This year’s Annual Meeting theme was “Multiply Your Impact,” and that theme definitely extended to wellness. In addition to the usual cutting edge science and latest trial results, the Annual Meeting included programming to allow us to serve our patients in ways beyond the latest science.
(Left to Right) Meredith Duffy, MD; Katie Martino, MPH; Kate Mills, MD; Kat Tucker, MD; Geeta Lal, MD; Linda Miller, PhD
This year, we were lucky to have surgical ergonomists, Drs Geeta Lal, MD, and Linda Miller, PhD, lend their expertise in the “Gynecologic Oncology is a Pain in the Neck and Everywhere Else” Masterclass session, which was attended by dozens of faculty and trainees. This interactive session featured tips for OR setup, posture, micro pausing, and stretching, as well as ways to advocate for yourself and your colleagues inside the OR and out. The Ergonomics Corner was held during three days of the conference and consisted of small group sessions with our ergonomics experts at each of four stations representing the four biggest [physical] pain points in our days: laparoscopy, robotics, open surgery, and the office. The Ergonomics Corner was made possible in part by support from Johnson & Johnson MedTech, Intuitive, and N.E.D. (No Evidence of Disease).
Drs. Lal and Mills coach members on ergonomics at the robotic console
It wasn’t just the Wellness Committee that was looking out for the membership— other Masterclasses taught us how to organize an efficient and effective clinical practice, how to optimize coding so that we can get the resources for our efficient and effective practice, and how to navigate high stakes discussions around surgical decision making. This year’s presidential speaker, NYTimes Bestselling Author Liz Wiseman, taught us how to lead through uncertain times by leaning into our vulnerabilities and elevating our teams. Like it or not, those of us in gyn oncology are leaders, and it was gratifying see programming with the intent of supporting the membership in gaining comfort with that role. To that end, this year’s Annual Meeting empowered us with important and incredibly enlightening data from the 2025 State of the Society, which will undoubtedly help make care and caring better.
We had fun, too! This year’s social event was at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture, where we cut loose and danced with Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, The Spice Girls, and others. As always, nothing fills your cup like catching up with old friends.
-Wellness Committee Annual Meeting Working Group