The 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference was a remarkable event this year. A record 3,739 attendees gathered to learn, to network, and most importantly, to Rediscover Meaning in Medicine.
We want to thank all of the speakers, poster presenters, awardees, other attendees, Board and Committee members, staff members, exhibitors, and other participants who helped make this another outstanding and successful year for the Annual Educational Conference.
This year’s theme, “Engaging Each Other: Rediscovering Meaning in Medicine,” was featured throughout conference highlights. In a panel discussion about physician well-being, Victor Dzau, MD, president of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM); Darrell G. Kirch, MD, president and CEO of the Association of American Medical Colleges, and Thomas J. Nasca, MD, MACP, president and CEO of the ACGME—co-chairs of the NAM Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience—shared rarely-told stories of their own experiences with burnout during residency, and how the physician suicide epidemic has affected them personally.
During the President’s Plenary, Dr. Nasca asked attendees to consider what the medical workforce of the future would look like, encouraging them to embrace flexibility and increase responsiveness to societal needs while anticipating the needs of those the graduate medical community serves.
During the Marvin R. Dunn Keynote Address, 19th Surgeon General of the United States Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA discussed wide-ranging topics in an intimate, inspiring fireside chat with Dr. Nasca. (The session, in its entirety, is available to view here.)
The conference also included roll-up-the-sleeves work on accreditation, patient safety, the opioid crisis, the transition to a single GME accreditation system, the Milestones, and the CLER Program, as well as powerful, inspiring, and transformative discussions on diversity and inclusion, discrimination, bullying, harassment, and physician well-being.
Didn’t make the conference? You can catch up on some of what you missed reading the ACGME Blog’s articles on the Annual Educational Conference, and explore the #ACGME2019 hashtag on Twitter.
We also want to invite you to join us next year! The 2020 ACGME Annual Educational Conference will take place at the Marriott Marquis San Diego Marina and Hilton San Diego Bayfront in San Diego, California from February 27-February 29, 2020.
The ACGME Blog will continue to cover important issues relating to the conference, ACGME activities, and graduate medical education, so come back often!