A quality educational meeting starts with a great slate of programs tailored to its audience, and CHEST 2022 is on-track to offer the highest tier of education for those in pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine.
Although planning for the meeting started after CHEST 2021 wrapped up, the real magic started to happen a few months ago when the schedule began coming together. In mid-February, members of the Scientific Planning Committee gathered both virtually and in-person at the CHEST headquarters to solidify the schedule for the upcoming CHEST 2022 meeting taking place in Nashville, TN, October 16-19.
The excitement in the room was palpable as committee members gathered for the first time in over a year to plan what will be the first in-person meeting since CHEST 2019 in New Orleans.
Chair of CHEST 2022, Subani Chandra, MD, FCCP, has high expectations for the meeting and is excited for everyone to be together in Nashville. “There is something special about an in-person meeting and my goal for CHEST 2022 is to not only meet the academic needs of the attendees, but also to serve as a chance to recharge after a long haul in managing COVID-19,” says Dr. Chandra. “Many first-time CHEST attendees are fellows and, with the last two meetings being virtual, there are a lot of fellows who have yet to attend a meeting in-person, so that is a big responsibility for us and opportunity for them. We want to make sure they have a fun and productive meeting – learn from the best, understand how to apply the latest research, get to present their work, network, participate, and have fun doing it all!”
With something for everyone in chest medicine, the CHEST 2022 meeting will feature over 200 sessions covering eight curriculum groups:
- Obstructive lung disease
- Sleep
- Chest infections
- Cardiovascular/pulmonary vascular disease
- Pulmonary procedures/lung cancer/cardiothoracic surgery
- Interstitial lung disease/radiology
- Interdisciplinary/practice operations/education
- Critical care
Covering a large breadth of information, the sessions will include the latest trends in COVID-19 care – recommended protocols, surge-planning and best practices; deeper looks into the latest CHEST guidelines – thromboprophylaxis in patients with COVID-19, antithrombotic therapy for VTE disease, and the guidelines for lung cancer screening; and sessions speaking to diversity, inclusion, and equity within medicine, including how lung disease affects populations differently.
Dr. Chandra says diversity was top of mind throughout the planning process. When submitting session ideas, it was noted that “submissions with speakers representing one gender and/or one institution will not be considered,” and that “selection priority will be given to outstanding submissions with proposed speakers who represent diversity of race, ethnicity, and professional status.”
During February’s meeting, as the committee members confirmed each of the sessions, they took the time to ensure every single one had presenters from a variety of backgrounds, including diversity of gender, race, credentialing, and years of experience in medicine.
It was important to the committee that this not be a physician-only meeting, because both CHEST and Pulmonary/Critical Care Medicine feature an array of team members including physicians, advance practice providers, respiratory therapists, nurses and other members of the care team and the sessions will reflect that.
When asked what she hopes attendees will gain from CHEST 2022, Dr. Chandra says, “I want attendees to feel the joy that comes from not only being together, but learning together.”
She continued, “I want this meeting to remind clinicians why they fell in love with medicine and to remember why it is that we do what we do, especially after two grueling years. Attendees should leave feeling reinvigorated and charged with the latest literature and clinical expertise ready to be implemented into practice. Most of all, I want all of the attendees to have fun, because we are there to learn, but CHEST is also about enjoying medicine and those around you. I just cannot wait.”