Many of you were able to attend the 2017 AOSW Annual Conference in Denver. I hope you left energized and ready to apply lessons learned to your particular roles in oncology social work. Be on the lookout for a more in-depth review of the Annual Conference in the next issue of the AOSW Navigator. And huge thanks to the 2017 Annual Conference Committee: Meredith Cammarata (Chair), Christina Bach, Morgan Gonzales, Joyce Hendershot, Kate McFadien, Jill Randall and our management team at Kellen. They all worked tirelessly to produce an exceptional conference!

Webinars: Current and Upcoming

If you were not able to attend the Annual Conference and are looking for oncology-specific continuing education, please remember that our webinar series is still going strong. Patrice Al-Shatti will present a webinar on August 16, “I’m so Tired: Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions for Cancer-Related Fatigue.” The September webinar will have an ethics focus and be presented by Tracy Borgmeyer and Wendy Walters.

AOSW webinars are also archived as webinar recordings, providing you the opportunity to listen to the recorded program and still obtain continuing education (CE) credit. Whether looking for past, present or future webinars, AOSW offers its new Annual Webinar Subscription Program. Purchased when you join or renew your membership, the package includes 10 live webinars or webinar recordings for $300—a $150 savings off the cost of purchasing individual live webinars or webinar recordings. If you’ve already joined or renewed your AOSW membership for 2017 and would like to take advantage of this new benefit email Member Services Manager, Jordan Burghardt for assistance. We hope you will take advantage to listen to these quality presentations.

Our new Professional Development Webinar Series is also available free of charge to our members. I encourage you to review these past programs as well as tap into “Abstract Writing 101” to be presented by Christina Bach, Sandy Blackburn and Patrice Al-Shatti in July. The timing aligns with the opening of the Abstract Center (open Monday, July 10 – Monday, Sept. 11) for our 2018 Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia. The August webinar is “Training the Future Workforce: How to Be a Field Instructor,” to be presented by Susan Hedlund. This one fits in well with the return of students to our settings.

AOSW 2018 Annual Conference

It is hard to believe we are already planning for the 2018 Annual Conference, even before the writing of this article. But it is with excitement that the 2018 Annual Conference Committee, led by Conference Chair Kristin Scheeler, announced the 2018  AOSW 34th Annual Conference — “Guided by Best Practices in Pivotal Times” — to be held in Atlanta May 30 – June 1, 2018. Thank you to Kristin and Committee members Kristy Case, Jean Rowe, Marie Lavigne and Patrice Al-Shatti for their commitment to the next AOSW Annual Conference! We are looking forward to reviewing best practices-related abstracts based on our conference objectives. We also welcome abstracts that honor AOSW’s history or reflect upon ways that oncology social workers persisted through pivotal times in the past. The abstracts you submit enable us to continue providing quality conference content that appeals to all members in the areas of practice, research, advocacy and administration.