Welcome to the March edition of the Alliance Connect. I’m Audrie Tornow, your Alliance President coming to you live from New Jersey, where daylight savings time is back in effect.

It’s been a really quick month, so here are a few things you may have missed. 📅

• Photos from the 2025 Annual Conference are available.
• I encourage you to check out the recently launched series of digital flashcards to help study for the CHCP exam, as well as an archived recording of our first 2025 Membership Town Hall which took place on March 10 lead by Holly Byrnes and Allison Kickel. We were excited to see so many of you in attendance!
• Registration is now open for the June CHCP exam.
• Alliance Past President Pam McFadden attended SACME’s 2025 Annual Meeting, and the Alliance will have a booth at the upcoming ACCME Learn to Thrive conference. Alliance Executive Director, Kathleen Weis, Board Vice President Vince Loffredo and Board members Alanna Kaiser and Andrew Crim will be in attendance. Stop by and say hello.
• I’m happy to announce the Alliance Industry Summit will be back this fall, September 8-10, 2025, at the Hilton Penn Landing in Philadelphia. Registration information will be available soon.
• And we are getting ready to celebrate our 50-year anniversary in 2026, with a dedicated landing page being added to our website shortly.

Let’s continue on our review of some historical events from the last five decades. Time to get out your jelly bracelets and pull on your leg warmers because it’s 1980.

• “Call Me” by Blondie was the Billboard #1 song of the year followed by Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”, and “Magic” by Olivia Newton John.

It’s 1981.

• The U.S. CDC published an article in its Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report that would mark the first official reporting of what would come to be known as the AIDS epidemic.
• A Chicago-based nonprofit organization that accredits organizations offering continuing medical education was formed. Their name? The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME®).
• On August 1, MTV launched. Do you know the first video that was broadcast? "Video Killed the Radio Star".

It’s 1982.

• Barney Clark became the first recipient of a permanent artificial heart, with which he survived for 112 days.

It’s 1983.

• Apple Computers, under their 28-year-old chairman, Steve Jobs, launched their “Kids Can’t Wait” program offering computers to elementary and secondary schools in California.
• Michael Jackson's “Thriller” music video was released on December 2. Personally, I remember our babysitter letting us watch it, because it was only played at night.

It’s 1984.

• The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to Niels K. Jerne, Georges J.F. Köhler and César Milstein for theories concerning “the specificity in development and control of the immune system” and the discovery of “the principle for production of monoclonal antibodies”.
• You might have found yourself with friends at the movies watching "The Karate Kid", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "The Terminator" or "Sixteen Candles".

I’d love for you to be a part of this countdown. Send your favorite historical or CME facts to me at audrie@excaliburmeded.com 📩 

☁️ Be sure to check in on the Alliance Online Communities and add to the conversation.

And it’s Mindful March, so here’s a reminder to find ways to enjoy any chores or tasks that you do. (Dr. Brian McGowan told me it’s called #temptationbundling.)

On behalf of the entire Alliance Board and staff, I’m wishing you all happiness and a little bit of luck. 🍀

With gratitude,

Audrie Tornow, CHCP, FACEHP

Watch the Video