I recently attended the 2009 IDSA Fellows Meeting in Hilton Head, South Carolina. It is a meeting designed for fellows interested in clinical infectious diseases. It provided a wonderful opportunity to interact with leaders in the field. Over the course of two and a half days, we were introduced to the nuts & bolts as well as “insider secrets”, issues and skill sets that would enable us to have successful clinical practices. Topics included “How to Interview”, The Value of Infectious Diseases”, “Pitfalls in the Practice of Infectious Diseases”, “Legal Issues”, and “How to Deal with Curbside Consults” – the bane of the ID physician.
It was awesome and I’m so glad that I was nominated by my program to attend. The faculty was excellent and since there were only a few fellows, we had ample opportunities to get our burning questions answered. I came away with a greater sense of what my value is to a hospital system. I will never be the one bringing in the big bucks. No, that honour goes to neurosurgery, cardiothoracic surgery, orthopedics, and interventional radiology. But I have an idea how to “make it work” and a reaffirmation that I chose the right career for me. Yes, I love ID! No doubt that the faculty work hard but each and every single one of them seemed so happy and I couldn’t help but notice that almost all of them ended their power-point presentations with pictures of their families. That means a lot.
In addition to the faculty, I found the other fellows in attendance to be great as well. We were mostly 2nd year fellows but there were also a smattering of 1st and 3rd year fellows as well as pediatric fellows. We shared ideas, hopes, and concerns among ourselves and I’m sure lifetime friendships were forged. I know I made a few friends! Since we are approaching the end of the academic year, quite a number of fellows had already lined up “real jobs” and of course we compared. It was an odd feeling as we learnt that we had interviewed at the same sites so of course we had to share notes!
Our travel expenses, hotel accommodations, and meals were paid for and I just know it must have cost a pretty penny. We all stayed at the Westin and the food was pure opulence. Pure opulence. Delicious. I’m still salivating.
I’m back home now but still quite high from the exhilarating experience and several pounds heavier.
All in all, I think IDSA needs to figure out a way to give this information to all fellows interested in clinical infectious diseases and not just one special candidate from each training program. It was absolutely enlightening!
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