Internal Medicine Meeting 2019 comes home to Philly

From workflow to syphilis, age-old problems will receive modern treatments at this year's Internal Medicine Meeting in Philadelphia, home of ACP headquarters.

The ACP-MIT Hackathon, a collaboration between the College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Hacking Medicine program, invites participants to “hack” common problems around clinical workflow. During the four-hour session, which will be held on Saturday, April 13, preregistered applicants will team up to create their own workflow solutions. “I think it's got the potential to give people some really interesting skills that they can take back to their clinical practice,” said Patrick E. Young, MD, FACP, Chair of the 2019 Internal Medicine Scientific Program Committee.

Whether or not they spend Saturday morning hacking, attendees are invited to share their ideas throughout the meeting in a new workflow innovations exhibit, which will be connected to the Clinical Skills Center. The free exhibit will feature an interactive set of panels highlighting workflow innovations for both the inpatient and outpatient setting. Also free at the center will be a series of curated microlectures on physician well-being topics, as well as visual diagnosis programming that will test interpretation of electrocardiograms and dermatologic and ultrasound images, said David Disbrow, ACP's Director of CME and Education Meetings.

The Clinical Skills Center's popular point-of-care ultrasound activities, which have increased in capacity, are ticketed, and so are other courses held at the center (see sidebar), Mr. Disbrow said. However, in a new twist this year, attendees can get a taste of all the center has to offer at an open house, which will be held from 7 to 7:45 a.m. on Friday, April 12. Those who stop by can enjoy complimentary coffee and other beverages, as well as a scavenger hunt featuring MKSAP 18 as the grand prize, Mr. Disbrow said.

Also new this year is a live podcast, “The French Disease at 500: The History of Syphilis,” by medical historian Adam Rodman, MD, FACP, host of the ACP podcast Bedside Rounds. “Rather than just a lecture, he's going to use the format of the podcast to have a multimedia interactive session,” said Mr. Disbrow. The session will be held from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m. on Thursday, April 11.

This year's meeting, held in Philadelphia for the first time since 2009, marks ACP's 100th annual educational gathering. (Its Centennial occurred in 2015.) The Scientific Program runs from Thursday, April 11, through Saturday, April 13, with precourses on April 9 and 10, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. The Opening Ceremony will feature keynote speaker Vice Admiral Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, an internist who served as U.S. Surgeon General from 2014 to 2017.

The meeting will also offer tried-and-true crowd favorites, such as the rapid-fire ACP 2019 Presentation Challenge, powered by PechaKucha™, which is back for a third year on Friday, April 12, from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. Five speakers will each present a topic in 6 minutes and 40 seconds, or risk being cut off by the sound of a gong.

“I can guarantee you, when people go to the PechaKucha™ session, that this talk has been practiced more than any other talk. It's a little nerve-wracking for the speaker ... but the audience loves it,” said Dr. Young, who gave a talk on emotional intelligence at the inaugural PechaKucha™ session in 2017. This year's speakers will address geriatrics care, celiac disease, condoms, difficult patients, and anxiety.

Back for a second year is the Annals of Internal Medicine “On Being a Doctor” Story Slam, in which 10 physicians share their stories about the profession. While the free ticketed event was held on Saturday morning at last year's meeting, its new slot will run from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 10, and feature a cash bar and light hors d’oeuvres.

Finally, the second annual Dr. Ananda Prasad Lecture in Physiology, “The Adverse Physiologic Effects of Sleep Loss,” will be given by pulmonary, critical care, and sleep medicine subspecialist Christopher Lettieri, MD, from 8:15 to 9:15 a.m. on Friday, April 12. Despite knowing the adverse effects of sleep debt, many physicians still don't get enough shut-eye and will benefit from this talk, noted Dr. Young, who is director of the digestive disease division and a professor of medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md. “It's kind of a badge of honor that many people have, that ‘I can get by on four to five hours of sleep a night,’” he said. “Getting by isn't thriving. It isn't practicing as your best self and may have a number of physical consequences down the road for both us and our patients.”

Whether internist or hospitalist, physiology fan or history buff, attendees can tailor their Internal Medicine Meeting 2019 experience to fit their preferences. “The nice thing about the meeting is that it's kind of a smorgasbord from which everybody can get a meal that they want,” Dr. Young said.