. Open to all attendees.
Topic Symposia	These programs address issues and controversies around topics of interest to a particular audience. As such, they are generally focused on a more specific topic than the State of the Art sessions. Topic Symposia consist of 3–4 lectures and allow time for active audience discussion. Topic symposia run concurrently with the original science platform sessions and poster symposia. Open to all attendees.
Hot Topics	These symposia focus on areas of rapid clinical discovery and excitement and should address "Hot Topics," controversial issues and seek to stimulate new areas of research or interactions for participants. Time is scheduled for active audience participation. Open to all attendees.
Mini Courses	These programs address important, relevant topics of interest to all attendees from trainees to junior faculty to more senior faculty. Usually targeted to new, broad-based clinical strategies or techniques, which are not specific for any specific discipline or subset of participants. The emphasis is on practical and useful information for the practicing physician or provider of care. These program are designed to be highly interactive. Open to all attendees.
Meet the Professors Breakfasts	These breakfasts are intended for 20–25 participants and are informal and interactive discussions with an expert in the topic area. Open to all attendees. Those wanting to attend one of these breakfasts are encouraged to arrive early as attendance is limited, and they will fill quickly.
Special Interest Groups	SIGs are informal sessions organized around specific areas of interest to academic and community pediatricians. Each session is planned by the SIG chair and the sessions range in format from informal discussions to guest speakers to research presentations. Contact the specific SIG chair if you would like more information. Open to all attendees.
ORIGINAL SCIENCE PROGRAM
(Abstract submission deadline for 2005 Annual Meeting: December 7, 2004)
Platform Sessions	Platform sessions are 2-hour sessions with 8 papers. Each paper is afforded 15 minutes for the presentation (10 minute oral presentation; 5 minutes for audience discussion)
Poster Symposia	Poster symposia are 2-hour sessions and include 10-12 grouped posters with a viewing period and a formal presentation or discussion period. There is some flexibility with the format for the formal presentation period. The goal of the poster symposia format is to encourage participant and audience interaction in a less formal setting than a platform session.
Poster Sessions	Poster sessions are 2–3-hour sessions with 250–400 posters on various thematic and traditional subspecialty topics. Authors are in attendance for a 2-hour period to discuss their work with individual attendees in an informal setting.