The Association for the Behavioral Sciences and Medical Education (ABSAME) is pleased to issue this invitation to you to participate in their annual meeting, October 14, 15, 16, 2011 in Savannah, Georgia.

You may be asking yourself who and what is ABSAME? We are medical school faculty representing sociology, psychology, anthropology, pediatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, preventative medicine, and psychiatry who formed ABSAME as an interdisciplinary professional society dedicated to strengthening behavioral science teaching in medical schools, residency programs, and in continuing medical education. ABSAME’s membership remains interdisciplinary and continues to welcome colleagues additionally from nursing, social work, public health, and dentistry, who are dedicated to educating trainees and students in the social and behavioral sciences. With lifestyle choices continuing to be highlighted as either contributing to health promotion or to disease progression, improving the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of health care through the implementation of social and behavioral science knowledge is more critical than ever. Providing future academicians, researchers, and clinicians with excellent social and behavioral sciences skills and best practices will help us all meet the increasingly complex needs of diverse health care consumers.

This year we are highlighting the critical role played by our community partners in helping us design and implement real world experiences that meet basic human needs in accessible settings. We want to hear what you are doing in your community based initiatives. It is our goal to provide a forum where we can learn better how to assist you in your endeavors while strengthening the experiences we are dedicated to providing to the health care professionals of the future. It’s certain we have a lot to learn from each other.

Our call for oral presentations has closed but we are accepting poster submissions until September 10. The attached document provides guidelines for submission. Additional information can be found on the ABSAME website, www.absame.org. Please direct any questions or submission to Ms. Laurel Humbert, the ABSAME meeting planner at the contact information listed below.

Thank you for your consideration and we look forward to seeing you in Savannah!