Trudeau Society Questionnaire 2007

October 29, 2007

RE: Your input needed on the Trudeau Society of Los Angeles County

Greetings Trudeau Society members,

As you may know, the Trudeau Society of Los Angeles has resumed regular meetings the past few years with a structure similar to previous years. The Trudeau Society of Los Angeles is similar to many local organizations across the county formed to provide physicians and other healthcare professionals an educational forum focusing on respiratory conditions. It has been meeting since 1921 and like many similar organizations, affiliated with the local lung association (now, BREATHE California of Los Angeles County). This relationship has been mutually beneficial, especially from a financial standpoint and in terms of support staff.

The Trudeau Society of Los Angeles once had over 200 dues paying members and a full calendar with six nightly meetings over an academic year. The membership has markedly decreased and meetings continue only in partnership with many partners. These have included the Barlow Respiratory Hospital, UCLA Medical Center, West LA VA Medical Center along with Breathe California of Los Angeles as well as a generous endowment from the Sills Family.

There was a meeting hiatus after the 2001-2 academic year, but meetings resumed in 2005. In 2005, there was a Saturday morning symposium at Barlow Hospital, and in 2006, Thursday evening dinner meetings with Bart Celli, MD, and Martin Tobin, MD. In 2007, the dinner meeting speakers were Lewis Rubin, MD and Stephen Lazarus, MD. All along, Barlow Respiratory Hospital has also hosted their own Hans Einstein Lectureship, a free standing meeting, but announcements were sent to all Trudeau Society members.

We are again at a crossroads and need input from out membership. We have several options that we would like to explore and ask that you take a few minutes to complete the attached survey and provide input for the upcoming year. Please complete this by December 13, 2007.

FAX #: 323-935-1873.

On another note, the Hans Einstein lecture this year was November 13, 2007 and the speaker was Stanley Deresinski, MD from Stanford speaking on staphyloccoccus drug resistance in the critically ill patient.

We look forward to your valuable input on the Trudeau Society by completing the attached questionnaire and returning to Pat Etem, Director, Research, Policy and Planning at BREATHE California of Los Angeles County. Thank you very much for your continued interest in the Trudeau Society.

Sincerely,

Dr. Guy Soo Hoo
Chair, Research Committee

TRUDEAU SOCIETY QUESTIONAIRE
Please fax your response by 12-13-07 to BREATHE LA, Center for Healthy Lungs: 323-935-1873

A. Tell us a little about yourself:

1. Background
2. Physician
3. Nurse
4. Respiratory therapist
5. Other; please specify ______________________________

B. Years since completion of training

1. Still in training
2. 0-5 years
3. 5-10 years
4. 10 years

C. Relationship with the Trudeau Society (mark all those that apply)

1. New member (< 3 years)
2. Older member (> 3 years)
3. Not a member, occasional attendee at meetings
4. Former Trudeau Society Officer
5. Other; please specify_____________________________

D. Last meeting attended

1. This past year: 2007
2. Within the past two years (2005-2007)
3. Greater than five years ago
4. Have never attended a meeting

E. What reasons have prevented your meeting attendance in the past few years? (mark all that apply)

1. Conflicting engagements
2. Out of town
3. Meeting time inconvenient
4. Excessive driving distance
5. Speaker not of interest
6. Cost of meeting
7. Other, please specify_________________________________

F. The main reasons for continued attendance of Trudeau Society meeting (mark all that apply):

1. Opportunity to hear and interact with the guest speaker
2. Opportunity to network with local area colleagues
3. Opportunity to meet new colleagues
4. Opportunity to obtain CME credits
5. Other, please specify__________________________________

G. Dues may have to be raised from the current $50/year to $75/year to cover costs. If this occurred:

1. It would not affect my attendance at meetings.
2. It would limit attendance only to meetings of interest (payment by meeting vs. annual dues)
3. It would preclude attendance to any meeting
4. Other, please specify____________________________________________

H. What about the meeting format?
1. The dinner meeting format remains the best for our membership (mark one)

1. To a great extent
2. To some extent
3. Not at all

2. The preferred meeting format is:

1. Thursday dinner meeting (current format)
2. Saturday morning breakfast
3. Saturday lunch
4. Mini-symposium over half a day
5. None of the above; please list preferable meeting format______________

3. The best meeting place is

1. Current locales are fine (Barlow Respiratory Hospital, UCLA Faculty Center)
2. Local hotel or restaurant near the freeway
3. On site at a local hospital
4. Other, please specify _________________________________________

I. Relevance of the Trudeau Society (mark all that apply)

1. The Trudeau Society remains an important part of the pulmonary community
2. The Trudeau Society should continue to bring renown speakers to Los Angeles
3. The Trudeau Society should expand its scope into areas of advocacy and education
4. The Trudeau Society is redundant and is not an important part of the community

K. The Trudeau Society currently sponsors the attendance of fellows from the various Pulmonary and Critical Care fellowships in the Greater Los Angeles area to meetings.

1. This should continue as it provides a unique educational opportunity for fellows.
2. This should continue as it introduces future members to the society
3. This should continue, but fellows will have to be charged a reduced fee (~$25).
4. This can't continue since the Trudeau Society can no longer afford this.
5. Other, please specify____________________________________________

L. The Trudeau Society is looking to expand its outreach to the medical community. This can best be done by (mark all that apply):

1. Developing a medical blog accessed through the BREATHE California website
2. Developing and providing webcast series on pertinent medical topics
3. Expand its focus to include more lectures on translational research
4. Hosting more dinner meetings similar to current meetings (3-4 times/year)
5. Hosting meetings at different sites by the same speaker

M. We are looking for the best methods to recruit young medical professionals:

1. The Trudeau Society should continue its current format
2. The Trudeau Society should expand its program to other hospitals
3. The Trudeau Society should expand its on line presence
4. Other, please specify _____________________________________________

N. How should the Trudeau Society increase its operating capital? (mark all that apply)

1. Charge higher fees to membership
2. Partner with a pharmaceutical for speaker sponsorship (already done to some extent)
3. Request grant support from a large pharmaceutical
4. Request educational grants from other organizations (hospitals, insurance companies)
5. Host a fundraiser with Breathe California
6. Continue current partnership and cost-sharing with local hospitals, minimize expenditure to specific areas (current model)
7. Other, please specify_______________________________________________

Please specify areas of interest and/or speakers you would like to see this upcoming year.
___________________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________________
Thank you very much for your input.
We look forward to your responses and seeing you at the next meeting!!