AACC organized many different types of exciting conference sessions to facilitate the attendees’ education during the annual meeting and clinical lab expo. The following are detailed descriptions for each professional education session:

The Plenary Sessions featured speakers with different perspectives on the future of healthcare. Plenary speakers are nationally recognized leaders from clinical practice, research, business, and policy.

The Symposia Sessions were presented by experts actively involved in the field. The educational mode is lecture and rooms are large and arranged theater style.

The Short Courses were an Intensive treatment of a particular subject. While the teaching method is traditional didactic lecture, these sessions were presented to smaller audiences of approximately 50 – 100 participants.

The Interactive Workshops were sessions that promoted active participant involvement in the learning process. Participants expected frequent exchanges of information between speakers and the audience. Intensive treatment of a subject is presented in a context of dialogue and discussion. 

The Brown Bag Sessions were small discussion groups, early morning or during lunchtime, that provide an opportunity for intimate and active exchange among participants and noted experts in the field. Participants expected lively discussion, dialogue, and debate, as well as frequent Q & A. Food, for purchase, were available near these sessions.

Meet the Experts was an opportunity for participants to join a small group of interested colleagues for intense discussions with Plenary speakers and other invited experts. These sessions provided the chance for in-depth, interactive discussion.

For the Chair’s Invited Session, the Chair of the 2009 Annual Meeting Organizing Committee created this special session of particular importance to annual meeting attendees.

More information about the conference program at this year's AACC Annual Meeting is available at http://www.aacc.org/events/2009am/conference/pages/default.aspx.

AACC is already accepting proposals for next year's education sessions. More information is available at http://direct.aacc.org/sessionmanagement/entry.aspx.