I still remember the first Digestive Disease Week® (DDW) I attended as an internal medicine intern. I had no idea that more than 15,000 GI professionals attended DDW annually or that more than 4,000 abstracts were presented every year. In all the excitement to get to New Orleans, I had not really planned how I would spend my time at DDW and landed up squandering most of the day walking through the long hallways of the convention center in search of relevant sessions and mostly attending those I had no interest in. I made a mental note to never attend another DDW without planning. My subsequent DDW trips have progressively gotten better and I would like to share my experiences as a fellow.
PLAN AND PRIORITIZE
The first lesson is to realize that you cannot have it all at the live meeting, so you have to prioritize. I start by making a wish list of what I would like accomplish at DDW each year. For example, last year my main priority was to network with faculty from universities I was interested in finding a job. And this year my main focus is in attending scientific sessions which will help me prepare for my boards.
Once you have your priorities figured it’s time to plan! I always use myDDW (opens April 2015) to import sessions of interest directly to my Google calendar in order to access easily on my smart phone. And the mobile phone app for myDDW is also a great way to look up full abstracts and browse sessions.
UTILIZE THE OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN
As a third year fellow who will be taking the boards later this year, I am keenly interested in programs which can help me work toward this. I will definitely be checking out the AGA Spring Postgraduate Course, focused on new advances for common clinical problems, and also the AGA Board Review Session. The ACGME now requires all fellows to engage in quality related projects so I think the trainee-focused session Advancing Clinical Practice: GI Fellow-Directed Quality Improvement Projects, which shines the spotlight on abstracts on quality improvement, will provide us new ideas.
Another area of interest is the opportunities provided by ASGE for second and third year fellows to hone their hands-on endoscopy skills. Senior Fellows Update is one such session which sounds exciting as they will discuss hot topics including on-call emergencies and tricks and tips in colonoscopy. And the ASGE Senior Fellows Hands-On Workshop will be valuable as they will provide an updated review of hands-on skills for fellows going into practice. And lastly given the rapidly changing area of hepatitis C, I am looking forward to Hepatitis C Recommendations for 2015 to give me a comprehensive overview of HCV treatment options. The above is only a sample of my plans, so browse the program and identify sessions based on your educational needs.
SHOWCASE YOUR RESEARCH AND GET UPDATES
Congratulations if your abstract has been accepted for presentation! This is a great opportunity to impress your peers and also to receive critical feedback from senior scientists about your research project. If you have a podium presentation, practice your presentation several times in advance and arrive early to make sure the slides are working. If you are presenting a poster, make sure you put it up early and stand next to it during the allotted time. Apart from showcasing your research, poster sessions are also great places to network.
Next, choose the scientific sessions you wish to attend. This area of planning will vary considerably based on your research interests. Once you have picked the area within gastroenterology in which you will be focusing your career, it’s easier to pick the sessions. For example, I use myDDW to mark out all the abstracts which pertain to hepatobiliary malignancies and add the relevant oral sessions to my calendar. Another under appreciated, but efficient way to review abstracts in your field, is to walk up to the posters during breaks in between sessions. I try to talk to authors if I need more details on the methodology and take pictures of the posters I am interested in reviewing later. The advent of ePosters has of course made it so much easier to browse the abstracts from your laptop, but meeting authors is still a vital experience.
NETWORK, NETWORK, NETWORK
Although networking is considered a spontaneous social activity, planning does go a long way in making successful connections. Here’s what I recommend:
- Firstly prepare an “elevator speech” by which you can effectively introduce yourself, and career interests succinctly and clearly.
- Next, make a list of people you would like to meet and contact them a few weeks ahead of DDW requesting for a time to meet. By doing this, my friends have successfully interviewed for more than six or seven potential jobs while at DDW! And since not everyone will have to time to meet in person, I make it a point to attend scientific sessions where they are presenting or presiding and try to strike a conversation at the end of the session.
- Of course there are programs specifically designed to help us network like the Mentor and Advisor Program: Reception for Trainees/Young GIs and the ASGE Fellows Networking Session, which are both a great way to spend the evening meeting people. Last but not least, social media is a great way to keep in touch during DDW, follow #DDW15 to get fast updates on happenings from various sessions.
IT’S WORTH IT!
As fellows we are usually on a shoe string budget and the cost of attending DDW, including the registration, travel and hotel stay can be daunting. But with some creativity and planning you can bring the price tag down. The most important thing is to register early as registration is free for trainee members before April 1! And hotels are available at discounted prices if booked early through the DDW website. At the end of the day the experience of DDW is totally worth the cost as it offers several intangible benefits like education, research updates, new connections, and most importantly, inspiration and motivation!
HAVE FUN!
Also, for a lot of us, DDW is a welcomed break from our busy schedule, so utilize the evenings to wind down and hang out with family and friends. I usually travel with my husband and my little daughter so we can spend some quality family time and also explore new cities. My co-fellows and I try to book hotels early so we can stay together and catch up with each other at the end of the day. And well you do need to recharge to face another long day of scientific sessions, don’t you?!
