National Quality Center: Transitional Grant Area (TGA) Initiative,
January 7

The HRSA-supported National Quality Center will hold a technical assistance conference call from 11 am to 12 Noon for Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program grantees participating in the TGA initiative.

National Advisory Council on the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), January 8-10

The council, which receives staff support from HRSA's Bureau of Clinician Recruitment and Service, will meet in Rockville, Md., to address health workforce recruitment efforts, workforce needs of community health centers, and updates on the NHSC and health professional shortage area designations. Five new members will join the council and participate in an orientation and ethics training.

Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) Young Men Who Have Sex with Men (MSM) of Color Initiative Grantee Meeting, January 12-13

The HRSA-supported SPNS Young MSM of Color Initiative grantee meeting will take place in Washington, D.C.

Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-based Linkages,
January 14

HRSA will host the first of three meetings in 2009 for the Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-based Linkages by telephone conference from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The committee will discuss the topic for its ninth annual report.

Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) 2009 Professional Development Conference for Health Professions Financial Aid Administrators, January 14-16

HRSA staff will provide technical assistance workshops on HRSA’s campus-based loan and scholarship programs for health professions students at this conference in San Francisco. Approximately 300 financial aid officers from medical (allopathic and osteopathic), dental, pharmacy, and other health professions schools from across the country will participate.

National Health Service Corps (NHSC) Uniform Data System (UDS) Training for NHSC-Approved Sites, January 21-22

HRSA will hold the first of two yearly training sessions for principal points of contact assigned by NHSC-approved sites to report to the UDS. The two-day training will be held in Charlotte, N.C. UDS data are used to manage the NHSC program, collect outcomes used in preparing an annual NHSC report to Congress, and provide feedback to individual NHSC sites.

Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) Public Forum to Discuss Concepts for Revising Kidney Allocation Policy, January 26

As follow-up to HRSA's September Request for Information (RFI), the HRSA-supported OPTN will hold a forum in St. Louis, Mo., to inform the public about several “policy concepts'” under consideration that would change the OPTN allocation system for kidneys. Public feedback from the forum and written comments from the RFI will be evaluated prior to policy revisions.

Sufficiency of the U.S. Oral Health Workforce in the Coming Decade: A Workshop, February 9-11

The Institute of Medicine, with support from HRSA, will hold a 2½-day workshop to examine the current oral health workforce and how workforce issues contribute to problems in patient access. The workshop will convene in Washington, D.C., and is open to the public, with limited seating. For more information, visit http://www.iom.edu/CMS/3809/55302.aspx.

National Advisory Committee on Rural Health and Human Services,
February 18-20

This advisory committee, which receives staff support from HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy, will meet in Washington, D.C. National health and human services experts will address key rural issues and work on the committee's annual report to the HHS Secretary.

17th Advisory Committee on Heritable Disorders in Newborns and Children, February 26-27

This meeting in Bethesda, Md., will include presentations and discussions on the nomination and evaluation of newborn screening candidate conditions for inclusion in the newborn screening panel. The advisory committee receives staff support from HRSA's Maternal and Child Health Bureau.