Governance

Background:

One of the most valued activities of AAPM is the production of Medical Physics Practice Guidelines (MPPGs) and Task Group reports (TGs). However, the presentation of this work at meetings of the AAPM is highly variable. Over the time period of 2015 to 2017, 19 reports were published. However, only 12 of these were presented at either an Annual Meeting or a Spring Clinical Meeting (i.e. approximately 40% of reports were never presented). On the other hand, some reports are “over-presented”. In the same time period, 5 reports were presented more than once, with one report being presented more than 7 times in a 3-year period.

There are numerous advantages to having reports presented at meetings including the following: 1) enhance the quality of the meeting (such presentations are uniformly well-received), 2) allow for discussion, 3) make the material more accessible, and 4) allow for availability in the online library. This latter is also valuable for the education of students, resident and junior physicists.

In addition, in the past some TGs have presented their results while the work of the TG is still in the early stages, and there have been substantial changes made during the subsequent review processes. This can be confusing to those who attended the presentation or who view it on the virtual library. Also, it is difficult for physicists to follow up on recommendations given in presentations if the actual report/paper isn’t published/made available for several years.

Guidelines:

1. These guidelines apply to all public presentations.
2. Requirements for presenting
   1. Presentation of final results/recommendations of the Group
      1. Reports/papers must have minimally reached the stage of Council level approval by the time the invitation to present is issued.
      2. All presentations must be recorded for inclusion in either the virtual library or webinar archive.
   2. For presentations in which the Group is requesting feedback from the medical physics community to help them address their charges:
      1. The Group must have support for the presentation by their parent organization (WG, subcommittee, committee, or Council).
      2. The title of the meeting presentation and abstract must make it clear that this is not a presentation of final findings/recommendations. The speaker must also state the same during the presentation.
   3. AAPM reports/papers may not be submitted or presented as proffered talks. Reports will be presented as invited symposia at the Annual or Spring Clinical meetings or as webinars.
3. Capture and presentation of reports fulfilling requirements
   1. Meeting planners, Council leaders, and AAPM Headquarters staff will devise a methodology so meeting planners are aware of reports ready for presentation..
   2. The Group and/or its parent committees may request that the presentation be given at a specific meeting or as a webinar, but the final decision will be made by MCC and its subcommittees.
   3. TG Chairs are strongly encouraged to submit independently to the selected meeting's RFP.
   4. It is a goal that every report produced be presented. In rare cases, Groups, Councils, or the meeting organizers may request that a report not be presented. Non-presentation requires consent of the respective Council.
4. Multiple presentations at AAPM meetings
   1. All reports will be presented at only one national AAPM meeting or one webinar.
      1. As an invited talk at a national meeting, the presentation will be recorded and available in the Virtual Library. As a webinar, the presentation will be recorded and available in the Webinar Archive.
      2. Exception will be made for reports deemed to be of high importance to a large fraction of the membership, such as TG100.
   2. Additional presentation at AAPM Chapter meetings is allowed.
5. Non-AAPM Meetings
   1. Reports presented at AAPM Meetings or as AAPM webinars may also be presented at non-AAPM meetings (e.g. ASTRO and RSNA) or webinars. The requirements for presentation specified in section 2.a.i and 2.b hold for all non-AAPM meetings.