Thank You for Attending the 72nd Annual Meeting
posted: October 27, 2020
On behalf of the Northeastern Section Board of Directors and the 2020 Program Committee, we thank everyone who was able to attend the 72nd Virtual Annual Meeting on October 1 and 3, 2020. Like you, we are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic. We wish you and your patients and families all the best of health at this difficult time. We are united in striving to overcome this virus as quickly as possible, but also understand the long road ahead.
2020 has given us disruption, morbidity, mortality, and meeting cancellations and postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and we were forced to cancel our scheduled in-person meeting, which was due to take place in North Carolina and replace it with a pared-down virtual equivalent. The program committee performed wonders in selecting the very best sessions featuring distinguished speakers that covered a full range of urology topics.
The program contained four resident debates on shockwave therapy for ED, optimal long-term management of BPH, stage 1 seminoma surveillance vs. adjuvant therapy, and post RP failures: adjuvant vs. salvage XRT. Guest speaker, Dr. Marianne Brandon from Annapolis, Maryland, gave a presentation titled, “Doctor Heal Thy Sex Life: Managing Your Intimate Relationship as a Urologist.”
Friday’s evening session also included a point-counterpoint discussion on a case involving a 12mm lower calyceal stone in a comorbid 80yo woman with a history of struvite stones where Drs. Jennifer Bjazevic and Mark White gave their opinions on whether to observe or treat the condition. Dr. Karen Psooy presented an update on pediatric guidelines and how to choose wisely. We also heard presentations from Drs. Armando Lorenzo and Michael Leveridge who spoke on fertility preservation in the pediatric population, and if social media popularity is a real metric of success.
Saturday started with a presentation by guest speaker, Dr. Angela Smith from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, titled, “What to Do When BCG Fails? Update on Trials and What’s Available Now.” This was followed by Dr. Girish Kulkarni who shared with us new advances in tri-modality therapy for MIBC. Dr. Nathan Perlis provided a presentation on if we should do an MRI first and what we should do with the information, and Dr. Frederic Pouliot shared his expertise with a presentation on PET scans and oligometastatic disease. This year’s Slotkin Lecture was provided by Dr. Laurence Klotz who gave an inspiring talk entitled, “A Career Learning From Our Mistakes.”
The meeting was a great success, even more so considering the difficult circumstances that surrounded the event. We received considerable support from our industry partners and sponsors that we are ever so thankful for. And, even though we were unable to have abstract sessions at this year’s Annual Meeting, we still published them in the CUAJ to help recognize the work, effort and science put forth by our Section members, residents, and fellows. The abstracts can be viewed in their entirety in the September edition of CUAJ.