The Education Committee is proud to report on the Workshops and Problem Based Learning Discussions from the 23^rd Annual Meeting of the SCA in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Workshops reached new heights in their levels of sophistication and quality of material presented and the record attendance at the Workshops reflects this trend. Disease-based workshops in Echocardiography and cardiac patho-physiologic states relied upon multi-disciplinary interactive sessions in order to enhance these educational activities. In our efforts to respond to the needs of SCA members, the Workshop opportunities available were diverse and numerous and we plan to continue similar themes and programs in the 2002 Workshops. In the future, the Education and Program Committees will work together to provide a unified educational delivery system along with a great variety of interactive educational opportunities throughout the duration of the entire meeting.

The successful Workshops from 2001 that will again be offered in 2002 include Congenital Heart Disease, Basic Transesophageal Echocardiography, TEE for the Cardiac Anesthesiologist, Advanced TEE Interactive Clinical Case Scenarios, TEE Hemodynamic Assessment, TEE in Valvular Heart Disease, Ischemic Heart Disease, and Thoracic Aortic Disease. Thoracic anesthesiology Crisis Manage-ment and Point of Care Coagulation Management will be offered as "fireside chats". This type of format is a new one for the SCA and will consist of intimate groups of 50-75 people exposed to didactic teaching and hands-on materials for interactive education. These fireside chats serve as a hybrid between a Workshop and a Roundtable Discussion.

The Critical Care Workshop jointly sponsored by the SCA and the ASCCA was very highly acclaimed and will be incorporated into the general program in 2002.

Interactive faculty and participant programs have continued to grow in popularity. Roundtable Problem Based Learning Sessions were held at breakfast and evening hours and the number of interested participants continues to increase. These sessions are informal yet highly organized gatherings of members whose goals are to discuss clinical problems that are commonly encountered. The 2002 program will have breakfast roundtable sessions and will strive to make these sessions even more intimate.

I'd like to thank all of the members of the Education Committee whose dedication to the 2001 Annual Meeting and recruitment of distinguished faculty members helped to make it so successful. I look forward to next year when new and returning members of the Education Committee continue their commitment to educational workshops and programs.

Linda Shore-Lesserson, MD
Chair, Education Committee