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ATA CONFERENCE BLOG: Fellows gain insight from expert opinion, reflect on presentations
Endocrine Today caught up with fellows to find out what they are learning at this year’s ATA Annual Meeting in Quebec City.
QUEBEC CITY — Three fellows offer their impressions on the presentations that they most enjoyed during the first full day of the American Thyroid Association 82nd Annual Meeting. They share their experiences about participation in the Fellows’ Track as well as what they heard during the general sessions.
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The first full day of the meeting was highlighted by the thyroid ultrasound course as well as the very insightful discussions pertaining to various career tracks in endocrinology that were offered as part of the “Fellows’ Track,” which runs throughout the general meeting and is geared toward endocrine trainees.
Devin Steenkamp
The session on various career options in the field involved the personal and often candid perspectives of endocrinologists in private practice, clinical research, industry and academia in general. I was very interested to learn more about potential roles in industry and pharma, which is not something that fellows are exposed to on a routine basis and is not a career that I would think that many of us consider in much detail when pondering the future. I appreciated the honest and forthright opinions expressed by each discussant, which are invaluable in helping fellows mull through the many pros and cons involved in career choices.
In the afternoon, I particularly enjoyed the lively debate session, which was part of the general agenda, on advances in thyroid surgery. Surgical experts discussed the pros and cons of routine nerve stimulation as well as minimally invasive vs. conventional approaches to thyroidectomy. The boxing gloves literally came out!
From a medical perspective, it was great to hear expert surgical views on issues that medical endocrinologists may not always have on their radars. Important subjects such as thyroidectomy scar size and post-operative recovery with minimally invasive vs. conventional surgery were debated. The relatively novel role of robotic thyroidectomy, including non-cervical and axillary approaches to avoid a neck scar, was thought-provoking and highlighted for me how far society and medical science may lean in the name of cosmesis.
All in all it was a fascinating day.
Devin Steenkamp, MD, is a fellow in endocrinology at Boston Medical Center and has contributed to several of Endocrine Today’s Imaging Analysis columns. He reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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Endocrine fellows attending the second day of the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association in Quebec City were able to participate in several interesting educational forums.
William Duke
A lunch meeting entitled “Selling Your Science: Presenting to an Audience outside Your Field” began with an informative didactic session on effectively communicating research to medical professionals in different specialty areas. This skill is becoming increasingly valuable as society meetings and health care as a whole move toward multidisciplinary understanding and collaboration to provide the best possible patient care. Selected fellows were then given the opportunity to present their research and receive criticism on their presentation style and slide content in a protected, constructive interactive forum.
An afternoon session on career tracks introduced fellows to various professional avenues, including opportunities in private practice, academic medicine and the health care industry. Jennifer Lawrence, MD, provided insight on building a private practice, highlighting not only the attributes and skills a fellow should acquire to be successful in the marketplace, but also the importance of close interaction with other medical specialties and the opportunities available to pursue continued academic interests.
Antonio Bianco, MD, PhD, and Elizabeth Pearce, MD, discussed academic careers, with particular emphasis on identifying a mentor to help develop a nascent academic practice. They also stressed the importance of accumulating research experience during fellowship to help increase the likelihood of obtaining future funding, which is becoming increasingly difficult as NIH grants become more competitive.
James Magner, MD, then presented the option of a career in medical industry — a path to which many young physicians likely have little exposure. He outlined his path from academic medicine to his work with pharmaceutical and biomedical manufacturers, and emphasized that physicians should be honest with themselves and pursue career paths that will make them happy.
William Duke, MD, is a board-certified otolaryngologist and a clinical fellow in head and neck endocrine surgery at Georgia Health Sciences University in Augusta. He reports no relevant financial disclosures.
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Thursday’s evening Plenary Session, “Thyroid Hormone Receptor Mutations,” chaired by Gregory Brent, MD, featured three talks by leaders in the field. Theo Visser, PhD, discussed human mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor alpha gene. Samuel Refetoff, MD, highlighted human mutations in the thyroid hormone receptor beta gene. The talk by Sheue-yann Cheng, PhD, featured her basic science research using mice that express a mutated thyroid hormone receptor alpha gene. The three talks together highlighted the discoveries that have been made to date on the different mutations in thyroid hormone receptors, the symptoms faced by patients with these mutations and the challenges in treating them. Furthermore, these talks emphasized the need for more research in this area to better serve patients with these mutations and to also understand other mechanisms that may lead to resistance to thyroid hormone in patients who do not have a mutation in their thyroid hormone receptors.
Kristen Vella
On Thursday, as part of the Fellows’ Track, fellows were invited to attend “Selling Your Science: Presenting to an Audience outside Your Field.” This program, chaired by Arturo Hernandez, PhD, Inna Astapova, PhD, and myself, aimed to help early career scientists and clinicians hone their presentation skills so they can address a broader audience. Three fellows, Maziar Rahmani, MD, PhD, Akshay Jain, MD, and Jose Eduardo Santos, PhD, kindly volunteered to present 5- to 7-minute talks and the session’s attendees were invited to participate in constructive discussion of each speaker’s presentation style. Rahmani, Jain and Santos gave excellent presentations that were very easy to follow especially for others outside their field. Discussion points included the use of analogies to describe the scientific problem, simplifying slides and avoiding large chunks of text, and using figures to help guide the audience through the talk.
Kristen Vella, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Tony Hollenberg, MD, at BIDMC where she studies the regulation of thyroid hormone levels during states of nutritional stress. She is the co-chair of the Basic Fellows’ Educational Track at the 82nd Annual Meeting of the American Thyroid Association. Vella reports no relevant financial disclosures.