How the COVID-19 Pandemic Changed Medical Conferences

by Katie Robinson •

According to Lucas, AAOA has implemented some reverse classroom concepts, with pre-work prior to the live meeting components. “This helps generate questions in advance to allow the faculty to address specific audience needs. This is complemented by time-limited, post-meeting, on-demand access.” Lucas added that recording the live stream and posting the content for 60 days after the meeting has generated some post-live event registrations.

However, Lucas noted that hybrid meetings will require different planning and faculty training to assure that both live and virtual audiences gain the same educational value. Logistics will also need to be considered to assess what live content is streamed and what is a live-only benefit, as well as how to help contain the costs of producing both live and virtual meetings. “The old format of multiple concurrent sessions would be very costly to produce as a hybrid,” Lucas said.

Transportation and travel are a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions. Thousands of people flying to a city for a few days has a huge environmental impact, said Dr. Westerberg. “We need to find a better way to hold medical/surgical conferences,” he said, adding, “If we go back to the same-old, same-old, we will have failed our profession and society.” 

Katie Robinson is a freelance medical writer based in New York.

What Do Attendees Want?

Wwe asked some of ENTtoday‘s editorial board members what they hope for in the future of conferences. Here’s what they had to say: 

“In the near future, I think that we’ll see an evolution in conferencing platforms that will eventually offer a virtual reality meeting environment, which will continue to close some of the gaps between online/hybrid and in-person meetings in terms of networking, training opportunities, and job prospects.” —Sarah Bowe, MD, a pediatric otolaryngologist in San Antonio, Texas. 

“A very reasonable solution for societies and organizations would be to host live, in-person events, with appropriate safety measures. The materials could then be made available online after the meeting to encourage in-person attendance, which not only drives the financial solvency of the organization but allows for the camaraderie, mentorship, and collegiality that we all crave. Presenting the materials for those who could not attend in person for whatever reason, later but in a timely fashion, engages all participants extremely well.” —Sujana S. Chandrasekhar, MD, partner at ENT & Allergy Associates in New York City 

“I hope future meetings will be offered in a hybrid format where attendees could choose to attend in person or from home. Hybrid meetings could also allow in-person attendees to virtually engage in large keynote presentations from a hotel room or other remote location, with the option to physically participate in smaller interactive sessions.” —Sonya Malekzadeh, MD, professor of otolaryngology–head and neck surgery at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C.