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Cruise Conference Planning For Your Association

Essential Topics in Critical Care Medicine and COVID-19

A Critical Review - Looking Back and Looking Ahead

12-Night Iceland & Scotland Cruise
Round-trip Amsterdam, The Netherlands
May 12 - 24, 2023
Royal Caribbean's <em>Jewel of the Seas</em>
Royal Caribbean's Jewel of the Seas
20.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™
20 ACPE Credits
20.0 (part II) MOC points in medical knowledge in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program
6.0 Hours of Pharmacology for Nurse Practitioners
20.0 Contact Hours
20.0 Contact Hours
Course Fees
$1095 for Physicians, Attorneys, Psychologists, Doctors of Pharmacy, & Dentists
$850 for Physician Assistants
$695 for Nurses, Residents, Students & Others

Target Audience
Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurses, Nurse Practitioners, Pharmacists
Program Purpose / Objectives

The purpose of the educational activity is to provide updated information on the diagnosis and management of serious conditions often requiring life support and intensive monitoring. This activity will enable members of the interprofessional healthcare team to deepen their understanding of topics like respiratory failure, cardiovascular emergencies, neurological crises, renal failure, shock, and trauma. Case studies will be used to demonstrate ethical issues that can arise in critical care

  1. Edema and Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS)
    • Differentiate cardiac and non-cardiac pulmonary edema and the different methods used to treat them
  2. Update of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines for severe sepsis and septic shock
    • Discuss the most recent 2021 recommendations for patients with sepsis and septic shock and the reasons for these recommendations with a focus will be on fluid, vasopressor, steroid, and glucose control therapy and ulcer and deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis
  3. ICU triage
    • Identify those patients who benefit most from ICU admission and make difficult triage decisions
    • Present the most recent literature related to ICU triage to help physicians make better ICU triage decisions
  4. How to improve your communication skills?
    • Review the importance of communication
    • Develop ways to improve communication skills with particular emphasis on communication in end of life situations
  5. Pandemics and mass disasters
    • Discuss new recommendations have been published for dealing with pandemics and mass disasters
    • Review recent recommendations for preparing for pandemics and other disasters
  6. Identifying religious and cultural differences in making end of life decisions in the ICU
    • Review the religious and cultural differences noted for ICU end of life decisions and the differences in end of life decision making around the world
  7. Excellence in Medicine
    • Present the 10 characteristics which make physicians excellent and help health care professionals improve their skills in providing their patients the best possible care
  8. Why physicians should not be involved in Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
    • Present the main reasons why physicians should not be involved in Physician-Assisted Suicide and Euthanasia
  9. Adult ICU Triage During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic: Recommendations to Improve Survival
    • Explain how the new recommendations were developed to ensure fairness, enhance consistency, decrease provider moral distress and identify those patients whose survival can be improved
  10. COVID-19: A Critical Review - Looking Back and Looking Ahead, with a Focus on the Israeli Approach to the Pandemic
    • Describe how the Israeli National policy for triage decisions for severely ill patients during the COVID-19 pandemic was developed, emphasizing the ethical, legal, and religious principles used
  11. Identifying a sick patient
    • Improve recognition skills and early management
  12. Antibiotics for sepsis – who and when?
    • Update the latest evidence of antibiotics for sepsis
    • provide a balanced, thoughtful approach to prescribing
  13. Novel biomarkers for infection, sepsis and organ dysfunction
    • Demonstrate what new diagnostic technology is on the horizon
  14. Managing acute heart failure
    • Adopting a physiology-based approach to heart failure
  15. Case studies of metabolic acidosis
    • Explain underlying pathophysiology using case studies
  16. Ethical case studies in real-life cases
    • Appreciation of ethical, moral and medicolegal difficulties in challenging cases
Conference Sessions generally take place on days at sea (as itinerary allows), giving you plenty of time to enjoy your meals, evenings and ports of call with your companion, family and friends.
IMPORTANT NOTE: All conferees, their families, and guests must book their cruise within the University at Sea® meeting group through University at Sea® at 800-926-3775 or by registering online. This ensures our company can provide conference services and complimentary social amenities to all meeting participants and their guests. Thank you for your cooperation.
Faculty

Charles L. Sprung MD, JD, MCCM, FCCP

Charles L. Sprung MD, JD, MCCM, FCCP
Director Emeritus, General Intensive Care Unit 
Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine
Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center
Professor of Medicine and Critical Care Medicine
Jerusalem, Israel  Professor Charles Sprung is the Director Emeritus of the General Intensive Care Unit in the Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem, Israel where he has worked for the last 33 years. He was previously the Director of the Section of Critical Care Medicine in the Department of Medicine at the VA Medical Center and the University of Miami for 13 years. He graduated the University of Miami School of Law in 1988. Professor Sprung was the Chairman of the Committee on Ethics Section of the US Society of Critical Care Medicine and of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) for many years.

Professor Sprung has been active in research particularly studying sepsis, septic shock and ethical issues for more than 35 years. He was a member of the ACCP/SCCM consensus conference on definitions of sepsis in 1991 and a member of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines from 2002 to the most recent guidelines in 2021.

He has participated in many sepsis studies including those of encephalopathy and treatments with corticosteroids, monoclonal antibodies to endotoxin and tumor necrosis factor, interleukin-1 receptor antagonist, antithrombin III, tissue factor pathway inhibitor, human activated protein C and recombinant platelet-activating factor. He has also served as a member of Clinical Evaluation and Data Safety and Monitoring Committees for many phase III, multicenter sepsis trials. Professor Sprung coordinated the prospective, multicenter European trial of corticosteroids in septic shock, Corticus. He was the Coordinator of several multi-center studies in ethics including End of Life Decision Making and Procedures in European Intensive Care Units - ETHICUS, Systematic Study of General Ethical Principles Involved in End of Life Decisions for Patients in European Intensive Care Units - ETHICATT, Triage Decision Making for the Elderly in European Intensive Care units - ELDICUS and Worldwide Consensus for End of Life Decisions - Welpicus.

The Hadassah General ICU has treated more terror victims than any other ICU in the world. In addition, Professor Sprung served as the Chairman of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Ethics Section Task Force for ICU Triage for Disasters and Pandemic Influenza which produced recommendations for the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and he was a member of the recent American College of Chest Physicians Task Force for Mass Critical Care during a Disaster which also published recommendations. More recently, he was the first author of a paper written by an international group of triage experts on a new algorithm for triaging patients to the ICU during the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic and the Chairman of the Medical Subcommittee that developed the National policy of the State of Israeli for Triage Decisions for Severely Ill Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Professor Sprung has been or continues to be a member of several international committees of medical organizations, world health organizations and governmental agencies. He has published extensively on all of the above and multiple ICU areas with more than 350 original articles and 50 book chapters. He received the 2011 ESICM Medal for outstanding contributions to both ESICM and to the development of Intensive Care Medicine worldwide and the Roger C. Bone Advances in End-of-Life Care Award from the CHEST Foundation of the American College of Chest Physicians in October 2013. He was the 2015 Bonei Zion Prize Recipient for Science & Medicine- an award recognizing outstanding Anglo Olim who encapsulate the spirit of modern-day Zionism by contributing in a significant way towards the State of Israel.

Mervyn Singer, MB, BS, MD, FRCP(Lon), FRCP(Edin), FFICM

Mervyn Singer, MB, BS, MD, FRCP(Lon), FRCP(Edin), FFICM
Professor of Intensive Care Medicine
University College London
London,UK

Head, Research Department of Clinical Physiology, Division of Medicine
Director, Bloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine
Editor-in-Chief, Intensive Care Medicine experimental (ICMx)
NIHR Senior Investigator 2009-2017
  Mervyn Singer is Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at University College London, UK. He trained in medicine at St Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, London and then undertook subsequent junior doctor posts in hospitals around the London area. He performed his doctorate research thesis developing a novel hemodynamic monitoring tool using esophageal Doppler ultrasonography; the subsequent technology (CardioQ) is now used in >30 countries worldwide. He then began formal critical care training in an academic rotation at University College London in 1989 and was appointed Professor in 2001. 

He is Director of the Bloomsbury Institute of Intensive Care Medicine and runs a research group totaling 15 people performing bench-to-bedside research. Specific interests include sepsis and multi-organ failure, tissue oxygenation, infection, novel diagnostics and monitoring. Funding comes from the Wellcome Trust, UK Medical Research Council, European Union, and UK National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) among others. He has published widely, with multiple papers in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet and JAMA. Apart from the above-mentioned esophageal Doppler monitor, he has developed a novel tissue PO2 monitor (gauging the adequacy of tissue perfusion) entering clinical trials in 2016, and a novel drug inducing a 'suspended animation' state intended for ischaemia-reperfusion injury that is scheduled to go into man also in 2016. He is also the clinical lead investigator of studies on novel diagnostics for sepsis and infection, and the first intensivist to be appointed a Senior Investigator by the NIHR. 

He lectures widely and has delivered four plenary lectures at the annual Congresses of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the US Society of Critical Care Medicine. He has authored/edited several textbooks including the Oxford Textbook of Critical Care and the Oxford Handbook of Critical Care. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of Intensive Care Medicine Experimental (ICMx), co-chair of the new Sepsis Redefinitions Task Force, Council Member of the International Sepsis Forum, Critical Care Theme Lead of the NIHR Health Informatics Collaborative, and does 13 clinical on-call weeks per annum in the ICU.

Our staff can assist you with all your travel arrangements.

Questions? Call us at 800-422-0711.
We can assist you with all your travel arrangements. We'd be happy to help you plan your flights, hotels or tours before and/or after your cruise conference.

Cruise Itinerary

DATE PORT OF CALL ARRIVE DEPART
Fri May 12 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
- 5:00 pm
Sat May 13 *At Sea - Cruising
- -
Sun May 14 *At Sea - Cruising
- -
Mon May 15 Akureyri, Iceland
10:00 am -
Tue May 16 Akureyri, Iceland
- 2:00 pm
Wed May 17 Reykjavik, Iceland
10:00 am -
Thu May 18 Reykjavik, Iceland
- 12:00 pm
Fri May 19 *At Sea - Cruising
- -
Sat May 20 Lerwick (Shetland), Scotland
8:00 am 5:00 pm
Sun May 21 Inverness/Loch Ness, Scotland
7:00 am 5:00 pm
Mon May 22 Edinburgh, Scotland
7:00 am 7:00 pm
Tue May 23 *At Sea - Cruising
- -
Wed May 24 Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6:00 am -
*Tentative course schedule, actual class times may differ.

Ports of Call

Amsterdam, The Netherlands - Amsterdam is a great city to discover the charms of northern Europe. The graceful canals of its central district are lined with beautiful gabled houses. It's many, grand art museums display masterpieces of Rembrandt and Vermeer and the largest collection of Van Gogh's work is found here. Fine food is also easy to find along with ample opportunities for shopping (including excellent vintage finds). This great city is well worth a day or two's stay before your cruise.

At Sea - Cruising - Cruising

Akureyri, Iceland -  Akureyi, Iceland's second largest city—affectionately known as the Capital of North Iceland—is one of the country's most important ports and fishing centers. Today, Akureyi is creating something of a buzz for its cool café scene, growing gourmet movement and bustling nightlife. But don't let that fool you. The atmosphere here is always laidback. From a fabulous summer festival program (energized by the near 24-hour daylight), to some of the best winter skiing you could wish for, Akureyi is a great base for exploring Eyjafjörður, Iceland's longest fjord, all year round.

Reykjavik, Iceland - Iceland's capital and largest city is located on the country's southwest coast at the head of Faxafloi Bay. Settled in 877 AD, Reykjavik has grown into an important seaport and center of government and education with theatres, museums and observatories. Interestingly, this modern city still chooses to use water from nearby hot springs to heat all of its buildings.

Lerwick (Shetland), Scotland - Almost 100 islands make up the Shetland Islands, which sit on the northernmost part of the British Isles. Lerwick is Shetland's only town and is a cosmopolitan seaport that offers warm hospitality to its visitors. The old waterfront is filled with pleasure boats, visiting yachts, and more. Travelers can experience everything from lively "theme" bars and clubs to a Town Hall that boasts breathtaking stained glassed glass windows, each with its own story.

Inverness/Loch Ness, Scotland - The Scottish Highlands are home to famous battles, historic castles and to an even more famous legendary sea monster: Nessie of Loch Ness. Explore Inverness' picturesque riverside on foot. You'll pass by the 18th-century Old High Church and the Castle of Inverness, built of red sandstone in 1863 on the site of an 11th-century fortress. Join a Loch Ness cruise to explore Culloden Battlefield, a windswept moor where the Jacobite's last stand took place in the 1760s. Seeking even deeper roots? See a 4,000-year-old burial site built by neolithic farmers at the Clava Cairns. Before you depart, toast your adventure with a wee dram of single-malt Scotch whisky, savoring its distinctive peaty aromas.

Edinburgh, Scotland - The capital of Scotland and seventh most populous city in the United Kingdom, Edinburgh is incredibly rich in both history and modern pleasures. Get the lay of the land with a bird's eye panorama after climbing the 287 steps of the Scott Monument. Then experience history at Edinburgh Castle while art lovers get a "fix" at the Scottish National Museum. Follow either with a meal at the Doric where you can get a fine meal upstairs and fine scotch downstairs. All of the above are within easy walking distance of each other. Follow this with a walk along the Royal Mile and be sure to explore some of the side alleys (called "closes") along the way; that's where the real fun is.

If you're in the mood for a deeper look into Scottish history, visit the National Museum of Scotland where you can get immersed in the earlier lives of the Scots and even see a T. Rex skeleton. Interested in a more botanical experience? How about a visit to the Royal Botanic Garden? A romantic meal at a fine restaurant (even a michelin star restaurant, if you'd like) can be found at Leith, an industrial area near the port that has been given new life as a dining and drinking destination.

Are you a golfer? Ever hear of St. Andrews? You know, the place where they invented Golf. It's here (and yes, you can rent clubs).

Our staff can assist you with all your travel arrangements.

Questions? Call us at 800-422-0711.
We can assist you with all your travel arrangements. We'd be happy to help you plan your flights, hotels or tours before and/or after your cruise conference.
SHORE EXCURSIONS
Please note that our shore excursions are operated separately and
independently of those offered by the cruise line.
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