I am pleased to announce the Essentials of Correctional Medicine Conference 2014!

It will be held February 18-21, 2014 in the Downtown Hilton Hotel in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Last year’s conference was a great success.  We had much greater participation than we had anticipated and the comments we received from the conference participants were almost all positive.  However, we did get some suggestions for improvements that we are using to make Essentials 2014 even better!

Much like last year’s conference, here is what you can expect:

1. This is a working conference.  Do not expect a lot of free time.  Do expect to learn a lot.
2. This is a conference for Correctional Medicine Professionals.  Each and every lecture will specifically pertain to medicine practiced in jails, prisons and juvenile facilities.
3. Excellent, engaging speakers.  We have three requirements of our speakers.  First, that they teach up-to-date, useful material.  Second, that they are enthusiastic and engaging.  Useful information does no good if the presentation is so boring that you slept through it.  Finally, they must relate their presentations to correctional medicine. We in correctional medicine must always keep safety, security, and the possibility of symptom magnification for gain in the back of our minds in a way that outside physicians find foreign. 

We have made several changes and improvements to the conference format based on the suggestions and critique of last year’s participants:

1. Fewer speakers speaking on more topics.
2. More time for questions.  Each speaker will devote time to answering questions.  Also, each day we will bring all of the speakers together with the conference participants and have a question and answer and discussion session.  Expect debates!
3. Protocols.  Each clinical lecture will come with a sample protocol.  Whether you call them Policy and Procedures, Standard Operating Guidelines or simply Protocols, writing these suckers is hard work.  So besides lecture notes, conference participants will leave with a good number of clinical policies that they can easily adapt to their particular institution.
4. More vendors.  We especially are looking for vendors with new products that can make our lives better.
5. More “working on a full stomach.”  Since this is a working conference, continental breakfast and lunch will be provided most days so we can keep on learning! 

2014 Conference Topics.

1. Infectious diseases.  Our Keynote Speaker, Dr. Joseph Bick, is an expert in infectious diseases and a great speaker.  He is currently on sabbatical working as a correctional physician at a prison in Malaysia, of all places.   Dr. Bick will share those experiences with us in the Keynote Address, and then will address many of the infectious disease conundrums we face in Correctional Medicine.
2. Dermatology.  Every correctional physician needs a dermatology consultant to send grody rash pictures to.  Mine is Neelie Berlin, enthusiastic rash expert who also happens to also be a wonderfully entertaining speaker.
3. Medico-legal matters.  I personally always enjoy legal discussions and case analysis.  Hearing about bad-outcome legal cases is like driving by a bad wreck on the freeway—you just can’t look away.
4. Symptom magnification and malingering.  Does any medical profession have to deal as much with this issue as we in corrections do, day after day after day?  Answer:  Ah, no.  Essentials will have presentations about detecting deception, properly documenting these encounters in a medico-legal friendly way and dealing effectively with these inmates without confrontation.  Forensic Psychiatrist Dr. Noel Gardner will discuss symptom magnification and malingering in the psychiatric realm.  Wonderfully entertaining as well as essential information.
5. Formulary development and maintenance.  It is easier than you think!
6. Chest Pain and Abdominal Pain.  Simplified approaches to assessing these complaints.
7. And More! 

More conference information is found under the “Essentials Conference” tab at the top of the page!

Do you have questions?  Suggestions about how to make this and future conferences better?  Contact Us information is found at the conference website:  Essentials of Correctional Medicine.