It’s February and most of us –those who haven’t escaped to for a brief respite to Florida or the Caribbean—are holed up waiting out the winter. But it’s not too early to dream of spending time in exotic locales while boning up on advances on our field. So this month I will focus on CME opportunities that await us in warmer seasons.
First and foremost, I want to call attention to the two key gatherings posted here on our website. Coming up April 2-5 is the ASAM annual conference in Denver. No doubt—the conference is costly, but you can save on tuition with early-bird registration until February 24, and off-season airfare is surprisingly cheap
Closer to home and not to be missed is our own NNESAM Scientific Conference this year in Bethel, Maine the first weekend in November. Your Conference Planning committee is actively recruiting speakers and we hope to post a tentative schedule here in another month. In addition to the excellent program, the opportunity to connect with colleagues across our three states is invaluable. Even in November, the Bethel area is an outdoor paradise (weather cooperating). My wife and I hiked in the Mahoosucs three years ago during NNESAM’s previous meeting there, and another intrepid attendee camped out. And there is the recently-opened Maine Mineral and Gem Museum—take a look at their website.
Then there is the Cape Cod Symposium on Addictive Disorders, held annually in Hyannis the weekend after Labor Day (when the tourist hordes have departed). The content is geared more toward counselors, but there is a medical provider track. NNESAM is invited to provide speakers for the provider track so if you want to speak there in 2021 you can opportunity for a lot of personal interaction in spite of its size. There is a gathering for regional ASAM members on the final morning. You can find information by searching CCSAD 2020.
Each year here are several half or whole-day meetings of interest in our three states. In 2019 in Maine we had the Governor’s Opioid Summit and an interesting daylong meeting sponsored by the local DEA. I post information on local events scheduled for 2020 as it becomes available.