Why 2017 AAOA Advanced Course in Allergy & Immunology

By Cecelia Damask, DO, Director of Educational Programs

Due to popular demand, the AAOA is excited to announce that this year’s Advanced Course will be returning to beautiful, picturesque Vail Colorado. Vail is scenic, has beautiful weather, and of course is the perfect place for skiing with the third largest ski mountain in North America. The Vail Marriott Mountain Resort will be hosting us. With the ambiance of a European ski chalet and a plethora of wonderful amenities, the Vail Marriott Mountain Resort provides everything you need to ski, shop, and relax in Colorado. It has a prime location at the base of Vail Mountain; just steps away from the Eagle Bahn Gondola.

Vail Ski Resort is nothing short of amazing. Vail mountain covers over 5000 acres and is surrounded by 350,000 acres of national forest. Vail Mountain has many trails for every type of skier. Everything from wide open terrains to moguls can be found in the three areas of Front-Side, Blue Sky Basin and the Back Bowls. In total there are almost 200 trails for beginners, intermediate, and experienced skiers.

If you can name a snow related activity, they have it in Vail: think downhill and cross country skiing, snowboarding, snowmobile tours, snowshoe tours, dog sled rides, sleigh rides, ice skating, and on and on. Many of these are for children as well, so you can bring the entire family to join in the fun. If you do not ski and have no interest in snow related activities, there is still plenty to do in Vail Valley. Vail Village is modeled after Bavaria in Germany. The main area has many shops and restaurants. You can also enjoy spending your time by the fireplaces in the hotel and riding the gondolas which offer amazing views.

All these reasons and more make Vail a great place for a winter vacation and the perfect location for this year’s Advanced Course. However, the number one reason to visit Vail this December is to attend the 2017 AAOA Advanced Course. Your course directors will be expanding the faculty and content at this year’s course. The presentations will be varied, cutting-edge and topical and we plan on mixing in lots of fun as well. We will be using an app that will drive interaction via text commenting. This will close the gap between what the faculty are presenting and what the attendees are learning. We will be hosting après ski with the professor sessions each afternoon to further clarify any questions from the morning sessions.

We are excited to offer all new content with a half day focusing on laryngeal topics. This section will be led by distinguished laryngologist, Dr. Blake Simpson. We will be exploring the relationship of allergy and vocal complaints. Dr. Simpson is going to discuss his evaluation of a chronic cough patient and he will offer a new novel treatment for chronic cough that you can offer your patients. The laryngeal sessions will be full of clinical pearls that you can take home and start using on Monday morning after returning to your office.

This year’s Advanced Course will also be featuring non- Otolaryngology speakers as well focusing on challenging topics such as food allergy. We will review the new Addendum Guidelines for the Prevention of Peanut Allergy in the US and what this means for you and your office. There will be new updates in the management of asthma including an expanded biologics section.