Madhav Swaminathan, MD, FASE
By the time this message, the final one I write as ASE president, is published, the worst of the pandemic will hopefully be over. The world would be recovering after fighting an epic battle against an invisible and a largely untamed enemy - a virus that has wreaked havoc as it traveled across the planet, decimated lives, and crushed economies along its destructive path. The SARS-CoV-2 has changed our lives; in some ways, perhaps permanently. Our Society and our members have also felt its impact in many ways.
One of the most fundamental reasons for the founding of ASE was the need to coalesce echocardiographers around a common purpose. We have consistently affirmed our commitment to this purpose by gathering annually at our Scientific Sessions. Unfortunately, the Scientific Sessions planned in Denver, Colorado this month, was canceled for the first time in its 31-year history. In 2003, ASE moved the planned Scientific Sessions from Toronto to Las Vegas due to the SARS outbreak. A different kind of SARS has forced a change this year again. Needless to say, the decision to do so was difficult and involved thinking through its impact on every aspect of the Society's activities. The primary consideration in this decision was the safety and health of our attendees and staff. We were aware that this decision would also impact educational and networking opportunities for our attendees. However, unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures. Crises often create opportunities to either repurpose the existing resources or expand their use to serve a critical need.
In the last few months, we all have adopted teleconferencing as a vital communication strategy driven mainly by social distancing directives and embargoes on physical gatherings. Our ongoing efforts at growing our distance education portfolio have now been accelerated by (a) the widespread adoption of telecommunication technology, (b) new prohibitions on travel and in-person meetings, and (c) universal willingness by our faculty to embrace non-traditional methods of education delivery.
After staggered restrictions were placed on travel and in-person gatherings across the country from February onwards, virtual meetings were quickly adopted and became the norm overnight. People around the world have been meeting digitally on popular web-based platforms such as Zoom (Zoom VC, San Jose, CA), Webex (Cisco Inc., San Jose CA), MS Teams (Microsoft Inc., Redmond, WA), and many others. From laboratory meetings involving a few people, to system updates to entire institutions and webinars with global audiences, these digital platforms have been instrumental in ensuring some semblance of continuity despite a near-total operational disruption. Even the digital recluses among us have been forced to adapt and adopt smart technology to stay informed and connected.
Given the inability to travel, education through lectures, seminars, or grand rounds has gone completely virtual. That dramatic change has also been accompanied by a shift in the way we think about delivering content. Those of us who are used to more traditional methods of education delivery, such as through slides in a didactic format, have had to start recording our lectures by speaking into a microphone and looking into a camera rather than directly addressing a face-to-face audience. Audiences similarly have had to adapt to the new paradigm very quickly. ASE offered its first virtual education sessions culled from the content from the State-of-the-Art (SOTA) meeting in Scottsdale, AZ, in February this year that was quite successful, and served as a rehearsal precursor to a larger virtual echo education platform. Given the new need to go virtual, combined with the availability of relevant supportive technology and the willingness of our community of educators to be nimble at adapting, we will be offering more education through digital platforms to augment or even replace in-person meetings. Among the many things that are likely to change this year, this may be the most enduring.
Our Society and the echo community at large saw many changes this last year. We embarked on a new 5-year strategic plan, created a new vision for ASE, started a campaign for caring (ASE Cares), reached more people through social media, and continued to advocate for echocardiography with our regulators and legislators. While most of these operational changes were brought about by a deliberate strategy aimed at continuous growth, the most dramatic ones were driven by a global viral infection. The shift in our educational strategy was perhaps the most significant and visible change. Other adjustments will gradually become more obvious over the next several months as we are forced to adapt to a new normal. This pandemic has disrupted and destroyed so much, and while its impact on our lives should not be undermined, we will likely emerge stronger and hopefully wiser from this experience.
It has been an honor and privilege to lead ASE as its president. I am humbled by the dedication of our staff, volunteers, members, and leaders to the field of cardiovascular ultrasound. The Society remains strong despite the many challenges it faces, which is a testament to resilience and collective strength of its greatest resource, which is you.
Madhav Swaminathan, MD, MMCi, FASE, is a tenured Professor and Vice Chair for Faculty Development in the Department of Anesthesiology at Duke University Health System in Durham, North Carolina. He has worked as a cardiac anesthesiologist and intensivist at Duke since 2000 and is serving as ASE's President.