Last week, leaders in bariatric surgery from around the US and world met in New Orleans for 4 days of meetings, presentations, and discussions. Members of Doctors of Weight Loss participated in nearly every aspect of the event. For the first time, ASMBS included a live telecast of 3 simultaneous surgeries for participants. Operating during the telecasts were Dr David Provost who performed a gastric bypass from Texas, and Dr Helmuth Billy who performed a band to gastric sleeve revision from California. In addition to live surgery telecasts, several surgeons presented videos. Dr Marina Kurian spoke and presented videos on strategies for preventing bleeding, and gastric sleeve surgical techniques.
Surgeons were offered options of half-day courses, covering the latest advances in their field. Dr Matthew Brengman served as the director of one of the half-day course: Sleeve Gastrectomy from Start to Finish. As part of the course, he gave several talks and presented a video of a gastric sleeve. He covered topics including patient selection, insurance, and preferred surgical techniques when performing gastric sleeve. The next day, Dr Emma Patterson directed a half-day course as well: “How I Do It – Video Sessions”. Her course covered techniques for both the sleeve and gastric bypass, as well as tips for managing complications.
As President of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery, Dr Jaime Ponce presented during several sessions and also ran a Town Hall for all participants. We spoke to Dr Ponce about the event and he said, “With 3 simultaneous live surgeries, video abstract sessions, and well-respected speakers, attendees had a wide variety of ways to further their bariatric and metabolic surgery expertise. Great access to faculty, the town hall with the ASMBS leadership, and committee meetings gave our community of surgeons opportunities to collaborate with their colleagues from around the country and world. We were pleased to have our largest attendance yet, at this event.”
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