Harvard University has recently published a study reporting the follow-up of the lives of 724 people in the city of Boston, from university students to ordinary people, during 76 years of their lives. One of the authors is Waldinger - this reference may help those who are interested in locating this study.
The lives of these people were extremely varied, and the group even featured a United States president. Some had serious legal problems, others became very wealthy, and most lead a common life.
The intent of the study was to assess what the most important element in the lives of these people was, and the conclusion was that relationships were the most important thing in the lives of most of the people studied. Wealth, poverty, and status or lack thereof was not as important as relationships and friendships.
We have recently returned from the 48th Brazilian Congress of Orthopedics and Traumatology (Congresso Brasileiro de Ortopedia e Traumatologia [CBOT]), after three days of socializing in which I was able to properly appreciate the value of this Harvard study. In fact, the 4000 participants went to the congress basically in search of professional relationships, as learning can be achieved through other sources, unlike conviviality.
I heard some theorists and prophets of the apocalypse saying that the age of congresses will end, that we should host the CBOT every two years, that the manufacturers will host their own conferences, and so many other idiocies that I could not register. We had a beautiful congress.
For reasons that do not bear discussing in this editorial, the organization hosted the congress in a single space, divided only by the sound provided by headphones. Thus, a huge area was divided into six segments from the center; in each of them, the headphones would only transmit the sound of that segment.
A questionable system, which raised one constant criticism:
When I have the headphones on, I cannot talk to the person next to me, and it is hard to ask questions. That is, I cannot create relations.
Just as the Harvard study demonstrated, relationships are the backbone of our associations, and it will be through them that we will have more strength to continue to host CBOTs and become stronger. Manufacturers are well advised and know how to reach us. A reduction in the interest of surgical supplies distributors was indeed observed, but there was a significant increase in the interest of pharmaceutical industries, in search of our prescription strength.
I believe that the regrettable episodes that occurred due to an incorrect reading by the distributors of surgical material, together with the poor remuneration of the physicians, are still the main cause of this reduction, disguised in the word "compliance." This episode will surely be overcome, as it is inconceivable that an industry with so many new things to demonstrate and be used by us would not participate in a congress with 4000-5000 users of its products, concentrated in a single environment with the intention of learning.
SBOT is a great promoter of relationships, and should continue to do so; otherwise, it will lose its strength. Our eventual sponsors will once again understand that the best way to relate to us is to occupy the spaces destined for them in our continuing medical education programs, the congresses.
Publication Dates
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Publication in this collection
Jan-Feb 2017
