SCCM is adjusting the format of its meetings and conferences to reflect these new realities. After careful consideration and feedback from many members, SCCM has come to the difficult decision to reposition its upcoming in-person meetings and educational programs.
COVID-19 has impacted our lives at work and at home and—like you—SCCM is rising to address its challenges. SCCM is adjusting the format of its meetings and conferences to reflect these new realities. After careful consideration and feedback from many members, SCCM has come to the difficult decision to reposition its upcoming in-person meetings and educational programs.
- Ultrasound and review courses planned for Chicago from August 10 to 14, 2020, will not be held in person as planned. Virtual options will be available.
- The echocardiology board review course planned for November 3 to 5, 2020, will also not be held in person as planned. A brand new Self-Directed Critical Care Echocardiography Review is now available.
- All business meetings for SCCM committees and workgroups will be held virtually through March 2021.
The Critical Care Congress, planned for Anaheim, California, from January 31 to February 3, 2021, will also be impacted. This decision was made in part after contractual issues related to the pandemic made holding the Congress at the Anaheim Convention Center untenable.
The SCCM Program Committee is now developing a reimagined educational program that promises to deliver the same high-quality opportunities you have come to expect of the Critical Care Congress, adapted to the needs of critical care professionals in the COVID-19 era.
The new Congress format will deliver:
- Virtual presentations and online learning opportunities spread out over time
- Intimate small-group virtual roundtables with unprecedented access to leaders in the field
- Late-breaking research in the form of abstracts and virtual Research Snapshot Theaters
- Robust networking tools that will help you establish and nurture new relationships while you connect with old friends in an online format
As you know, SCCM is celebrating its 50th anniversary, and we hoped to celebrate this milestone together during the annual Congress. Should the situation permit, we will consider embracing an in-person meeting in whatever form and at whatever location appears most viable. However, with a second wave of COVID-19 likely to occur along with the influenza season, we feel it is most practical to plan the Critical Care Congress using a virtual format first and add an in-person event if possible.
Abstract submissions will open in June as previously announced. Details regarding special activities such as the awards and Convocation ceremony will be coming soon, along with additional information.
Until then, please know that your exceptional work during the COVID-19 outbreak has impressed the world and spectacularly highlighted critical care in ways that we could not have previously imagined. Thank you for all you do every day!
