Medical Care

Submit Abstract

The 2008 Annual Meeting theme is "Public Health Without Borders" and it is scheduled to be held October 25 - 29, 2008, in San Diego, CA.

Papers are welcome that address this theme, as well as a broad range of topics of interest to the Medical Care Section relating to the organization, delivery and financing of health and medical care services, as well as health care reform/universal access to care efforts at the national, state, and local levels. When you are submitting your abstract, you will be asked to submit it to one of these topics:
  • Abstracts for Solicited Program
  • Drug Policy & Pharmacy Services
  • Ethnic & Racial Disparities
  • Health Economics
  • Health Economics: Cost Issues in Health Care Reform
  • Health Economics: Economic Evaluation of Interventions
  • Health Economics: Health Care Costs
  • Health Services Research
  • History of Public Health
  • Jail & Prison Health
  • Medical Tourism/Sourcing Health Care Across International Borders
  • Quality Improvement
  • Rural & Frontier Health
  • Social Sciences in Health
  • Social Sciences in Health: Cultural Sensitivity in Clinical Settings/Encounters
  • Social Sciences in Health: Global Perspectives on the Social Dimensions of Disease Burden Across the Lifespan
  • Social Sciences in Health: Health Disparities in Migrant & Immigrant Populations
  • Social Sciences in Health: International Approaches to Health Promotion Among Underserved, Hard-To-Reach Populations
  • Student Submissions
  • Universal Access to Care
  • Urban Health
  • Veterans' Health
  • Veterans' Health: Data Security Issues & Their Impact on Research
  • Veterans' Health: Mental Health Needs of Vietnam, OEF, & OIF Vets
  • Veterans' Health: Novel Uses of VA Databases
  • Women's Health & Gender-Based Research & Policy
  • Women's Health: Innovative Models/Programs of Care
  • Women's Health: Insurance Reform
  • Women's Health: Reproductive Health Policy
  • Women's Health: Vulnerable Populations
Please note that the Medical Care Section requires a 400 word abstract, providing more detail about your research than the usual 250-word abstract. Abstracts will be judged on the following criteria: general interest and timeliness; clarity of ideas, writing, and presentation; methodological rigor; study quality; completeness of the work; validity of conclusions; and relevance for APHA Medical Care Section priorities.

Both oral and poster sessions will be sponsored by the Medical Care Section. Please indicate your preference to present your paper as an oral or poster session in the appropriate place on the electronic abstract form. Proposals for an entire session should be e-mailed to the program chair and co-chair prior to attempting to submit through the electronic abstract submission system.

Except for student submissions, all abstracts should be submitted to one of the substantive topics listed above. Student submissions should follow the instructions below.


MEDICAL CARE SECTION, STUDENT COMPETITION
As part of the call for abstracts described above, the Medical Care section is accepting abstract submissions for a highly competitive student research oral session competition. The five most highly rated student papers will be accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting. These five finalists will compete to receive an award, which will be presented at the Annual Meeting.

Student submissions should also be abstracts of 400 words on a topic related to one of the substantive topics listed above. However, all student abstracts MUST BE submitted to the "Student Submission" session, no matter which substantive topic is being addressed. Please note that in order to be eligible for the student competition, authors MUST also submit a hard copy letter from their faculty advisor on university letterhead attesting to the author's student status. This letter must be mailed directly to Dr. Katherine S. Virgo, Medical Care Section Program Chair (address below) and must be postmarked by the abstract deadline.


Please note that the deadline for submission of all abstracts to the Medical Care Section is Thursday, February 14, 2008.
Submit Abstract

Program Planner Contact Information:
Katherine Virgo, PhD, MBA
Dept. of Surgery
Saint Louis University & Saint Louis VAMC
3635 Vista at Grand Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63110-0250
Phone: 314-289-7023
Fax: 314-289-7038
virgoks@slu.edu

and
Sudha Xirasagar, MBBS, PhD
Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina
Health Services Policy and Management
800 Sumter Street Room 116
Columbia, SC 29208
Phone: 803 576 6093
Fax: 803 777 1836
SXIRASAG@gwm.sc.edu