The American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) invites you to submit your session proposal for our 2025 Annual Assembly, October 22-25 in Salt Lake City, UT, and online.
Deadline for Proposal Submissions: January 22, 2025
Guidelines for Submitting Proposals
The Program Planning Committee (PPC) seeks proposals that will incorporate a blend of adult learning styles and cross-cutting themes.
Submission Categories
Education is offered in different formats throughout the live in-person and virtual Annual Assembly. We are seeking submissions in the following categories:
- Clinical and Practice Symposia Sessions—these 75-minute symposia should focus on clinical or practice topics. A 75-minute presentation should include a brief question and answer segment. All sessions will be offered live, in-person in Salt Lake City.
- Skills Labs—these three-hour hands-on sessions are designed to provide in-depth training on a specific skill or set of skills, including small-group hands-on or immersive training. Each Skills Lab must incorporate at least four hands-on stations with a maximum of eight stations. These sessions will have an additional fee for participants and will occur in-person only.
- Learning Center Sessions—these demonstration-only sessions provide interactive learning experiences focused on fundamental and emerging skills. These demonstrations should be planned for a free-flowing audience in the PM&R Pavilion. The Program Planning Committee outlines the time allotment based on the overall session plan and the overall educational program.
Submission Criteria
Each complete and submitted submission received by the published due date will be peer-reviewed. In an effort to help guide submitters, the following criteria is provided to indicate the areas that will be seriously considered during the review process:
- A detailed proposal with all required information outlining the topics, faculty and objectives
- Topics that are relevant and/or innovative
- Formats that will stimulate discussion and/or engage the audience both virtually and in-person
- Multidisciplinary or team approaches with a mix of genders, experience level, provider types e.g., Advanced Practice Providers and institutions
- Topics and faculty that are new and not repetitive from previous years or other sessions
- Proposals must have at least three faculty
- All proposals must be submitted using the online portal, no exceptions
- All faculty are required to complete their own financial disclosure before a proposal can be submitted. Financial disclosures cannot be completed after the deadline, so make sure to plan accordingly. The review committee(s) view all disclosures in a blinded fashion in order to ensure we have a fair and balanced program.
Submission Design and Format
- Faculty may utilize audio and visual resources during the sessions.
Sessions are 75 minutes in length, and it's recomended to allow designated time for Q&A (approx. 10-15 min)
- Common effective presentation formats include:
- Didactic Lectures: Presentations delivered by faculty using methods that draw out relevant past knowledge and experiences while facilitating knowledge transfer and development of new competencies.
- Case Studies: Demonstrate relevance of lessons through “real-life” scenarios.
Interactive Learning: Session is designed with activities intended for audience participation during the allotted time to stimulate and provoke discussion, audience engagement, and outcome focused design.
- Panel Discussions: A structured conversation where faculty share their perspectives on a topic.
- Point/Counterpoint: A topic is discussed by presenting both sides of an argument, outlining the main points for one perspective, then directly following with the opposing viewpoint. It is important that both sides are explored thoroughly to make this successful.
Submission Guidance
To facilitate your submission, you can view the 2019 Program Planning Committee session entitled "Submitting a Strong Proposal for the AAPM&R Annual Assembly."
Each proposal will be peer-reviewed for the following essential components: clinical, practice, scientific or didactic quality; broad appeal to the AAPM&R membership; and timeliness of the topic(s). PPC reserves the right to offer suggested changes and alternative formats for presentations based on the submissions received.
Who Can Submit?
Any member of AAPM&R in good standing can submit a session proposal.
Who Can Be Faculty?
When submitting a proposal for the 2025 program, it is required that all proposed faculty be AAPM&R members of good standing, with the exception of non-physiatrist content experts who are not eligible to be members. PPC will consider whether faculty are members when evaluating sessions and may suggest alternate faculty if a session is approved and has faculty who are eligible to be members of AAPM&R.
Medical students are not acceptable faculty unless there is a unique circumstance, such as they are reporting on specific research.
Faculty Participation
All faculty are expected to be in-person for the 2025 Annual Assembly in Salt Lake City. Specific sessions will be live-streamed and faculty for those sessions will present live in Salt Lake City and be streamed to virtual participants. Sessions that are not live-streamed to virtual participants will be recorded live in Salt Lake City and then posted on the conference website and mobile app.
Reimbursement/Travel Expenses Information
AAPM&R does not waive meeting registration fees, nor reimburse travel and/or housing expenses for AAPM&R members attending or facilitating during the Annual Assembly.
Themes for Tagging
PPC developed a system for tagging content that has the flexibility to embrace more cross-cutting sessions and diverse topics that may not fit in the track system. As proposals are submitted for consideration, each session will need a theme assigned. The specific themes are listed below:
Themes
- Advancing PM&R Bold
- These sessions align with the vision for the specialty and help attendees understand the changing healthcare environment. They spotlight opportunities for PM&R to be positioned early and throughout the care continuum. They discuss new innovative practice and payment models and address how members are overcoming barriers the specialty is facing to achieve the vision and work in innovative new models. Learn more about the vision and the envisioned future across PM&R practice areas.
- Brain Injury
- Cancer Rehabilitation Medicine
- Central Nervous System
- EMG/Neuromuscular
- General Medicine
- In-Training/Early-Career
- Leadership and Career Development
- Musculoskeletal and Sports Medicine
- New Technologies
- Pain and Spine Medicine
- Pediatrics Rehabilitation
- Population Health
- Practice Management
- Spasticity
- Stroke Rehabilitation
Call for AA Faculty - Interested in Participating as Faculty?
Have you ever wanted to present at the Annual Assembly but haven’t had the opportunity? Do you have expertise on a topic? Are there other presenters that you would recommend? We know that our members have a wealth of knowledge and experience to share with each other – and we’re hoping you’ll help us tap into that expertise. It is our intent to build sessions for in-person, virtual and pre-recorded presentation if we have enough interest in the topic/themes noted in the survey. If you are interested in being considered for a faculty role, please complete this survey.