ICAM, I saw, I conquered: The International Congress on Academic Medicine

They scheduled plenary sessions on ableism, humanism and the concept of One Health that links the health of humans, animals and the planet itself. Then, they had patients sharing the podium. Those who organized the first International Congress on Academic Medicine (ICAM) just completed in Quebec City intended it to be many things, but what it certainly was not was the type of medical education conference that Drs. William Osler or William Flexner would have imagined. With more than 1,500 delegates attending—and another 100 tuning in virtually—the conference can be viewed as a success for the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada and its president and CEO Dr. Geny Moineau who initiated the idea. Read: Social media: A physician but a person too With most of the luminaries of medical education in attendance and dozens of closed meetings hosted by several Canadian medical education organizations and focused on the business of medical education, the conference did bear many of the hallmarks of a traditional #meded gathering. But it was during the plenary sessions dealing with the critical issues facing medicine today that the conference really came through. And many of the themes touched on in plenary, such as the prevalence of racism in medicine and medical education and the urgent need to address EDI, seemed to filter through many of the other breakout sessions. The role for having patient participation in medical conferences has long been problematic for both patients and physicians, with charges of tokenism being brought on one side and clinicians lamenting the loss of a space where they can network with just their peers on the other. Read: AI: risks and challenges At ICAM, the organizers committed wholeheartedly to the self-assessed Patients Included charter for medical conferences which calls for patients to be meaningfully involved in all aspects of a conference from planning to presenting. At ICAM this approach resulted in a rich exchange of information and views perhaps best incapsulated in the closing plenary session where Dr. Brian Hodges, chief medical officer at the University Health Network in Toronto and president of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, engaged in conversation with patient partner and advocate Cecilia Amoakohene. “Some of the best learnings we have had this week have come from patients,” said Dr. Moineau in her closing remarks. For many, some of the remarks made at plenaries cannot have been comfortable as Canadian medical schools were blasted for failing to deal with many issues from ableism to the wellbeing of medical learners to adequately training learners to deal with the realities of medical practice today. In terms of living up to the international part of its title, the conference had delegates from 44 countries and speakers from around the world dealing with global topics. Perhaps the most important issue facing Canada and other countries in health care today—the crisis in health human resources—had its own plenary with a strong global focus. With a conference this diverse and ambitious it’s hard to assess whether it will do anything other than reinforce views of those who attended or who watched the plenaries virtually. But it certainly checked a lot of boxes. And the opportunity to hear CMA President Dr. Alika Lafontaine’s masterful, concise assessment of how we got to the muddle we are in today with respect to the Canadian healthcare system—or Cecilia Amoakohene discussing why she feels she must dress well when going to the emergency room to try and counter racist views—made it time well spent. Pat Rich is a Canadian health journalist and former editor of the Medical Post. This item originally appeared on his website.

ICAM, I saw, I conquered: The International Congress on Academic Medicine

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