Many of you were able to attend the 2018 conference in Atlanta. I hope you came away energized and have been able to apply lessons learned to your particular roles in oncology social work. A big thank you to the Conference Committee and our Kellen team for their work and commitment in the production of an exceptional conference.
 

If you were not able to attend the conference and are looking for oncology-specific continuing education, remember that our webinar series remains available in both live and archived formats. So far this year webinar attendance has been strong. We look forward to the upcoming webinars that will include topics related to mental health and cancer, resiliency, ethics, interventions for healthful sleep and trauma-informed care. Thank you to all presenters and the Education Committee for continuing to advance our distance-learning program.

It’s not too early to consider topics for webinars in 2019. This is where we need your help! We need you to consider creating a webinar presentation or reach out to a colleague to do so. Who do you know who has a specific focus in their practice that would benefit AOSW members and meet the request for more advanced content? For more information, go to www.surveymonkey.com/r/AOSW2018CallforWebinarProposals. The Education Committee looks forward to reading your proposals.

Morgan Gonzales, the 2019 AOSW Annual Conference Chair, announced the 35th AOSW Conference theme: “Passion, Empowerment & Leadership: Creating an Oasis in Cancer Care.” The conference will be held in Tucson, Arizona, June 5-7. It will offer an opportunity to engage in preconference workshops that can be submitted via Precis, our abstract submission center. Thank you, Morgan, and our 2019 Conference Committee Members Holly Adams, Eleanor Bruin, Gerrie Jakobs and Katie Schoeppner for the commitment to developing our conference.

The 2018 conference feedback let us know that you are looking for more advanced content in the presentations to partner alongside the introductory and intermediate offerings. I’m appealing to the advanced practitioners to help us meet these requests. Additionally, there were requests for specific presentations—more palliative/EOL care, mental health and administration. Please remember that the variety of conference offerings is only as good at the topics and content we receive. You can submit abstracts here. Thank you for taking the time to do so. Together we can continue to provide quality conference content that appeals to all our members.