Abstract
Read about upcoming opportunities for @ERStalk Early Career Members http://ow.ly/QFyb30b7iKq
Early Career Member Committee
The Early Career Member Committee (ECMC) is always looking for young researchers (aged <40 years) who would like to get involved in the society. Join to let us know your interests: you can be asked to write a paper for Breathe, chair a session at the annual conference or submit a grant application for a fellowship.
In order to continue the upward trend for early career member involvement in ERS, there will be several challenges in the coming years. A continuing challenge is that of organising good sessions for the ERS International Congress. We seek out young people to talk about personal choices and decisions that can inspire us all in our research. We aim to have all sessions being gender equal, and prefer to involve new people where possible. A focus we feel should also be reflected in the other activities.
ERS Guidelines Working Group and Early Career Members
The European Respiratory Society (ERS) Guidelines Working Group (GWG), chaired by Marc Miravitlles, is responsible for the production of state-of-the-art, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and technical standards and statements. Individual documents (guidelines and statements) are produced by task forces. Task forces are formed by groups of world-leading experts and undergo a thorough peer review process before being endorsed by ERS. Approved task forces follow a strict and transparent methodology to produce high-quality documents that reflect the available relevant evidence.
GWG strongly supports the participation of Early Career Members (ECMs), who are currently represented in the group by Melissa J. McDonnell and Alexander G. Mathioudakis. These representatives contribute to the peer review process of task force applications, participate in all group meetings and promote the participation of ECMs in individual task force panels. Interested young researchers and clinicians (aged <40 years) should let the ECM representative of their Assembly know their areas of interest and they will be included in the pool of ECMs that would be considered for participation in the task force panels and other ERS activities.
Moreover, GWG supports the education of ECMs and, two years ago, launched a very successful Fellowship Programme on Guidelines Methodology. This Fellowship aims to provide the necessary training for researchers to gain the theoretical and practical skills for developing high-quality clinical guidelines and is primarily aimed at ECMs. Successful applicants receive training in systematic reviews and guidelines methodology, in Cochrane Iberoamerica, Barcelona, Spain and NICE, Manchester, UK, respectively. After completion of these placements, fellows have the option to be involved in the activities of Guidelines Working Group to gain further practical experience and contribute to the development of ERS Guidelines.
Opportunities for ECMs
Online module: Swift diagnosis and management of pleural effusion
The latest CME online module, “Swift diagnosis and management of pleural effusion” is now available. The module illustrates the importance of a rational approach to the diagnosis of pleural effusion. Philippe Astoul and Najib Rahman will take you step by step through differential diagnosis, biochemical parameters and help you to understand the sensitivity and specificity of commonly used tests including pleural fluid cytology and thoracic computed tomography scanning.
This module is ideal for pulmonologists, oncologists, thoracic surgeons, trainees and specialist nurses, and consists of detailed interactive case simulations, an engaging panel discussion, followed by essential readings and a CME test.
HERMES
You can now register for the 2017 Harmonised Education in Respiratory Medicine for European Specialists (HERMES) Examinations in Adult or Paediatric Respiratory Medicine, which are taking place on September 9, 2017 in Milan, Italy, at the ERS International Congress. Please visit http://hermes.ersnet.org/exams/exams.html for more information.
ERS International Congress 2017
The ERS International Congress is taking place in Milan, Italy on September 9−13, 2017; it is the largest meeting of respiratory professionals in the world, with another outstanding scientific and educational programme designed to address the needs of researchers, clinicians, general practitioners and allied health professionals alike.
It is only June and even though the annual conference seems in the distant future, in reality it is fewer than 100 days away! Almost all preparations have been completed; the programme has been finalised; the abstracts selected and flights and hotels have been booked. Let us look at the sessions specifically intended for ECMs.
Traditionally, the Thursday afternoon is reserved for the ECMC session and the fellowships session. We will kick the afternoon off with the announcement of the grants and awards; for example, the “best abstract by an early career scientist”. These prestigious prizes are followed by several talks on professional development especially suited for ECMs. Lieuwe Bos, ECMC Chair, will talk about how the ECMC can facilitate your engagement within ERS. We are proud to present three excellent speakers to fill the rest of this dynamic session, which will be full of discussion and informal tips and tricks. Stephen Holgate will shed light on the importance of your CV of failures and why it is always longer than your CV of victories, i.e. your regular resume. One of the most important phases in your scientific career, becoming independent of existing research lines, is discussed by Bianca Schaub. Finally, Melanie Königshoff will provide the audience with advice on how to make most of participation in conference.
The afternoon will end with the fellowship sessions. This year, we have chosen a new format; we aim for an interactive session in which you can discover how the application process works, who can apply and what you should expect. We hear testimonials from several recipients and host supervisors, who will not only discuss the process of getting the grant but also the practical challenges and rewards.
As the afternoon ends and the evening starts, we would like to invite you to the ECM Networking Event. This is your opportunity to talk with other ECMs and with several senior ERS members. The members of the ECMC will be easily approachable here and you can indicate to them if you would like to be more involved in the ERS in the future. We would also love to hear your feedback about what has gone well and what could be improved. Finally, the networking event is an excellent chance to meet new people in a nice, informal environment. Join! It will be fun!
Registration is now open: https://erscongress.org/
Disclosures
Supplementary Material
L.D. Bos EDU-0046-2017_Bos
Footnotes
Conflict of interest Disclosures can be found alongside this article at breathe.ersjournals.com
- ©ERS 2017
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