CTMSS Presidential Update: The first 100 Days

By Randy Pardell MD, DLFAPA

Now that fall has descended upon us, I wanted to update our members on the first 100 days of my presidential year. In June, the board of directors held a  Strategic Planning Meeting where we set out goals for our society for the upcoming years ahead. We are already accomplishing many of the initiatives! The Education and Membership Committees have united forces and formed a joint Residency and Student Task Force lead by our Directors Suzanne Kerns and Kristin Raj to initiate the process of developing an ideal resident and student TMS curriculum; as well as to improve the engagement of students and residents as Student Members in our society as they pursue careers in neuromodulation.  Furthermore, the Education Committee has planned a full slate of PULSES courses for the next year and offers five scholarships for students and residents to attend the course for free.

In September, we held a Nashville, Tennessee PULSES course, in which 75 attendees learned the latest updates in TMS therapy and received two days of hands-on training. A new format consisting of concentrated lectures and increased hands-on experience was very well received. So, if you have not attended a PULSES course, you may want to do so.  In my opinion, it is the best clinical course on TMS in the world!  Also, the committee has listened to our members and has reduced the fee for Non-prescribers. If you have a TMS Coordinator or Operator/Technician that you want to educate, invite them to the next course.  Future PULSES courses are scheduled for Las Vegas in January 2022 and before our Annual Meeting in Chicago in May 2022. 

In my last update, I discussed the potential for an Advanced Pulses Course at the Brain Stimulation meeting in December; however, we had to postpone this event because of concerns around having enough attendees registered to support the event. After speaking with potential panelists, the Executive Committee and Education Committee decided to consolidate the program during the Annual Meeting by holding an enhanced Experts Panel.

The Outreach Committee is increasing community awareness and finishing up a Doodle patient video on the difference between TMS and ECT treatments; they will be updating the patient information page on our website and enhancing our social media presence. We will be redesigning our website to make it more user-friendly and navigable. We are resuming our administrative staff's attendance at scientific meetings to market our society and the field of TMS. Our Grand Rounds continues to be an incredible source of knowledge and provides 1 hour of CME each month. These are free for students and residents.  This year, lecturers worldwide have presented on diverse topics, such as Nolan Williams talking about the SAINT protocol, Linda Carpenter lecturing on maintenance protocols, and Sofia Albott discussing TMS and Ketamine. The Outreach Committee is also responsible for the Annual Town Hall Meeting. Our second annual Town Hall Meeting will occur this January,  and the chairman of each standing committee will report to our members about the accomplishments of their committees and upcoming goals.  This meeting provides a beneficial experience for our members to test drive, learn about standing committees, and decide which committee they want to join. Look for the e-blast notification about this and sign up for the Town Hall Meeting. Nearly 100 CTMSS members are involved in our committees and task forces.

The Annual Committee is working hard on assembling the program for the 2022 meeting in Chicago in May and is looking at an international destination in 2024 when we hope COVID-19 will be in our rearview mirror! Furthermore, the Annual Committee is preparing for an enhanced Members Meeting with the first Convocation of Fellows of the Clinical TMS Society. The Clinical TMS Society wants to recognize members who have made a significant impact on the field of TMS and given their time and commitment to CTMSS. Look for a TMS Today e-blast from the society on the requirements and how to apply for the Fellow designation next month.

The Research Committee holds Affinity Group meetings on a bimonthly basis, and many of our members are collaborating on different interests they have in the field of TMS. You can navigate to your dashboard on our website to sign up for nine available, Affinity Groups, including TMS and Addiction, TMS and Sleep Disorders, TMS and Autism, TMS and Data Collection, TMS and Ketamine, TMS and Private Practice, TMS Sex Differences, and TMS Treatment in Adolescents. The Research Committee is supporting a Pregnancy Registry that will provide safety and other important information to our society for future research on TMS use in pregnant women.

This fall, our Executive Director, Ashleigh Servadio, and I will be finalizing the FACT, Foundation for the Advancement of Clinical TMS as a non-profit foundation to raise money for advocacy, increased awareness of TMS, and provide research grants to further the field of TMS treatment. By the end of the year, FACT will be available to receive tax-deductible donations to begin the process of fulfilling its mission.

In June, the board set a goal to build a membership of 1000 members in the next year ahead, and we are currently proceeding towards that goal as we have now passed 800 members!  The Membership Committee is creating innovative programs for enrolling new members, so stay tuned for updates on new ways that future members can receive incentives to join. The board also wanted to improve the orientation and mentorship for our new members. We met this goal as we held our 2nd New Members Orientation Meeting last month where Rebecca Cohen, co-chair of Membership Committee, Bobbie Fleming, our Associate Executive Director of Administration, and I moderated. Fifty-two new members signed up for this live (and on-demand) interactive and informative recurring webinar on how to get the most out of our society and optimally utilize our website.

The Membership Committee has formed a Mentorship Task Force to develop a list of mentors and connect these mentors with new members. This very active committee is also working on improving the communication between members and has developed a listserve where all members can post and respond to each other.  The Membership Committee is also leading a Task Force on Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (PMHNP) lead by Piper Buersmeyer PMHNP and Jonathan Horey MD, joined by members of Clinical Standards Committee and other volunteers to improve communication and develop an understanding of the training of PMHNPs and how the CTMSS may become more inclusive.

The Clinical Standards Committee is moving forward with clarifying the standards of a TMS prescriber. Their members, lead by Chair Andy Kozel, have submitted an article on "Preservation TMS" treatment accepted for publication; a Late Response paper has also been submitted for publication.  Each member of CSC has a project he or she is working on and hopes to have future publications accepted to improve the standards and expand the treatment options for TMS therapy.

Diversity was a focus of our strategic planning, and we are working on providing greater diversity in our speakers for our educational programs and our leadership. This year, 12 of our 25 board members and 4 of our 6 Executive Committee members are either women or people of color.

The Legal, Business and Ethics committee has been updating our bylaws and policies.  They are currently working on a process to allow our Immediate Past President Kimberly Cress, and our ACROSS Representative Michelle Cochran to attend all board meetings as Ex-Officio non-voting members and our current Vice President/President-elect Mo Abdelghani to attend all standing committees in the same capacity.  They are doing this to improve communication and allow for institutional knowledge to be easily disseminated.  LBE has proposed bylaw changes for the establishment of a Finance Committee which will be lead by our Treasurer, Rebecca Allen. As we are a growing society, our budget has become more extensive, and the need for efficient management of our investment accounts will require more intensive review by a larger committee.

The Insurance Committee has been working hard to develop ideal policies on TMS and meet with medical directors of insurance companies to increase access for TMS therapy and halt the onerous supervision requirements that are starting to appear in insurance company policies.

The Executive Committee (EC) is actively working to improve  coordination with the American Psychiatric  Association. We have reached out to Rebecca Weintraub Brendel MD, JD, President-elect of the APA, and she has agreed to meet with our EC to discuss an improved collaboration and increase awareness of TMS and the number of scientific programs on TMS treatment at the APA Annual Meetings.  Already, our ACROSS Representative Michelle Cochran has proposed, and the APA Assembly established a Caucus on Neuromodulation as we are attempting to increase awareness of our field within general psychiatry.  Additionally, the EC oversees all of the various committee's work. 

As you can see, the leadership of CTMSS is moving efficiently and relentlessly to meet the goals that our board has set at our Strategic Planning Meeting. I am proud of the great work that our committee members have performed and the expert leadership of our administration. I look forward to the further completion of these initiatives and the continued fulfillment of our society’s mission to increase awareness and access of TMS treatment around the globe.