My Rheumatology Research Workshop 2024 Experience

Dr. Ioannis Koulas presents a poster of his research to faculty and attendees at the 2024 Rheumatology Research Workshop.

There are some moments in life when you just feel like you are in the right place at the right time with the right people and you cannot believe how lucky you are to be there. If you read The Rheumatologist then you can understand that this is how I felt when I attended the 2024 Rheumatology Research Workshop at Denver, May 16–17.

Program Overview

This annual workshop is designed to bring together people with an interest in rheumatology research from different career stages, ranging from medical residents (like myself) to early and advanced investigators, both in adult as well as pediatric rheumatology, with the aim to pass knowledge from one to another, provide opportunities for mentoring and give practical advice on issues related to our academic progress as well as our wellness. In reality, it is more like a canvas of personalities and ideas where innovation, friendships and collaborations can be formed among like-minded people. We even had a Bingo game with fun facts about us, the attendees, that we had to quickly discover by interacting with each other, a fresh way to break the ice among us.

The program’s schedule included lectures on networking, work-life balance and funding opportunities open to all participants, intertwined with some lectures aimed at our career level (early vs. advanced investigators). These two concurrent tracks helped keep the lectures focused on our needs and made the experience even more personal as we had ample time to ask questions that could benefit everyone in the room. We then followed up these topics with some roundtable conversations between participants and members of the Early Career Investigator committee (ECI), where I was struck by how open and approachable the faculty were and how attentively they heard our personal worries in order to give us tailored advice.

Another key part of the program was our active involvement through the poster presentations and the elevator pitch, each designed to give our research exposure, as well as feedback on how to effectively present our research in a concise manner to a broader audience. I found the personal feedback from ECI members on our research and how to talk about it the most engaging part of the program and a unique aspect compared with larger conferences.