With more than 400 sessions to choose from and more than 3,000 abstracts scheduled for presentation this week, the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you haven’t attended for a while or are a first-time attendee.
To get the most out of the Annual Meeting experience, all attendees are invited to attend the ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Orientation session on Sunday from 7:30 – 8:30 am in room 201. The session will be led by William St.Clair, MD, ACR Past President, and Kamala Nola, PharmD, MS, ARHP Past President.
“Navigating such a large meeting can be daunting, even for those of us who attend almost every year,” Dr. St.Clair said. “The orientation session is a great way to start off the meeting, particularly if you’re a first-time attendee, to make sure you have a game plan to take advantage of the myriad educational offerings and networking opportunities the meeting has to offer.”
To get started, both Dr. St.Clair and Dr. Nola recommend that attendees identify the educational tracks of interest to them and then use the wide variety of meeting resources available to plan their daily schedules.
“You’ll definitely want to download the Annual Meeting mobile app for access to all kinds of resources, such as the meeting program, course schedules, a customizable calendar, itinerary builder, maps of the convention center, and even ways to interact on social media,” Dr. Nola said. “It’s a fabulous tool to have at your fingertips.”
The ACR Daily News, the official Annual Meeting newspaper, she added, is another great resource for some of the most up-to-date information about the meeting.
“The daily newspaper has all the hot-off-the-press information about what’s going on at the meeting, including the top clinical and scientific information that has been presented,” Dr. Nola said. “It’s a great thing to look through first thing in the morning to see what the hot topics of the day will be.”
When planning your schedule, Dr. Nola and Dr. St.Clair also remind attendees to be sure to include some time to visit the Exhibit Hall, located in Hall A.
“The exhibit hall will be open on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday and offers an invaluable opportunity to network with colleagues and our industry partners while checking out the latest and greatest products and services related to rheumatology,” Dr. St.Clair said.
With so much to see and do over the next several days, if you do happen to miss a session, Dr. St.Clair said, don’t forget to use SessionSelect online or through the mobile app to access hundreds of hours of recorded educational sessions from the meeting, complete with speaker slides and audio — just as if you were actually in the room. Session recordings are available beginning Monday, Nov. 14, and will be accessible for one year after the meeting to registered attendees.
ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting Orientation
7:30 – 8:30 am Sunday • Room 201