Behind the Scenes of Surgical Conferences: USA vs. UK Planning & Logistics

Goals and Audience of Surgical Conferences

• 🎯 Surgical conferences aim to foster socialization, sharing clinical experiences, promoting academic work, and mutual learning among professionals.
• 🔑 In the UK, conferences target residents and consultant colleagues, providing CPD points and portfolio enhancement for trainees, and opportunities for learning and collaboration for established surgeons.
• 💡 There's an increasing focus on including allied health professionals and specialist nurses in conference content and participation.
• 🌍 In the US, organizations like SAGES cater to a broad range of surgeons, including foregut, bariatric, colorectal, and acute care specialists, with a significant focus on residents and fellows, alongside a large international contingent.

Conference Planning and Logistics

• 📍 Venue selection involves considering accessibility for delegates and international speakers, capacity for expected attendees, and space for exhibitions and trainee activities.
• 🗺️ Societies often rotate host locations across different regions (e.g., Scotland, Ireland, England, Wales for ASGBI) to ensure broader accessibility for members.
• 🗓️ Venues and major logistics for large US conferences like SAGES are often booked up to 10 years in advance.
• 💡 Program content is developed through a diplomatic process, soliciting topic ideas from committee chairs and members, and reviewing feedback from previous years to ensure relevance and balance.

Content Selection and Speaker Recruitment

• 🤖 Themes for conferences are often set by the society's president, with recent emphasis on topics like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and ergonomics.
• ⚖️ Speaker recruitment emphasizes gender parity and diversity, including senior experts, newer professionals, and international voices.
• 🗣️ Societies utilize speaker banks where members can submit topics they are experts in, ensuring practical expertise is presented.
• 🤝 Session chairs are assigned to select individual speakers, with continued reminders to maintain diversity and expertise.

Industry Engagement and Sponsorship

• 💰 Industry sponsors are crucial for funding conferences, with clear frameworks outlining agreements and expectations.
• 🎓 Companies are increasingly interested in hosting educational events and workshops in exhibition areas, sometimes offering accreditation or CPD points.
• 👥 Sponsorship also includes opportunities for companies to engage with focus groups and patient representatives to gather opinions and feedback.
• ⚠️ A conflict of interest task force reviews all submitted talks, and potentially biased content may be moved to non-CME (Continuing Medical Education) sessions or eliminated.

Supporting Surgeons in Practice and Trainees

• 📅 Societies offer multiple events throughout the year, including main annual meetings and smaller, focused meetings (e.g., emergency surgery days), to maintain engagement.
• 🧑‍🏫 New initiatives include engaging retired consultants by offering them free attendance and opportunities to connect with younger members.
• 📚 SAGES focuses heavily on education and training for residents and fellows through various courses (bariatric, endoscopy, career development) and by sponsoring fellowships.
• 🏆 Conferences feature abstract submissions, poster presentations, and oral sessions, with awards for best presentations to encourage trainee participation and CV building.
• 🛠️ New prize categories are being introduced, such as patient safety, sustainability, and trauma, reflecting evolving priorities in surgery.

The Future of Surgical Conferences

• 🚀 AI is expected to play a significant role, from administrative tasks like writing recommendations to potentially assisting in robotic surgeries.
• 🤝 Despite technological advancements, the networking and personal connection aspects of in-person meetings remain irreplaceable.
• 📈 There's a growing interest in sessions focused on national trials and multicenter audits, valuable for trainee portfolios.
• 💬 Conferences are increasingly addressing professional aspects of surgery, including conflict resolution, managing difficult colleagues, and other soft skills.
• 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Societies are making efforts to be more inclusive and supportive of a diverse workforce, offering amenities like childcare, prayer rooms, and wellness activities (e.g., goat yoga, running groups, tasting sessions).
• 🎉 Unique social events, like SAGES'