For three days later this week I’ll be attending the first-ever virtual edition of the annual scientific meeting (ASM) of the Canadian Pain Society (CPS), as both a bioethics professional and a patient with intractable chronic pain. This conference brings together pain specialists – clinicians, researchers, and trainees – from across Canada and around the globe. One Breakout Session, for example, will include presenters from here in Montréal as well as from Europe, South Korea, and the United States.
If you’re a long-time reader, you may recall that I was a Patient Partner and Twitter Team Member for the CPS’s 2018 ASM here in Montréal. It was the first year that they had a formal Twitter Team, and it was a huge success with a significant amount of interaction from attendees and people interested in pain from around the world. Which reminds me, the deadline to apply for this year’s conference Twitter Team is tomorrow… so I need to add that to my list of things to do!
Attending healthcare conferences these days is a bit of a strange feeling for me; I’m still used to participating as a healthcare professional, as someone involved in research ethics and patient privacy protection. These days, though, I’m also viewing the discussions from a patient perspective; depending on the type of event, I might be there as either a chronic pain patient, a rare disease patient, or a patient with a mild cognitive impairment (MCI) – all due to Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS).
Stay tuned from some highlights from this event, which will take place April 28 through 30. Because this is a registration-only event, I won’t be able to share most of the information with you, but I will provide links to some of the published research that will be presented. Feel free to follow along on Twitter as well, simply by following the #CanadianPain21 hashtag, where I’m sure many of the slide will be shared during each presentation.
As always, thanks so much for stopping by. Stay well, and remember to keep look after your well-being during these difficult times. I wish you all the best…
Reference
Canadian Pain Society. 2021 Annual Scientific Meeting. Webpage. Undated. Accessed 25 Apr 2021:
https://www.canadianpainsociety.ca/event-4092807