ACOG annual meeting kicks off today in Austin, Texas

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) 2018 Annual Meeting kicks off today at Austin, Texas. This year's meeting is going to highlight the medical and surgical innovations in healthcare, with an emphasis on those that are practice-ready.

The meeting begins at 8 A.M. on April 27, 2018, with ACOG President Haywood L. Brown, MD, calling the meeting to order and providing a review of our profession and his presidential year. This will be followed by new Trifecta Clinical Seminars in which three experts will voice their opinions on the same topic at the same time and a roundtable conference thereafter on “The New Postpartum Visit: Beginning of Lifelong Health.”

Postpartum care has been a focus during Dr. Brown’s presidency. The “Redefining the Postpartum Visit” task force and the Committee on Obstetric Practice are expected to release a revised “Optimizing Postpartum Care” Committee Opinion in the coming weeks, which will propose a new postpartum care paradigm. The task force confronts two areas: Redesigning the postpartum visit and researching and highlighting the impact of pregnancy complications such as high blood pressure (preeclampsia) on long-term health

There will not be a dearth of educational and hands-on opportunities throughout the conference said Sandra Carson, MD, vice president of education for the ACOG and lead organizer of the meeting.

ACOG innovation Rodeo is a new event at the conference this year. Keeping in line with the ACOG’s well-earned reputation for producing original, entertaining, and engaging educational programming, the Rodeo features educational games, learning labs, digital activations, networking opportunities, and two virtual reality stations focusing on pre-operative, surgery, and postoperative components for vaginal hysterectomy. It will be open Thursday through Sunday.

Mobile apps will also be a major attraction during this event. Katherine Chen, MD, from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City will deliver the John I Brewer Memorial Lecture, entitled Smart Phones, Tablets, and Phablets: Delivering Apps for the OB/GYN.

Aaron Caughey, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and associate dean for Women's Health Research and Policy at the Oregon Health & Science University School of Medicine in Portland will present the initial results of the ARRIVE trial (NCT01990612), which refute the claim that induction of labor leads to higher cesarean section rates.

This year meeting also sees an increase in the number of flipped classrooms sessions, in which attendees receive educational materials about the topic prior to the meeting to review on their own before the session. During the live session, the focus is on discussions and collaborative work instead of lectures.

Looking forward to some interesting research and digital innovations in the field of obstetrics.

2018 ACOG ANNUAL MEETING PREVIEW