CME Programming

TexMed 2010 offers more than 100 hours of free continuing medical education programming in such areas as allergies, asthma, and immunology; anesthesiology; cancer; colon and rectal surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; emergency medicine; geriatrics; occupational medicine; ophthalmology; otolaryngology; pain management; pediatrics; physical medicine and rehabilitation; physician health and rehabilitation; practice management; psychiatry; public health; and quality and patient safety.

Earn up to a $1,000 professional liability discount from the Texas Medical Liability Trust by attending approved CME tracks. Questions? Call TMA's Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955.

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General Session

Sponsored by the Texas Medical Liability Trust

Friday, 4:30-5:30 pm
How to Become an Effective Communicator and Still Stay Stupid
Robert Buckman, MD, PhD

Buckman A world-class expert on interpersonal communication, at home and at work, the irrepressible Dr. Robert Buckman is one of the funniest speakers in the world. He combines a mischievous sense of humor with communication training that has set the standard for personal and professional development programs. Dr. Buckman’s skills have been honed in some of the most challenging settings imaginable. A renowned medical oncologist at The University of Toronto, his techniques are taught at hospitals and medical schools around the world.

In his talks, Dr. Buckman teaches you how to become a better communicator. Based on years of research and practical experience, his approach to communication is ideal for anyone who needs to win the hearts and minds of their colleagues or customers. But it's also perfect for human resources professionals, administrators, managers, and other key staff — basically, anyone who needs to learn more effective communication skills at the office. In this presentation, Dr Buckman will show you how you can deal with emotions — and he uses humor to illustrate and illuminate his message. You really will start with laughter and end with learning.

Dr. Robert Buckman lives in Toronto, Canada, where he is a medical oncologist at the Princess Margaret Hospital, and professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. He qualified as a physician from Cambridge University in 1972, and completed his training in medical oncology at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London, including laboratory research leading to a PhD. He emigrated to Toronto in 1985.

He has written many articles on various aspects of medicine and oncology, concentrating in the last 15 years on patient-physician communication and breaking bad news. He designed and teaches an undergraduate course in breaking bad news, which was given the University of Toronto Aikins Teaching Award in 1989.

For the last 20 years, he has also had a second career in communication and broadcasting, presenting television science-and-medicine programs in Britain and then Canada. His series “Magic or Medicine?” won him a Gemini award (the Canadian TV Industry equivalent of an Emmy). His latest series “Human Wildlife” was broadcast on the Discovery Channel and won two awards at the Chicago Television festival in 2003. In 1994 he was made Canadian Humanist of the year, and in 2003 received the Fleming medal of the Royal Canadian Institute for the Advancement of Science.

He has written 14 books, including I Don’t Know What To Say — How To Help And Support Someone Who Is Dying (1988), a guide for friends and family; Magic or Medicine?, an investigation into complementary medicine; How To Break Bad News, a medical textbook for physicians and health care professionals; and What You Really Need To Know About Cancer, a comprehensive guide for patients and their families, which has been published in Britain, Canada, the United States (in collaboration with The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center).

Together with Dr. Walter Baile, head of psychiatry at M.D. Anderson, he completed two sets of CD-ROMs for health care professionals, giving a comprehensive practical guide to communication skills. The same group later produced a video, On Being An Oncologist, about the personal burdens and rewards of being a cancer physician, presented by actors William Hurt and Megan Cole. They currently are preparing a series of workshops on communication for the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

The General Session has been approved for 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit^TM.

Join us immediately after the General Session for the TMLT Welcome Reception with Dr. Buckman.