When Eric Ocampo, MD, attended ENDO 2022, not only did he celebrate the ability being back with his “ENDO posse” and attending sessions in person, but he also realized that the attendees were getting younger and younger. Fortunately, he realized a long time ago that you’re never too old to learn something new at ENDO.
Overwhelmed.
That’s the word that best describes how I felt the first year after finishing my endocrinology fellowship at Montefiore Medical Center (Bronx, N.Y.) in 1996 after I tried to attend as many medical conferences as possible. I guess I was both overwhelmed and in awe. There was still so much for me to learn, so I tried to attend everything I could and ended up exhausted.
I was introduced to ENDO by my Montefiore endocrinology family (program director, Martin Surks, MD,* et al.) in 1997. That alone was incentive enough to attend and from then on, ENDO became my default “go to” conference every year and I rarely missed one since. I was particularly inspired by one of my teachers, Felix Wimpfhiemer, MD, who was attending these conferences way past his “retirement” age, which taught me that you were never too old to learn something new.
It was several years later that I started to understand what the Endocrine Society was all about as I witnessed firsthand how the conferences were evolving. The Meet the Professor sessions started getting more popular and became invaluable to me. I realized that I truly was learning a lot from these experts in their fields because they seemed to point out certain nuances that were not available in UpToDate and endocrinology textbooks. I thoroughly enjoyed attending these sessions and made sure to seek out topics that were of special significance to my own practice. Going through posters also became a good use for downtime while the ENDO Expos educated me regarding new medications and technology.
It was so refreshing to be able to attend the 2022 Atlanta meeting. However, I became conscious of the fact that the attendees were getting younger and younger as this 1996 fellow had now been practicing for 26 years!
Even though it was amazing to see technology triumph throughout the pandemic via the virtual conference, the in-person meetings were sorely missed. For one thing, I was too easily distracted from attending the online sessions. For another thing, I was also somewhat disappointed that I wasn’t able to reunite with my “ENDO posse” at the conference or, more often than not, at a local restaurant.
It was so refreshing to be able to attend the 2022 Atlanta meeting. However, I became conscious of the fact that the attendees were getting younger and younger as this 1996 fellow had now been practicing for 26 years!
In my opinion, the Endocrine Society has definitely been on track in achieving its goals of “providing the field of endocrinology with timely, evidence-based recommendations for clinical care and practice” as it continually develops new guidelines and update existing guidelines to reflect evolving clinical science and meet the needs of practicing physicians like me.
The Society is also keeping me on track as I continue to evolve into an even better endocrinologist. Reuniting with my colleagues at ENDO has always given me a sense of family and belonging. At the same time, the Endocrine Society constantly aids me in giving better care to my patients. I am looking forward to attending more ENDOs for as long as I can.
*Surks received the Endocrine Society’s 2010 Sidney H Ingbar Distinguished Service Award.
Further Reading:
An ENDO to Remember, Part I: Carrying the Torch.
An ENDO to Remember, Part II: Hooked on Endocrinology.
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