It is said that seventy-five percent of cases of Bell's palsy recover spontaneously, and therein, we think, lies the cause of life long disfigurement for many people.The twenty-five percent of cases who do not recover are forced to go through life with this disfigurement that only those who recover can understand. We should regard Bell's palsy rather from the point of view of those who do not recover spontaneously, and say that in twenty-five percent of cases the present usual line of treatment results in complete failure and the patient is permanently disfigured.' This is a more arresting point of view and it is likely to result in a considerable diminution of such failures; that the treatment of any surgical condition should have so high a failure rate as twenty-five percent should of itself call for attention and inquiry. In every case of Bell's palsy the safe procedure is to presume that it will not recover, unless something more than an attitude of masterly expectancy is adopted.Progress is not always made by the presentation of new ideas or discoveries, but depends much more on newer comprehensions of established facts, and particularly on the co-ordination and interpretation of old ideas.

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HIMAA members will be aware that the Education Services Division of HIMAA provides an important service to them and to the wider community in offering a suite of training courses in relevant areas.Currently, distance education courses are focused on clinical classification (including medical terminology as a preparatory step in coder training) for the Australian environment as well as certain international settings. Details of the programs can be obtained by entering the Education pages of the HIMAA website (HIMAA 2003b).HIMAA also offers a service to design and deliver to organisations a range of specialist courses on request, in areas such as:• Privacy and confidentiality • Health information systems • Medico-legal issues in health information management • Casemix • Quality improvement in health information services • Electronic health records • Human resources issues for health information managers.As confirmed at a strategic planning session in 2002, HIMAA will in future focus more attention on development of programs in response to the needs of health information managers seeking continuing professional development opportunities. How do training programs come to be offered?Although current programs available through HIMAA Education Services and how the service is administered (see the website also for information about Education Services staff) are quite widely known, members may be less aware of the process for determining education needs and development of training programs.The Education Services Working Party is a standing committee of the HIMAA Board and is made up of: nominees from each State Branch who have an interest in the area of continuing professional development; a member of the National Conference Committee; and the team leader of HIMAA Education Services. As well, the services and advice of other HIMAA staff, HIMAA members and experts from outside the HIM profession may be co-opted as and when necessary.Members of the working party are appointed for a finite period to complete set tasks. Provision will be made for extension of projects where required. The Chairperson is elected by the working-party membership and is appointed for a term of two (2) years (renewable).The current terms of reference (HIMAA, 2003a) and work program for the Education Services Working Party are to:1. Review all papers to the HIMAA Board from Manager, Education Services and Team Leader, Education Services regarding products, services and future directions for HIMAA. 2. On the basis of the outcomes of the most recent Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Planning Session, confirm the HIMAA CPD vision and pose a "principle to practice" approach for CPD activities at State and National levels. Perform market and business appraisal on anidentified new product range for HIMAA Education Services. 4. Advise and assist in the conceptual development of the Clinical Coder Certification program. 5. Encourage and facilitate a CPD culture within the clinical coding and health information management profession. 6. Explore the c...

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