ASH and ASCO National Meetings - Useful?

[thisampgoestoeleven]

For hem Onc attendings in clinical practice

Do you find going to the big national meetings ASH and ASCO helpful for your practice, or do you go to smaller break off meetings?

I am finding them so unwieldy that I’m not sure it wouldn’t be time better spent at a best of course or even a board review course .

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[gutonc]

For hem Onc attendings in clinical practice

Do you find going to the big national meetings ASH and ASCO helpful for your practice, or do you go to smaller break off meetings?

I am finding them so unwieldy that I’m not sure it wouldn’t be time better spent at a best of course or even a board review course .

They're good for networking and a "free" "vacation". I agree they're pretty unwieldy though and I haven't been to "big" ASCO in 5 or 6 years. I have found the smaller meetings (ASCO GI and SABCS in my case) more manageable, but they can still be a little overwhelming.

I honestly have just done our local ASCO and ASH/SABCS reviews the past few years. Best of ASCO (official) meetings are also pretty good, I've done BoA-West a few times They do a nice job of distilling the practice changing presentations into manageable bites including discussions about the utility and practicality of various changes.

Dana Farber does a "practice updates" type meeting every year. One of my partners goes every couple of years to keep up on things he doesn't see regularly. It seems to be a combination of meeting update and board review.

 

[thisampgoestoeleven]

I think I’ll probably do review courses from now on.

The meetings smack of pharma money. “Come ride the virtual reality tour of how our drug works!” Wow, cool! This is why my patient is wiping out their retirement money on their cancer treatment. I feel like I need to shower again at the end of the day.