The pandemic has undoubtedly changed many dynamics of our daily lives. As we discussed in an episode of “A Coffee for Rheumatology”, medical events also had to adapt during 2020 and now in 2021. Virtuality became an ally in conjunction with microphones, cameras, stable internet signals and some of the many streaming platforms.
PANLAR had its first virtual congress in 2020. It was accomplished at the same time we as a society were learning, connecting colleagues who formerly coordinated flight schedules, tickets to symposia and lectures, and even poster tours; and now on a screen where we see each other in small squares, ask for turns to speak and navigate between one link and another.
We have now arrived at PANLAR 2021. A virtual congress designed for everyone with thematic axes that also address what brought us to this point: the Covid-19 pandemic, and will be held -including the pre-congress- on August 12–15.
291 scientific papers were presented this year. In addition, 61 oral presentations were proposed, of which 24 were selected in four sessions, and the remaining 267 became e-posters, with a presentation to be recorded by each author.
There will be a review course of the American College of Rheumatology, a course on telemedicine and virtual resources and a review of pediatric rheumatology. In addition, the well-known Copa América, organized by PANLAR Young.
During the program there will be controversy sessions with topics such as antiphospholipid syndrome, systemic lupus erythematosus and difficult-to-manage rheumatoid arthritis.
“We are trying to put together a varied program that covers a little bit of all the expectations of all types of topics, giving the classic topics a twist, making them more dynamic, transforming them into debates so you hear something different, something that you can use in your daily practice or that excites you so that we can all work together to gather data,” says the president of the scientific committee Dr. Alejandra Babini.
The complete program can be accessed at this link.
GLOBAL RHEUMATOLOGY
Global Rheumatology will also be present during these days through its participation in scientific activities and daily journalistic coverage, considering in both contributions the importance of disseminating and popularizing science through different channels.
“The focus of Global Rheumatology is on scientific distribution and popularization, which is why we believe it is important to build products and cover all the activities that are relevant to the world of rheumatology”, according to Dr. Carlo V. Caballero, editor in chief of Global Rheumatology.
This, he says, aims at allowing people to know first-hand what is happening at medical congresses, with virtuality and new communication tools.
“A congress coverage is not a matter of a few days a year; there is a before, where expectations of topics to be addressed are seen, a during, where what happened is explained, and an after, where people still continue to consume the material generated. That is why it is very important to select the most fundamental aspects discussed”, according to Dr. Caballero, while adding that it is therefore important that such information can be processed by different audiences.
In addition, Dr. Carlos Lozada, president of PANLAR, highlights what has been done in terms of dissemination. “We believe this is a very innovative and important management with huge potential for PANLAR”, he says.
Likewise, Dr. Enrique Soriano, member of the executive committee, states that “the PANLAR Congress deserves to be properly disseminated since it contributes a high academic value to rheumatology not only in the continent, but also globally”.
Another aspect that GR by PANLAR considers is that nowadays “we must consider that an event’s audience exceeds the people attending, since social networks bring it to residents of other continents. Generating quality content, covering it properly and broadcasting it appropriately will make a difference and be a guide for the way events will be approached and known in the future”.
In the future, says the editor in chief, he hopes “we will always have first-hand coverage of the event as we do now with PANLAR 2021”.
