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BLOG: Day 2 of the ACG 2015 Postgraduate Course
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The 3-day ACG Annual Scientific Meeting follows the 2-day Postgraduate Course, from which Healio Gastroenterology’s featured blogger, Austin Chiang, MD, a GI fellow from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will share daily highlights as he attends sessions during the course and the scientific meeting. Here is his take on day 2 of the Postgraduate Course on Sunday, October 18.
HONOLULU — It’s day 2 of the postgraduate course at ACG 2015 and the hall is packed.
6:42 am
It’s early in the morning and I’m already learning new things. Another recurring phrase with each speaker: “more data is needed.” Just when you think something is complicated enough, there are always more details that can be clarified through research. For now, many of these uncertainties are left up to individual practice “style,” and throughout the day I noticed how certain things are done differently back home from what was recommended by the speakers. There often is no right answer to how certain things are done, except for the fact that more investigation could be done to sort these uncertainties out.
Austin Chiang
7:15 am
Tim Gardner, MD, from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, mentions how the recommendation of using lactated ringers solution in acute pancreatitis was based on a study with 40 patients, assessing for improvement in SIRS parameters and CRP. It’s pretty wild how some small studies could have such a widespread impact on the treatment standard for acute pancreatitis — makes me wonder how much else in medicine is based on sparse data.
8:54 am
There are a lot of biologic medications with long names being thrown around, some of which I have seen in relatively frequent use back home. I recall at the outset of fellowship thinking that some of these medications were so frequently used at our tertiary care center that I misjudged how rare it truly was for some patients to be on these fourth- or fifth-line agents. Glancing around the room, I wonder how much this will really be applicable to the non-academic practices of the gastroenterologists seated in the room. Perhaps it’s only a matter of time before these new medications become part of the standard treatment algorithm.
9:12 am
David A. Schwartz, MD, FACG, and Miguel D. Regueiro, MD, FACG, are participating in a debate on whether endoscopic mucosal healing should be enough to suggest remission. It’s a new format to me, but it’s a great way to review the pros and cons of one strategy over the other. It’s impressive.
11:37 am
Several talks thus far have referenced fecal microbiota transplant (FMT) as an exciting option for patients with recurrent C. difficile infection. This reminds me of my colleague, recent program graduate, and newly-minted attending at Brigham and Women’s, Jessica Allegretti, MD, MPH, who has led our FMT efforts back at home since fellowship. Can’t help but feel inspired by my own colleagues from time to time.
1:36 pm
Some of us make it back after lunch to attend the symposium entitled GI Emergencies, which is being led by our own John R. Saltzman, MD, FACG. Another proud moment for the fellows as he delivers an excellent talk.
3:24 pm
Most of us make our way past the vendors, many of whom seem to have little interest in speaking to fellows. Ultimately, we make our way to the poster sessions. More familiar faces there, and I’m finding myself seeing friends I met during my own interview trial. The posters are excellent, and one can only hope to do as good a job as those I saw today during my own presentation in the upcoming 2 days.
Continue to follow Austin Chiang @austinchiangmd and Healio Gastroenterology @HealioGastro for live tweets from the conference.
Chiang is blogging on his own behalf and in conjunction with Healio Gastroenterology. The views and opinions expressed are his own and do not represent the views or opinions of the ACG.