Clayton T. Cowl, MD, MS, FCCP

About a year ago, I had the opportunity to don the honorary regalia of the American College of Chest Physicians as its 81st President. On that memorable day on the dais in San Antonio, I used the example of James Surowiecki’s book, “The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economics, Societies, and Nations” to explain how we would use the collective wisdom of our members, our committee and NetWork members, and our talented association staff to build and shape CHEST over the coming year. For those of you not familiar with this concept, Surowiecki, a business columnist for New Yorker, outlines the concept that large groups of people are actually smarter than an elite few at solving the problems of an organization, fostering innovation, collectively coming to wise decisions, or even predicting the future. In channeling the lessons from the book, it has become obvious that listening to our members and partners, rather than trying to make all decisions from the top down, has been an effective method for coming to wise decisions about the strategy and operation of CHEST. Now that it’s already time to hand the responsibility of the organization as President over to my friend and colleague Dr. Stephanie Levine, I’ve reflected on actually how effectively we have listened and how smart the collective crowd has been in moving the success of CHEST forward.

We heard from members that it was difficult to know how to get involved and what happens at the highest leadership levels of the organization. This prompted the development of podcasts dubbed “The Inside Scoop,” recorded live approximately every 2 months and featured various leaders of the organization with an informal way for members to better understand how to become involved in CHEST activities and to feel the pulse of activity of the association between the time the annual meeting ends and the next one begins.

The crowd informed us that communication at the Board of Regents level could be better. To address this, regular communications were sent out to the Board of Regents to update them on activities and discussion of issues between scheduled board meetings, as well as providing board members the opportunity to have access to the minutes of phone calls of the “5Ps,” calls that included the Immediate Past, President-Elect, President-Designate, and current President of the association, as well as the CHEST Foundation President.

We were told by members through focus groups and surveys, then again told by experts we invited to the June board meetings from education, business, design, and venture capital sectors (and who were naïve to CHEST as an association) that we needed to double down on virtual educational offerings to learners across the health-care delivery team and to revamp its information technology infrastructure. To that end, a digital strategy work group was convened with expertise in information technology, social media, and marketing to inventory all digital assets of the College and make recommendations for not just improvement, but for a complete transformation of digital technology created and promulgated by CHEST. The board then approved a budget of nearly $1 million to upgrade and rebuild the user experience within CHEST’s digital environment, including its learning management system. We also opened a multimedia studio at CHEST headquarters, increased the numbers of serious educational gaming opportunities at the annual meeting, and are developing a line of serious game platforms that will allow for “edutainment” opportunities for our members and other learners around the world using various digital platforms.

Colleagues from around the world reminded us that 20% of CHEST membership was international and that our strategic plan included an international strategy. Thanks to the support of our colleagues around the world, we were able to enjoy a tremendously successful CHEST Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, in April, and a smaller regional meeting in June in Athens, Greece. Efforts of the Governance Committee have reshaped the structure of international representation, making it more relevant and allowing its members to have a stronger voice to the Board of Regents. Plans are underway for the next CHEST Congress in June 2020 in Bologna, Italy, to be held in collaboration with the Italian Chapter of CHEST in that country.

In an era when the majority of association annual meetings across multiple specialties are driving toward parity with similar looks, marketing, formats, and expectations, we listened to the needs and desires of attendees of last year’s meeting and have improved CHEST 2019 in New Orleans even more. With the most simulation courses ever delivered at an annual meeting, more serious game opportunities, CHEST Challenge finals, a new innovation competition called “FISH Bowl,” and even a medical escape room, CHEST volunteer leaders and organization staff have worked hard to provide a world class meeting that has a different look and feel from all the others. Plus, the crowd also told us that having CME and MOC credit available for the entire meeting was another variable that was desired, and has now been achieved.

The wisdom of the proverbial crowd of membership has spoken in terms of the need for philanthropic efforts in our specialty. The CHEST Foundation has responded by awarding tens of thousands of dollars to our members to recognize cutting-edge research, community service efforts, and, in addition, has allowed dozens of providers early on in training or in their career to attend the annual meeting with the help of travel grants.

CHEST guidelines continue to be updated and new ones created based on input from expert panel teams. The CHEST journal submission process, review turnaround times, and quality of manuscripts have improved each year thanks to useful feedback from authors and readers. Publications such as CHEST Physician are modified each year based upon feedback from our readers. Critiques from the board review courses have been the driving force keeping live learning formats and the electronic SEEK board preparation questions current and accurate when the science is constantly changing.

Truly, the collective wisdom of our members, talented clinicians and researchers, and colleagues in industry has provided incredibly valuable input to the CHEST leadership team. You have spoken, and we have been listening. Thanks to each of you who have reached out to me during this year as President. Traveling to four continents this past year to better understand the needs of members who are clinicians, educators, researchers, and caregivers positioned in each geographic region has been enlightening, educational, and transformative for me and my family. Your meaningful feedback, keen insights, and passion for outstanding patient care, impactful educational experiences, and life-changing research have helped push CHEST to a higher level of excellence and to offer unparalleled experiences for our members to ultimately provide the very best care to patients.

About a year ago, I had the opportunity to don the honorary regalia of the American College of Chest Physicians as its 81st President. On that memorable day on the dais in San Antonio, I used the example of James Surowiecki’s book, “The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economics, Societies, and Nations” to explain how we would use the collective wisdom of our members, our committee and NetWork members, and our talented association staff to build and shape CHEST over the coming year. For those of you not familiar with this concept, Surowiecki, a business columnist for New Yorker, outlines the concept that large groups of people are actually smarter than an elite few at solving the problems of an organization, fostering innovation, collectively coming to wise decisions, or even predicting the future. In channeling the lessons from the book, it has become obvious that listening to our members and partners, rather than trying to make all decisions from the top down, has been an effective method for coming to wise decisions about the strategy and operation of CHEST. Now that it’s already time to hand the responsibility of the organization as President over to my friend and colleague Dr. Stephanie Levine, I’ve reflected on actually how effectively we have listened and how smart the collective crowd has been in moving the success of CHEST forward.

We heard from members that it was difficult to know how to get involved and what happens at the highest leadership levels of the organization. This prompted the development of podcasts dubbed “The Inside Scoop,” recorded live approximately every 2 months and featured various leaders of the organization with an informal way for members to better understand how to become involved in CHEST activities and to feel the pulse of activity of the association between the time the annual meeting ends and the next one begins.

The crowd informed us that communication at the Board of Regents level could be better. To address this, regular communications were sent out to the Board of Regents to update them on activities and discussion of issues between scheduled board meetings, as well as providing board members the opportunity to have access to the minutes of phone calls of the “5Ps,” calls that included the Immediate Past, President-Elect, President-Designate, and current President of the association, as well as the CHEST Foundation President.

We were told by members through focus groups and surveys, then again told by experts we invited to the June board meetings from education, business, design, and venture capital sectors (and who were naïve to CHEST as an association) that we needed to double down on virtual educational offerings to learners across the health-care delivery team and to revamp its information technology infrastructure. To that end, a digital strategy work group was convened with expertise in information technology, social media, and marketing to inventory all digital assets of the College and make recommendations for not just improvement, but for a complete transformation of digital technology created and promulgated by CHEST. The board then approved a budget of nearly $1 million to upgrade and rebuild the user experience within CHEST’s digital environment, including its learning management system. We also opened a multimedia studio at CHEST headquarters, increased the numbers of serious educational gaming opportunities at the annual meeting, and are developing a line of serious game platforms that will allow for “edutainment” opportunities for our members and other learners around the world using various digital platforms.

Colleagues from around the world reminded us that 20% of CHEST membership was international and that our strategic plan included an international strategy. Thanks to the support of our colleagues around the world, we were able to enjoy a tremendously successful CHEST Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, in April, and a smaller regional meeting in June in Athens, Greece. Efforts of the Governance Committee have reshaped the structure of international representation, making it more relevant and allowing its members to have a stronger voice to the Board of Regents. Plans are underway for the next CHEST Congress in June 2020 in Bologna, Italy, to be held in collaboration with the Italian Chapter of CHEST in that country.

In an era when the majority of association annual meetings across multiple specialties are driving toward parity with similar looks, marketing, formats, and expectations, we listened to the needs and desires of attendees of last year’s meeting and have improved CHEST 2019 in New Orleans even more. With the most simulation courses ever delivered at an annual meeting, more serious game opportunities, CHEST Challenge finals, a new innovation competition called “FISH Bowl,” and even a medical escape room, CHEST volunteer leaders and organization staff have worked hard to provide a world class meeting that has a different look and feel from all the others. Plus, the crowd also told us that having CME and MOC credit available for the entire meeting was another variable that was desired, and has now been achieved.

The wisdom of the proverbial crowd of membership has spoken in terms of the need for philanthropic efforts in our specialty. The CHEST Foundation has responded by awarding tens of thousands of dollars to our members to recognize cutting-edge research, community service efforts, and, in addition, has allowed dozens of providers early on in training or in their career to attend the annual meeting with the help of travel grants.

CHEST guidelines continue to be updated and new ones created based on input from expert panel teams. The CHEST journal submission process, review turnaround times, and quality of manuscripts have improved each year thanks to useful feedback from authors and readers. Publications such as CHEST Physician are modified each year based upon feedback from our readers. Critiques from the board review courses have been the driving force keeping live learning formats and the electronic SEEK board preparation questions current and accurate when the science is constantly changing.

Truly, the collective wisdom of our members, talented clinicians and researchers, and colleagues in industry has provided incredibly valuable input to the CHEST leadership team. You have spoken, and we have been listening. Thanks to each of you who have reached out to me during this year as President. Traveling to four continents this past year to better understand the needs of members who are clinicians, educators, researchers, and caregivers positioned in each geographic region has been enlightening, educational, and transformative for me and my family. Your meaningful feedback, keen insights, and passion for outstanding patient care, impactful educational experiences, and life-changing research have helped push CHEST to a higher level of excellence and to offer unparalleled experiences for our members to ultimately provide the very best care to patients.

About a year ago, I had the opportunity to don the honorary regalia of the American College of Chest Physicians as its 81st President. On that memorable day on the dais in San Antonio, I used the example of James Surowiecki’s book, “The Wisdom of Crowds: Why the Many Are Smarter than the Few and How Collective Wisdom Shapes Business, Economics, Societies, and Nations” to explain how we would use the collective wisdom of our members, our committee and NetWork members, and our talented association staff to build and shape CHEST over the coming year. For those of you not familiar with this concept, Surowiecki, a business columnist for New Yorker, outlines the concept that large groups of people are actually smarter than an elite few at solving the problems of an organization, fostering innovation, collectively coming to wise decisions, or even predicting the future. In channeling the lessons from the book, it has become obvious that listening to our members and partners, rather than trying to make all decisions from the top down, has been an effective method for coming to wise decisions about the strategy and operation of CHEST. Now that it’s already time to hand the responsibility of the organization as President over to my friend and colleague Dr. Stephanie Levine, I’ve reflected on actually how effectively we have listened and how smart the collective crowd has been in moving the success of CHEST forward.

We heard from members that it was difficult to know how to get involved and what happens at the highest leadership levels of the organization. This prompted the development of podcasts dubbed “The Inside Scoop,” recorded live approximately every 2 months and featured various leaders of the organization with an informal way for members to better understand how to become involved in CHEST activities and to feel the pulse of activity of the association between the time the annual meeting ends and the next one begins.

The crowd informed us that communication at the Board of Regents level could be better. To address this, regular communications were sent out to the Board of Regents to update them on activities and discussion of issues between scheduled board meetings, as well as providing board members the opportunity to have access to the minutes of phone calls of the “5Ps,” calls that included the Immediate Past, President-Elect, President-Designate, and current President of the association, as well as the CHEST Foundation President.

We were told by members through focus groups and surveys, then again told by experts we invited to the June board meetings from education, business, design, and venture capital sectors (and who were naïve to CHEST as an association) that we needed to double down on virtual educational offerings to learners across the health-care delivery team and to revamp its information technology infrastructure. To that end, a digital strategy work group was convened with expertise in information technology, social media, and marketing to inventory all digital assets of the College and make recommendations for not just improvement, but for a complete transformation of digital technology created and promulgated by CHEST. The board then approved a budget of nearly $1 million to upgrade and rebuild the user experience within CHEST’s digital environment, including its learning management system. We also opened a multimedia studio at CHEST headquarters, increased the numbers of serious educational gaming opportunities at the annual meeting, and are developing a line of serious game platforms that will allow for “edutainment” opportunities for our members and other learners around the world using various digital platforms.

Colleagues from around the world reminded us that 20% of CHEST membership was international and that our strategic plan included an international strategy. Thanks to the support of our colleagues around the world, we were able to enjoy a tremendously successful CHEST Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, in April, and a smaller regional meeting in June in Athens, Greece. Efforts of the Governance Committee have reshaped the structure of international representation, making it more relevant and allowing its members to have a stronger voice to the Board of Regents. Plans are underway for the next CHEST Congress in June 2020 in Bologna, Italy, to be held in collaboration with the Italian Chapter of CHEST in that country.

In an era when the majority of association annual meetings across multiple specialties are driving toward parity with similar looks, marketing, formats, and expectations, we listened to the needs and desires of attendees of last year’s meeting and have improved CHEST 2019 in New Orleans even more. With the most simulation courses ever delivered at an annual meeting, more serious game opportunities, CHEST Challenge finals, a new innovation competition called “FISH Bowl,” and even a medical escape room, CHEST volunteer leaders and organization staff have worked hard to provide a world class meeting that has a different look and feel from all the others. Plus, the crowd also told us that having CME and MOC credit available for the entire meeting was another variable that was desired, and has now been achieved.

The wisdom of the proverbial crowd of membership has spoken in terms of the need for philanthropic efforts in our specialty. The CHEST Foundation has responded by awarding tens of thousands of dollars to our members to recognize cutting-edge research, community service efforts, and, in addition, has allowed dozens of providers early on in training or in their career to attend the annual meeting with the help of travel grants.

CHEST guidelines continue to be updated and new ones created based on input from expert panel teams. The CHEST journal submission process, review turnaround times, and quality of manuscripts have improved each year thanks to useful feedback from authors and readers. Publications such as CHEST Physician are modified each year based upon feedback from our readers. Critiques from the board review courses have been the driving force keeping live learning formats and the electronic SEEK board preparation questions current and accurate when the science is constantly changing.

Truly, the collective wisdom of our members, talented clinicians and researchers, and colleagues in industry has provided incredibly valuable input to the CHEST leadership team. You have spoken, and we have been listening. Thanks to each of you who have reached out to me during this year as President. Traveling to four continents this past year to better understand the needs of members who are clinicians, educators, researchers, and caregivers positioned in each geographic region has been enlightening, educational, and transformative for me and my family. Your meaningful feedback, keen insights, and passion for outstanding patient care, impactful educational experiences, and life-changing research have helped push CHEST to a higher level of excellence and to offer unparalleled experiences for our members to ultimately provide the very best care to patients.

The wisdom of the crowd is the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than that of a single expert. At CHEST, the makeup of our membership is diverse and energetic, and it comprises individuals with unique expertise who not only serve as faculty but who are also eager for opportunities themselves to learn. That collective wisdom, leveraged over the entire membership, is what the leadership of CHEST will be listening to this year as we create new educational products and continuously improve the annual meeting and other courses held throughout the year. From broad-based general overviews such as CHEST’s board reviews, to more specific courses such as training in bedside ultrasound or ventilator management, each are geared to make all of us better clinicians who will recognize and provide the latest and most effective treatments for our patients. If you had the opportunity to attend my opening address at the CHEST annual meeting in San Antonio in October, you heard me talk about the innate wisdom of “the crowd.” We all have various “crowds” in our lives -- our work colleagues, families, and relationships in professional societies. I reminded the audience that if we take the time to listen to each of these “crowds,” they usually know the answers. In the coming year, we, as a leadership team for CHEST, will be focusing on being better listeners and utilizing “our crowd” of members to better connect in order to develop educational products that will train clinicians, educators, and researchers in the very latest and most effective care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

•Digital Strategy Task Force – This multidisciplinary group, composed of both volunteer members and association staff, has been assigned to evaluate the user experience associated with existing CHEST content delivery platforms and highlight opportunities for improvements. In this effort, they will identify trends that will enable the organization to better execute on the digital-dependent strategies in the organization’s strategic plan in a successful way. The group will be making recommendations to the Board of Regents that will include timelines, goals, and specific objectives, define organizational voice and brand messaging present on web and other platforms, and create specific metrics to measure the user experience on an ongoing basis.

•Optimizing Board Review Courses – CHEST will be looking at ways to present some content on digital platforms that are difficult to teach in a classic didactic format. Topics such as acid-base disturbances and biostatistics are more effectively presented using a digital, problem-based format. Efforts will be made to shorten board review courses slightly without compromising quality or jeopardizing coverage of content and to incorporate succinct bulleted summaries of each topic covered. In addition, plans are in place to create new courses that will train learners the techniques for passing the new “low stakes” board examination offered by the ABIM.

•Making membership more affordable for international colleagues – New discounted membership rates have been launched to allow international members to obtain the “Enhanced” level of membership to be eligible for fellowship in the association (ie, the FCCP designation). Volume discounts have been introduced for regional chapters and organizations to allow health-care team members from around the world to join CHEST in conjunction with their local society at a fraction of the cost of a single member rate.

•Patient education modules from the CHEST Foundation – A variety of patient education modules are now available to providers, as well as to the general public for information on a wide array of topics – from correct use of inhalers to state-of-the-art therapies for COPD or lung cancer.

Improved opportunities for member participation -- From improved instructions for joining a CHEST NetWork to specific orientation instructions for new members of the Board of Regents, improved communications have become available to help members become better acquainted with the framework of the organization and allow them to become more effective once they begin new leadership roles.

•Embracing innovation -- This year, the organization will launch CHEST Inspiration, a program that involves development of an environmental scan to be shared with our members regarding how CHEST can be a differentiator in an environment where quality education is becoming more accessible and, as a result, more competitive. As part of this initiative, CHEST will plan to host a series of focus group sessions to act on the environmental scan and will also roll out an innovation competition at the 2019 annual meeting in New Orleans in October.

•Expanded international strategy – CHEST is responding to the requests from member groups in countries within Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East to hold a CHEST Congress each spring to bring the best of the CHEST annual meeting to our colleagues from around the world who may not be able to travel to the meeting held in the U.S., as well as a more intimate board review-like meeting each summer in various regions of the world. For example, this year, the College will host a CHEST Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, April 10-12, and a regional meeting in Athens, Greece, June 27-29.

We are committed to improving communication with our members and encouraging innovation regardless of their prior participation levels. CHEST will continue to bring its brand of education focused on more hands-on learning and team-based knowledge using simulation, serious gaming, and artificial intelligence in the years ahead. CHEST leaders have begun to be active on social media, and we will be introducing new platforms for all members to better understand what is happening from a leadership perspective. Together, we will be able to harness the collective wisdom of our talented and innovative members in order to make a lasting difference for our patients.

The wisdom of the crowd is the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than that of a single expert. At CHEST, the makeup of our membership is diverse and energetic, and it comprises individuals with unique expertise who not only serve as faculty but who are also eager for opportunities themselves to learn. That collective wisdom, leveraged over the entire membership, is what the leadership of CHEST will be listening to this year as we create new educational products and continuously improve the annual meeting and other courses held throughout the year. From broad-based general overviews such as CHEST’s board reviews, to more specific courses such as training in bedside ultrasound or ventilator management, each are geared to make all of us better clinicians who will recognize and provide the latest and most effective treatments for our patients. If you had the opportunity to attend my opening address at the CHEST annual meeting in San Antonio in October, you heard me talk about the innate wisdom of “the crowd.” We all have various “crowds” in our lives -- our work colleagues, families, and relationships in professional societies. I reminded the audience that if we take the time to listen to each of these “crowds,” they usually know the answers. In the coming year, we, as a leadership team for CHEST, will be focusing on being better listeners and utilizing “our crowd” of members to better connect in order to develop educational products that will train clinicians, educators, and researchers in the very latest and most effective care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

•Digital Strategy Task Force – This multidisciplinary group, composed of both volunteer members and association staff, has been assigned to evaluate the user experience associated with existing CHEST content delivery platforms and highlight opportunities for improvements. In this effort, they will identify trends that will enable the organization to better execute on the digital-dependent strategies in the organization’s strategic plan in a successful way. The group will be making recommendations to the Board of Regents that will include timelines, goals, and specific objectives, define organizational voice and brand messaging present on web and other platforms, and create specific metrics to measure the user experience on an ongoing basis.

•Optimizing Board Review Courses – CHEST will be looking at ways to present some content on digital platforms that are difficult to teach in a classic didactic format. Topics such as acid-base disturbances and biostatistics are more effectively presented using a digital, problem-based format. Efforts will be made to shorten board review courses slightly without compromising quality or jeopardizing coverage of content and to incorporate succinct bulleted summaries of each topic covered. In addition, plans are in place to create new courses that will train learners the techniques for passing the new “low stakes” board examination offered by the ABIM.

•Making membership more affordable for international colleagues – New discounted membership rates have been launched to allow international members to obtain the “Enhanced” level of membership to be eligible for fellowship in the association (ie, the FCCP designation). Volume discounts have been introduced for regional chapters and organizations to allow health-care team members from around the world to join CHEST in conjunction with their local society at a fraction of the cost of a single member rate.

•Patient education modules from the CHEST Foundation – A variety of patient education modules are now available to providers, as well as to the general public for information on a wide array of topics – from correct use of inhalers to state-of-the-art therapies for COPD or lung cancer.

Improved opportunities for member participation -- From improved instructions for joining a CHEST NetWork to specific orientation instructions for new members of the Board of Regents, improved communications have become available to help members become better acquainted with the framework of the organization and allow them to become more effective once they begin new leadership roles.

•Embracing innovation -- This year, the organization will launch CHEST Inspiration, a program that involves development of an environmental scan to be shared with our members regarding how CHEST can be a differentiator in an environment where quality education is becoming more accessible and, as a result, more competitive. As part of this initiative, CHEST will plan to host a series of focus group sessions to act on the environmental scan and will also roll out an innovation competition at the 2019 annual meeting in New Orleans in October.

•Expanded international strategy – CHEST is responding to the requests from member groups in countries within Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East to hold a CHEST Congress each spring to bring the best of the CHEST annual meeting to our colleagues from around the world who may not be able to travel to the meeting held in the U.S., as well as a more intimate board review-like meeting each summer in various regions of the world. For example, this year, the College will host a CHEST Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, April 10-12, and a regional meeting in Athens, Greece, June 27-29.

We are committed to improving communication with our members and encouraging innovation regardless of their prior participation levels. CHEST will continue to bring its brand of education focused on more hands-on learning and team-based knowledge using simulation, serious gaming, and artificial intelligence in the years ahead. CHEST leaders have begun to be active on social media, and we will be introducing new platforms for all members to better understand what is happening from a leadership perspective. Together, we will be able to harness the collective wisdom of our talented and innovative members in order to make a lasting difference for our patients.

The wisdom of the crowd is the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than that of a single expert. At CHEST, the makeup of our membership is diverse and energetic, and it comprises individuals with unique expertise who not only serve as faculty but who are also eager for opportunities themselves to learn. That collective wisdom, leveraged over the entire membership, is what the leadership of CHEST will be listening to this year as we create new educational products and continuously improve the annual meeting and other courses held throughout the year. From broad-based general overviews such as CHEST’s board reviews, to more specific courses such as training in bedside ultrasound or ventilator management, each are geared to make all of us better clinicians who will recognize and provide the latest and most effective treatments for our patients. If you had the opportunity to attend my opening address at the CHEST annual meeting in San Antonio in October, you heard me talk about the innate wisdom of “the crowd.” We all have various “crowds” in our lives -- our work colleagues, families, and relationships in professional societies. I reminded the audience that if we take the time to listen to each of these “crowds,” they usually know the answers. In the coming year, we, as a leadership team for CHEST, will be focusing on being better listeners and utilizing “our crowd” of members to better connect in order to develop educational products that will train clinicians, educators, and researchers in the very latest and most effective care in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.

•Digital Strategy Task Force – This multidisciplinary group, composed of both volunteer members and association staff, has been assigned to evaluate the user experience associated with existing CHEST content delivery platforms and highlight opportunities for improvements. In this effort, they will identify trends that will enable the organization to better execute on the digital-dependent strategies in the organization’s strategic plan in a successful way. The group will be making recommendations to the Board of Regents that will include timelines, goals, and specific objectives, define organizational voice and brand messaging present on web and other platforms, and create specific metrics to measure the user experience on an ongoing basis.

•Optimizing Board Review Courses – CHEST will be looking at ways to present some content on digital platforms that are difficult to teach in a classic didactic format. Topics such as acid-base disturbances and biostatistics are more effectively presented using a digital, problem-based format. Efforts will be made to shorten board review courses slightly without compromising quality or jeopardizing coverage of content and to incorporate succinct bulleted summaries of each topic covered. In addition, plans are in place to create new courses that will train learners the techniques for passing the new “low stakes” board examination offered by the ABIM.

•Making membership more affordable for international colleagues – New discounted membership rates have been launched to allow international members to obtain the “Enhanced” level of membership to be eligible for fellowship in the association (ie, the FCCP designation). Volume discounts have been introduced for regional chapters and organizations to allow health-care team members from around the world to join CHEST in conjunction with their local society at a fraction of the cost of a single member rate.

•Patient education modules from the CHEST Foundation – A variety of patient education modules are now available to providers, as well as to the general public for information on a wide array of topics – from correct use of inhalers to state-of-the-art therapies for COPD or lung cancer.

Improved opportunities for member participation -- From improved instructions for joining a CHEST NetWork to specific orientation instructions for new members of the Board of Regents, improved communications have become available to help members become better acquainted with the framework of the organization and allow them to become more effective once they begin new leadership roles.

•Embracing innovation -- This year, the organization will launch CHEST Inspiration, a program that involves development of an environmental scan to be shared with our members regarding how CHEST can be a differentiator in an environment where quality education is becoming more accessible and, as a result, more competitive. As part of this initiative, CHEST will plan to host a series of focus group sessions to act on the environmental scan and will also roll out an innovation competition at the 2019 annual meeting in New Orleans in October.

•Expanded international strategy – CHEST is responding to the requests from member groups in countries within Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the Middle East to hold a CHEST Congress each spring to bring the best of the CHEST annual meeting to our colleagues from around the world who may not be able to travel to the meeting held in the U.S., as well as a more intimate board review-like meeting each summer in various regions of the world. For example, this year, the College will host a CHEST Congress in Bangkok, Thailand, April 10-12, and a regional meeting in Athens, Greece, June 27-29.

We are committed to improving communication with our members and encouraging innovation regardless of their prior participation levels. CHEST will continue to bring its brand of education focused on more hands-on learning and team-based knowledge using simulation, serious gaming, and artificial intelligence in the years ahead. CHEST leaders have begun to be active on social media, and we will be introducing new platforms for all members to better understand what is happening from a leadership perspective. Together, we will be able to harness the collective wisdom of our talented and innovative members in order to make a lasting difference for our patients.