I wrote plenty on Monday about financial aspects of attending the American College of Physicians meeting last week. Perhaps more than I planned to.
I thought I might write a shorter bit today about the actual meeting, which I enjoyed very much.
Firstly, it had been a while since I had gone on vacation. So it was lovely to be able to hand my in-box over to my partner, and power down my computer for several days.
Secondly, it was great to see colleagues out of the office. This year I enjoyed seeing former classmates and students whom I hadn’t seen for some time.
Thirdly, it was awesome to go back to school! I really enjoyed being able to just sit and pay attention (or not) to lectures. Especially since, at my stage of the game, most of what I heard was review–not material that was brand new to me. My notes are full of tidbits and factoids; details that (I hope) can help me practice medicine better. I have already shared a few with residents in the week following the meeting.
Breaking the meeting down a bit more, the attractions included:
lectures
I usually think of the talks as the mainstay of the curriculum. Over the years, I have picked up some tips on which ones to attend:
- Clinical Pearls (for 1.5 hours, you listen to 3 experts in different fields go over 8-10 pearls).
- MSFM, or Multiple Small Feedings of the Mind. Similar to above.
- Consult Talk. Drs. Geno Merli and Howard Weitz review topics related to peri-operative medicine a la Car Talk. They also have a video series through Annals of Internal Medicine, for which you can get CME at home.
- Lately, if Dr. Salvatore Mangione is giving a talk, I am going. He speaks well about medicine, art, and observation, and has great slides.
Other talks can be more hit-or-miss: the Update talks (Updates in: Hospital Medicine, Ambulatory Medicine, Women’s Medicine, Hematology, Pulmonology, etc), or picking a particular talk. Some sound like they will be interesting, but aren’t; some are sleeper hits, like the one last year I attended (standing room only) on Nutrition and Medicine. I really should make a list of more speakers who give the great talks.
additional learning opportunities
Lately, I have been spending more time looking at the resident and student posters, which are usually up in the Exhibit Hall. I haven’t been particularly dedicated to seeing them all, so I go during the morning break. After about 10-15 posters my eyes start glazing over, but there is always some very interesting information there. It’s fun to talk with the presenter, too, if they are by the poster.
I haven’t really done much with the Clinical Skills sessions–probably because I work at a teaching institution–but I think this is likely valuable to people who work at smaller places and need to get started with newer skills. You need to sign up ahead of time for these sessions.
the exhibit hall
Strolling the Exhibit Hall, you can find booths with all sorts of vendors.
- Drug companies certainly still make an appearance, though on reflection, there seemed to be fewer of these than there were when I first started going.
- Some of the journals have booths, as do some of the other medical societies.
- I found a booth for the European Congress of Internal Medicine (2019 meeting in Lisbon, Portugal) and the World Congress of Internal Medicine (next meeting is in 2020 in Cancun, Mexico).
- Lots of people want to recruit you for jobs. They often have chocolate and nifty pens.
- You can buy stethoscopes and white coats and ultrasounds (oh, my!).
- There are also seating arrangements, places to charge your phone, snacks in the morning and the afternoon.
- I saw there was an opportunity to get a massage, but the lines were so long, I never looked into this seriously.
tourism opportunities
Going to a meeting in another city obviously offers opportunities to, well, be a tourist.
This year in Philadelphia, I spent most of my time at the meeting. Even so, I managed to:
- Go to Chinatown and see the decorative arch at the entrance; and eat at some restaurants noted on lists of “places to eat.”
- See the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts.
- See the Reading Market Terminal. And get lunch there, too.
- Take a walk through City Hall (though I missed the tour).
Had I been able to take a little more time off, as I did with last year’s meeting, I certainly would have done a little more dedicated sight-seeing.
rejuvenation
Going back to the beginning, there were several other wonderful aspects to attending the meeting. These might fall into the category of: taking care of yourself and working to make yourself a more well-rounded person.
- I got to pick my schedule, instead of having it handed to me.
- Some of the lectures concentrated more on the humanistic side of medicine, talking about history and art.
- Several talks were definitely meant to entertain as much as they educated (sadly not necessarily the focus of many talks at home).
- I got to spend a lot of time with my spouse (before and after the meeting activities), away from home and the pressures of house chores, etc.
- I had the chance to socialize with my peers, for real. Chatting in the halls in between appointments, or catching consultants while rounding, though satisfying, isn’t quite the same. Talking to people as people, asking about family and other life issues, with the bonus that you can also discuss medicine, is better.
- I rekindled my love for medicine, which is a really very cool, and sometimes awe-inspiring, field.
What are your favorite meetings? What do you like best about them? Inquiring minds want to know.