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When the COVID-19 pandemic exploded this past spring, medical conferences worldwide had to pivot quickly to online, virtual formats. Next year appears to be another year of transition, with the landscape of medical conference formats dotted with "virtual," "in-person," and "hybrid" meetings as the pandemic is expected to wane with the availability of effective vaccines.
Varied choices made by medical societies that have announced formats for next year reflect the struggle to safely bring large numbers of experts together nationally and internationally while preserving collegiality and an easy exchange of ideas.
Medscape's review of nearly 70 conferences scheduled in 2021 finds that most meetings in the first quarter of the year will remain virtual. Beginning in March and April, more meetings are shifting either to a hybrid of in-person and virtual or in-person only.
However, organizers are also ready to change plans as the pandemic evolves, even for those conferences planned late in the year.
Mark G. Watson, MD, executive director for one of the largest conferences, the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), told Medscape Medical News that, for now, its conference is scheduled to be an in-person meeting in Chicago in December 2021, with a planned virtual component as well.
"However," he said, "RSNA will continue to monitor the global situation and will be ready to provide a high-quality experience for our attendees and exhibitors, whatever the forum."
Philip Masters, MD, vice president of membership for the American College of Physicians (ACP), told Medscape Medical News that pandemic uncertainty pushed ACP to go virtual for its late-April 2021 meeting. The conference typically draws between 10,000 and 15,000 people.
"There's a huge amount of uncertainty about the trajectory of the pandemic even if we do have a vaccine," he said. "Bringing that many medical professionals into one place where they could infect each other or bring [the virus] back to their patients is not a good idea."
Moving large numbers of people from room to room with social distancing also presents huge space and time challenges, he noted. In addition, some major academic institutions have asked faculty not to travel. Even where travel is permitted, some medical professionals may simply feel unsafe traveling.
Some large meetings haven't committed either way. The American Medical Association website for its 2021 House of Delegates meeting, for instance, says, "More details to follow. Dates and locations subject to change."
Readers, would you go to an in-person medical conference in 2021? Tell us how you would make that decision by submitting a comment below.
Table. A Selection of 2021 Medical Conferences |
Name of Conference |
Acronym |
Start Date |
Virtual, In Person, or Both |
Location |
Royal College of Physicians |
RCP |
January 7 |
Virtual |
|
Society of Maternal Fetal Medicine: The Pregnancy Meeting |
SMFM |
January 25 |
Virtual |
|
Society of Critical Care Medicine |
SCCM |
January 31 |
Virtual |
|
American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology |
AAAAI |
February 26 |
Virtual |
|
European Society of Radiology |
ESR |
March 3 |
Both |
Vienna, Austria |
Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections |
CROI |
March 6 |
Virtual |
|
American Pharmacists Association Annual Meeting |
APhA |
March 12 |
Virtual |
|
European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation |
EBMT |
March 14 |
Virtual |
|
American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry |
AAGP |
March 15 |
Virtual |
|
International Stroke Conference |
ISC |
March 17 |
Virtual |
|
Anxiety and Depression Association of America |
ADAA |
March 18 |
Virtual |
|
Journées Francophones d'Hépato-Gastroenterologie et d'Oncologie Digestive |
JFHOD |
March 18 |
In person |
Paris, France |
National Comprehensive Cancer Network |
NCCN |
March 18 |
Virtual |
|
Society of Gynecologic Oncology |
SGO |
March 19 |
Virtual |
|
Endocrine Society |
ENDO |
March 20 |
Virtual |
|
Society for Interventional Radiology |
SIR |
March 20 |
Virtual |
|
Congrès de la Société Francophone du Diabète |
SFD |
March 23 |
In person |
Strasbourg, France |
European Lung Cancer Congress |
ESMO |
March 25 |
Virtual |
|
National Kidney Foundation Spring Clinical Meetings |
NKF |
April 6 |
Virtual |
|
American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus |
AAPOS |
April 9 |
Virtual |
|
American Association for Cancer Research |
AACR |
April 10 |
Virtual |
|
European Psychiatric Association |
EPA |
April 10 |
Virtual |
|
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America |
SHEA |
April 13 |
Virtual |
|
American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics |
ACMG |
April 13 |
Both |
Los Angeles |
International Society of Nephrology |
ISN |
April 15 |
Virtual |
|
Schizophrenia International Research Society |
SIRS |
April 17 |
Virtual |
|
American Academy of Neurology |
AAN |
April 17 |
Virtual |
|
Diabetes UK Professional Conference |
DUKPC |
April 19 |
Virtual |
|
American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology |
ASPHO |
April 21 |
In person |
Portland, Oregon |
European Heart Rhythm Association |
EHRA |
April 23 |
Virtual |
|
American Society for Laser Medicine and Surgery |
ASLMS |
April 24 |
virtual |
|
British Society for Rheumatology |
BSR |
April 26 |
Virtual |
|
International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation |
ISHLT |
April 27 |
Both |
Toronto, Canada |
American College of Physicians Internal Medicine |
ACP IM |
April 29 |
Virtual |
|
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists |
ACOG |
April 30 |
Virtual |
Washington, DC |
American Psychiatric Association |
APA |
May (Dates TBA) |
Virtual |
|
Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology |
ARVO |
May 1 |
virtual |
San Francisco |
Society of Hospital Medicine |
SHM |
May 3 |
Virtual |
|
European Congress on Obesity |
ECO |
May 10 |
Virtual |
|
American Geriatrics Society |
AGS |
May 13 |
Virtual |
Chicago |
American Thoracic Society |
ATS |
May 14 |
Both |
San Diego |
American College of Cardiology |
ACC |
May 15 |
Both |
Atlanta |
Digestive Disease Week |
DDW |
May 21 |
Virtual |
|
American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists |
AACE |
May 26 |
Both |
Las Vegas |
Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers |
CMSC |
June 2 |
In person |
San Diego |
European League Against Rheumatism |
EULAR |
June 2 |
Both |
Paris |
American Society of Clinical Oncology |
ASCO |
June 4 |
In person |
Chicago |
Associated Professional Sleep Societies |
APSS |
June 10 |
Virtual |
|
International Liver Congress |
ILC |
June 22 |
Both |
Amsterdam, The Netherlands |
American Diabetes Association |
ADA |
June 25 |
In person |
Washington DC |
Society of Gynecologic Surgeons |
SGS |
June 27 |
Both |
Palm Springs, California |
European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Disases |
ECCMID |
July 9 |
Both |
Vienna, Austria |
European Association of Urology |
EAU |
July 9 |
In person |
Milan, Italy |
International AIDS Society |
IAS |
July 18 |
Both |
Berlin, Germany |
Healthcare Informtion and Management Systems Society |
HIMSS |
August 9 |
In person |
Las Vegas |
American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Meeting |
AANS |
August 14 |
In person |
Vancouver, Canada |
European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology |
ESTRO |
August 27 |
Both |
Madrid, Spain |
American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons |
AAOS |
August 31 |
Both |
San Diego |
European Stroke Organization |
ESO |
September 1 |
In person |
Helsinki, Finland |
European Respiratory Society |
ERS |
September 4 |
In person |
Barcelona, Spain |
American Urological Asociation |
AUA |
September 10 |
In person |
Las Vegas |
ID Week |
IDWeek |
September 29 |
Both |
San Diego |
American Academy of Pediatrics |
AAP |
October 8 |
In person |
Philadelphia |
American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery and The Obesity Society |
ObesityWeek |
November 1 |
In person |
Dallas |
American College of Rheumatology |
ACR |
November 5 |
In person |
San Francisco |
Radiological Society of North America |
RSNA |
November 28 |
Both |
Chicago |
Marcia Frellick is a freelance journalist based in Chicago . She has previously written for the Chicago Tribune, Science News, and Nurse.com, and was an editor at the Chicago Sun-Times, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and the St. Cloud ( Minnesota ) Times. Follow her on Twitter at @mfrellick
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