The evening culminated with a mass migration of attendees to the ballroom for poster presentations. I found it intriguing that the poster viewing was combined with the reception. My impression was that the simultaneous service of wine and appetizers lent a different perspective to the task, promoting a more relaxed, and perhaps candid, exchange of ideas and comments about your work or the work of others that might otherwise not be achieved.
After the reception and poster presentation, dinner was served. As luck would have it, I was seated at the same table as the evening’s feature speaker, Teresa Tarrant, MD, assistant professor of medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. During her talk, Dr. Tarrant provided a very interesting and personal overview of her career path, focusing on the development of mentorships and professional friendships that influenced and guided her early career as a clinician scientist.
The following morning at breakfast, I was fortunate enough to be seated at the same table as Dr. Firestein, whom I grilled for more details about his injury. In addition to discussing the hazards of marine biology, we also managed to have quite a stimulating discussion about therapeutic agents for lupus.
I must admit to having anxiously awaited the second day of this conference. The topics were directly career related, and the much-anticipated group discussion of our posters was scheduled to commence following breakfast. The idea of the poster workshop was to present one’s work to a very small group of other fellows, young investigators, and a few selected faculty mentors. The small group setting promoted a very friendly and constructive atmosphere for this exercise. My judges included ACR President Audrey Uknis, MD, and Dr. Brunner. Both were eager to share valuable feedback and comments. I found this exercise very useful, and enjoyed listening to the exchange of ideas between the judges and the various presenters.
Career Consideration
Later that morning, some other fellows and I had a chance to visit the nearby Dallas Museum of Art. Admission is free, and the art is priceless. We saw a very timely exposition on the life of John F. Kennedy that coincides with this year’s 50th anniversary of the president’s assassination. Stimulated by the perspective offered by the JFK exhibit, another fellow and I found ourselves discussing “big picture” issues that dominate such a large part of our lives: future careers and family life.
