Organizers for the ACR Convergence 2020 events designed for those involved in academic rheumatology have built a program that takes full advantage of the Community Hub concept.
The Academic Community Hub will run from Friday, Nov. 6, to Monday, Nov. 9. Each day will have educational sessions and events in two specific time blocks: 1 – 3 p.m. and 6 – 8 p.m. EST. The program has been designed to help those in academic rheumatology looking for specific insights into their work.
“This creates a space where academic rheumatologists, division directors, program directors, academic faculty, and fellows in training can find information and sessions that are going to be relevant to their daily work,” said Beth Jonas, MD, Committee on Rheumatology Training and Workforce Issues Chair
Academic-focused content designed for directors and faculty, early career investigators, and fellows in training has been included in the Academic Community Hub, one of several communities at this year’s meeting for different groups. Some of the sessions were ones from the Division and Program Directors Conference, which was canceled in March, and the traditional premeeting course.
At past meetings, primarily program directors or division directors have attended many of the academic rheumatology sessions. This year, however, given the virtual opportunity and the incorporation of these Community Hubs into the scientific program, those types of sessions will be more easily available to all attendees and will likely be of interest to people who aren’t in academic leadership positions, yet, but have started to take an interest in that area.
“I can see that some of these session might be of general interest to faculty and maybe even non-academic faculty, maybe people who are leaders of a multi-disciplinary clinical group or even a rheumatology-focused clinical group. This year’s format opens it up for anybody who has an interest,” Leslie Crofford, MD, Division Directors Special Committee Chair, said.
Something that’s always popular with attendees of all backgrounds is the Knowledge Bowl, which, this year, will continue in the Academic Community Hub. The preliminary rounds take place Sunday, Nov. 8 from 6 – 8 p.m. EST, and the final rounds will be on Monday, Nov. 9, from 1 – 1:55 p.m. EST.
Key events in the Academic Community Hub include:
Coaching for Remediation
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 6 – 6:55 p.m.
H. Barrett Fromme, MD, an educational scholar and pediatric hospitalist from the University of Chicago, will talk about how to coach and guide medical students in need of improvement to meet important educational skills.
Turning Teaching into Scholarship
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 2 – 2:55 p.m.
Clinicians who teach extensively in their medical schools struggle to publish papers that help build their CVs. That can delay promotion. Grace Huang, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and Editor-in-Chief of MedEdPORTAL, will offer advice on how to develop scholarship skills while continuing to teach.
Preparing for Academic Leadership in Rheumatology
Monday, Nov. 9 | 1 – 1:55 p.m.
Designed for those considering becoming division directors, the session brings together directors of varying experience to talk about what academic rheumatologists need to know about when preparing to apply or negotiate for leadership positions in areas such as administrative and human resources issues and how to develop compensation plans. James Oates, MD, University of South Carolina, and James O’Dell, University of Nebraska, will present.
Effective Communication Styles
Monday, Nov. 9 | 2 – 2:55 p.m.
Clear and efficient communication is key to so many aspects of our daily lives and many workplace problems and conflicts could be avoided by improved communication. Maureen Gannon, MD, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, Vanderbilt University, will present on the different communication styles and being able to adapt your style when needed will improve your workplace interactions and environment.