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BRING IT ON

N. Maffulli
Asking Questions of Orthopaedic Leaders
Easy: it depends! It depends on the meeting, and it
To take or not take the family
to a scientific meeting?
depends on the individual person. Some meetings
are meant to be a family affair. Others less so.
J. Bergfeld:
Probably, with the right frame of mind any scientific

This depends on your goals in going to a scientific meeting can be transformed into an opportunity to
meeting. Going to the ISAKOS meeting may provide bring the family along. However, if at that meeting

the opportunity to visit a foreign country. And this one is busy from 0600 to 2200, then think again: our
would be a good reason to bring your family. I would partners are already saints to stick by us, but even

say that you should go to the meeting alone to do saints can lose their patience! Some meetings are
your orthopaedic meeting/networking, education and conceived for the family. A peculiar aspect of our

have the family join you either before or after the orthopaedic life is that one ends up knowing only
meeting. Meeting within your own country, I feel, that one particular facet of our colleagues whom we may
having the family present is a distraction as it takes well meet several times in the same month, the public

away from your focus of the meeting and especially orthopaedic facade which does not tell much of a
professional networking opportunities. There is colleague as a person. Being able to meet the family

no question, though, if your spouse knows your and interact with them helps. The organizations of
colleague’s spouses, it would be of some value to which I am at the helm (EFOST and ISMuLT) have

have your spouse along. I have only had my spouse recognized this, and I have organized the Sports
join me at a small percentage of meetings.
Medicine Summer Camp, in the last week of August,

R. Marx
in Kalamata, Greece. One week of six to eight hours
of hard work every day, but the families are with us,
Everyone is different and has different goals for
and it makes the whole experience unique. Last year, their professional and personal lives. When I go to
we had 78 participants, but a crowd of close to three
times that number.
a scientific meeting, my goal is to acquire as much
knowledge as possible. I find that discussions that
J. Lubowitz
I have with colleagues from around the world at
If you are working or studying the whole time, leave meetings are very valuable for learning not only

the family home. If you have substantial free time, surgical techniques but also patient care strategies
bring the family along. And pay attention to the and practice management. If my family is with me

meeting location relative to your family’s interests.
at a meeting, I have fewer opportunities to interact
with colleagues. Furthermore, I feel that if I bring my
G. Arce
family to the meeting, I cannot attend to my family
To take the family to a scientific meeting for me is
as I would like to on a vacation. For me the answer
not worth it. If you have to give two or three lectures, is to go to the meeting when I travel to a conference
and attend many symposia or meetings, you won’t
and to spend time exclusively with my family when
be able to enjoy your family. There are only a few on vacation. For me keeping the two separate works
meetings in special places (Orlando, Cancun, Cuzco
best, but everyone is different and must make the
in Peru, Istanbul, etc.) with a not very demanding choice that is best for them.
scientific program where you can enjoy your family
F. Fu
and take a sightseeing tour. In general, you can take
part of your family to a Congress but they will be In general, I am all for having my family with me
alone most of the time.
when I travel, but I think it also depends on the type

J. Espregueira-Mendes
of meeting. A few of the summer meetings (such as
AOSSM) are only a half day long and allow for free
At scientific meetings, we are so busy that it is hard to
time with activities in the afternoon, which is a great
have time to spend with family. Anyway, sometimes opportunity to spend time with family exploring new
we can combine leisure and work, which is often the
cities. The bigger meetings, during which we typically
only way to see them!
have many commitments, often makes it more

difficult to spend a lot of time with family.

46 ISAKOS NEWSLETTER 2014: Volume II