The ERS international congress is the largest annual meeting in the field of respiratory medicine, with delegates coming from over 120 countries. For the first time in 2015, ERS decided to include a full-day session on live pulmonary endoscopy. Live procedures were performed in two hospitals in the Netherlands and transmitted live into a 1750-seat auditorium in Amsterdam’s RAI conference centre. Chairs in the room managed the interaction between the participants and the specialists performing the procedures.
The live endoscopy introduced participants to a range of endoscopic techniques and applications and provided an in-depth analysis of these essential interventions. To increase the interaction between participants and the specialist carrying out the procedures, different communication channels were put into place. Participants could interact with the faculty and specialists by sending open ended questions through mobile devices, these questions were centralised through the session chairs and then answered real-time during the procedure by the doctor performing the technique. Four topic areas were covered, and participant’s knowledge was tested with multiple choice questions at the end of each set of procedures.
Discovery
Throughout the entire project there were various issues that needed to be addressed such as the selection and training of international experts, establishment of clear guidelines for all parties, patient consent, patient recruitment, ethical issues such as whether patients should be paid to participate or not etc.
Objectives
The aims of this session were to introduce the meeting delegates to new techniques currently being developed in respiratory medicine. Whilst there are various methods available to transfer knowledge of procedural skills, witnessing a real time approach of a common clinical case by an expert, is an important tool in education and training.
Targets
A full capacity session room (this was optimistic due to the 23 parallel session rooms)
At least 30 open audience questions pes session
15% participants completing the self-assessment questions at the end of each set of procedures
Overall participant satisfaction
Good quality videos to produce high quality e-learning materials (videos with self-assessment and responses to questions during the session)
Local and international faculty satisfaction
Project period
November 2014 - September 2015
Project Team
Amy Farr, Education and Scientific Programme Manager
Alexandra Bonazza-Cassoli, Education and Scientific Programme Manager
CTL Solutions – AV equipment in both hospitals, management of satellite
Sendsteps – interactive questions and self-assessment questions
Timeline
September 2014: One year before the event, a first meeting took place with Prof. Annema, Prof. Elisabeth Bel (ERS President 2014-2015) and our office, during which Prof. Annema presented the concept of the Live Endoscopy Session.
December 2014: We attended a live endoscopy event in Amsterdam to see how the sessions were run in the Congress venue, and at the Academic Medical Centre. This enabled us to set-up a budget and prepare the initial planning.
January 2015: the programme of the Live Endoscopy Sessions at ERS 2015 International Congress was presented to the International Congress Programme Committee (ICPC) who endorsed it.
Once a month from January 2015 to September 2015: a teleconference was organised with Prof. Annema and our office. On an ad-hoc basis, we were inviting other stakeholders to discuss specific points (transmission from Groningen Medical Centre, AV requirements, etc.)
June 2015: the ERS Educational office had organised a 2-days programme of live endoscopy techniques. Most of the faculty who were going to participate in the Live Endoscopy Session at the ERS 2016 International Congress were present. This enabled them to fine-tune their participation in the Congress event. It also helped us to adjust all organisational aspects, such as interactivity in the sessions and AV requirements.
Between June and the Live Endoscopy Event in September 2015: we finalised the organisational aspects of the event such as coordination of material orders, patients and faculty consent forms, communications to faculty, promotion, technical aspects – AV and interactivity - presentations onsite, etc.
August / September: Prof. Annema selected the patients for the procedures performed at the AMC and Prof. Slebos the patient for the procedure at the UGMC
Three days before the session: the transmission between the Academic Medical Centre was tested to make sure it worked fine and that the images were of good quality.
Two days before the event: a last briefing session was organised with all faculty (including patients’ advocate) for final adjustments. During this briefing, the faculty members received a “scenario” for the session in which they would participate, as well as a copy of the slides that would be presented during the session.
29 September 2015: the first Live Endoscopy Event took place.
Activities
To fulfil the strategy, the ERS put together a cross-functional working group consisting of topic experts from the Netherlands based hospitals, and senior members of the ERS Scientific and Education departments. The working group was tasked with the following aspects:
Ethical
Logistical
Educational
Legal
Promotional
Identification of international experts to perform the procedures
The working group met at least monthly to discuss key issues and any ongoing milestones.
Choosing the topic experts
We mainly worked with Prof. Jouke T. Annema, MD, PhD, Pulmonologist, Professor of Pulmonary Endoscopy Dept. of Respiratory at the Academic Medical Centre, University of Amsterdam. Prof. Annema has worked on several endoscopy programmes and knows who the experts are in the different techniques presented.
Based on his knowledge, as well as on the ERS recommendations for a balanced programme in terms of gender and provenance of faculty – international and not only European – he made a suggestion of programme including topics and faculty/ experts, and it was submitted to the ERS International Congress Programme Committee for endorsement.
Topic experts working together
A course, which also served as training session, was organised at the Academic Medical Centre (AMC) in Amsterdam three months before the actual Live Endoscopy Session took place.
Most of the experts who were going to perform techniques during the live endoscopy sessions at the ERS International Congress had the opportunity to work together – they performed procedures on patients – and discuss about the best techniques to be presented.
There was also a small audience, which enabled us to use the interactivity (answering polls or asking questions via mobile devices). This was extremely important as it helped us to identify the possible challenges of the live session and fine-tune things before the real event.
In addition, a last briefing session was organised two days before the event at the Congress venue for all faculty. It started with an introduction by Prof. Annema, and was followed by break-out discussions with the chairs, speakers and faculty who would perform the procedures during which they could finalise the way their session would be run.
At the initial phase of the organisation, we had also prepared guidelines to describe the different roles and main information on the event.
Our office was in charge of keeping the momentum. To do this, we had monthly teleconferences with Prof. Annema to determine the next milestones and the communication plan (whom to inform on what, and by which deadline).
Challenges
The main challenges were the short time to organise such a complex event, and ensuring all aspects were covered.
Achievements
The targets were all met and even exceeded in a lot of cases:
Twitter message during the conference
The meeting room was full all day long - 1750 participants at once.
There were over 400 open ended questions.
On average 180 participants participated in answering the live self-assessment questions per session.
A hugely positive response was received on social media throughout the congress.
A lot of requests were made to have access to the onsite materials for teaching purposes.
The ERS e-learning team are currently editing all videos to allow the videos to be used by members.
This session demonstrated how using the latest medical techniques in a live session combined with dedicated organisers and a coordinated ERS professional staff could create a very special and memorable session, that really enriched the 2015 Congress programme.
What would we do differently?
We would organise the event over two years (and not 10 months), and involve more people in the organisation, identifying one person responsible for each main aspect (i.e. technical, ethic, faculty, etc.).
Feedback & Testimonials
“There is ONE BIG PROBLEM!!! You have set an unattainable standard for anyone responsible for ERSLIVE II. Well done.”
“The live transmission were a great success – the biggest and best event ever at an ERS congress. It was fantastic to have so many dedicated people to work together.”
“It was a great success! As the patients advocate I had the opportunity to see so many experts live in the field and I really enjoyed to be in your team. Thank you very much and congrats to all!”
“Congratulations to you and your team for the way you have organised this great and unique event! Happy I could be part of it and see all the experts live in action.”
“I think we just brought IP (Interventional pulmonology) to the next level!”
“I listen to exciting comments and wonder of doctors, who were in the Auditorium. The event created new dimension in IP experience with live demonstrations that brought additional credibility. I’m convinced, that your meticulous planning and execution of the whole event were the key factor for success. I enjoyed every moment in AMC and I’m very thankful to you, that you gave me the opportunity to be a part of this event.”
“I heard hundreds of compliments for the live session, including from the CEO of our hospital! You all did an amazing job! I never thought it would be so impressive and so well done! Congratulations!!!!!!”
“The live endoscopy was magnificent. Really great addition to the Congress experience and something we can really use to promote the meeting”
