2009 Midwestern Conference
This weekend brings the 2nd annual Midwestern Conference Update in Surgical Pathology to Milwaukee. It’s a three-day, Friday-Sunday affair and I am proud to say that it’s been a great conference thus far. It’s taking place in the InterContinental Hotel in downtown Milwaukee, which serves as a quite high-end venue. Although I am not staying at the hotel (I live just couple of miles north), I suspect it’s a comfortable and calming stay. As for the academic aspect of the conference, our department brought in some giants in different fields of Surg Path. Just a few examples:
Alan Schiller (Mount Sinai) gave us a two-hour primer/review on cartilage tumors and David Klimstra from MSKCC gave an in-depth update on cystic neoplasms of the pancreas and peri-ampullary lesions.
Tomorrow (Saturday) morning, Jonathan Epstein is lecturing on practical GU topics and Elizabeth Montgomery addresses small bowel and esophageal pathology (both Johns Hopkins) and Jeffrey Myers (Michigan) goes into pulmonary lymphproliferative disorders and interstitial lung disease.
Finally, on Sunday Nour Sneige (MD Anderson) covers nonpalpable and spindle cell breast lesions. These were just our guest lecturers…we also have a great lineup of our own faculty, of course.
I feel lucky as a resident to be able to attend this conference so close to home. To hear some of the pathologists speak who also write the textbooks I read is quite humbling. At the same time, I realize just how difficult pathology is. I have learned it’s not always the obviously unusual cases that are worrisome. Those cases that will skip by me without my noticing the subtle (or not-so-subtle) pathology are the ones that really worry me. Of course, my goal is to become a well-taught pathologist so those cases are few and far between. Still, I suspect when my name goes on the signature line in the not-to-distant future, I will lose some sleep.
If you live in the Midwest or are interested in good Surg Path conferences for next summer/fall, I encourage you to check out the 2010 Midwestern Conference. Information will be posted on our MCW department website (http://www.mcw.edu/pathology/MidwesternConference.htm). For residents and fellows, especially, the deal is unbeatable. $50 registration fee for all three days. Hope to see you next year if you’re not already attending this weekend!
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