There are a lot of things that set CHEST apart from other conferences, but the biggest difference comes from the hands-on experiences and the clinical immersion that will come from CHEST 2023.

Emotional and social engagement are part of a formula that CHEST has pioneered and perfected over the years at its annual meeting. Game-based learning, immersive simulations, and other interactive activities are not only effective educational tools, they’re also really fun.

“When people are connected through an experience and when their emotions are involved with their learning at the same time, the outcomes are more powerful,” said CHEST Senior Director of Program Development, Robb Rabito, CHCP. “If you’re having fun, you’re going to remember it better.”

Game-based learning

The fun at CHEST 2023, as always, will be centered in the Exhibit Hall, where games big and small will test attendees’ medical knowledge and skills.

Grab a colleague and check out some of this year’s new experiences, including escape rooms like “Severe Asthma Cryptex,” which invites participants to describe elements of the disease while solving the mysteries of Leonardo da Vinci’s studio, and “Unveiling RSV,” which tasks players with collecting clues about adult respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in the setting of a masquerade ball. Fans of memory match games can connect case descriptions to symptoms, radiology, CT images, and treatments in “PulmMemory.” The simulation-based “Increase Your Speed – Stop the Airway Bleed!” will present a high-stakes scenario requiring quick thinking, bronchoscopic skill, and effective communication.

Other highlights will be familiar to past attendees, including the lineup of live games during session breaks. New case content will help keep those old favorites fresh, Rabito said. Passersby can hop into a dynamic game of “PEER Pressure,” seek out correct answers in “Hocus POCUS Diagnosis” or “Close Enough,” or challenge friends to the fastest times in “Aspirated.” Bite-sized solo games will also be available from the CHEST Player Hub via touch screens at the CHEST booth, and daily prizes will be awarded to those who climb the leaderboard.

Virtual and physical simulations

Virtual reality (VR) headsets will demonstrate some of CHEST’s most immersive educational experiences yet, including a communication training module based on the First 5 Minutes^® initiative and a high-fidelity intubation scenario that places participants in a deeply interactive virtual ICU. Ticketed sessions are also available at registration for attendees who want to take part in fully facilitated physical simulations covering ECMO, endobronchial ultrasound, video laryngoscopy, chest tube placement, echocardiography, and much more.

Whether in VR or a physical space, participants can experience high-stakes procedures without the consequences of failure. That combination reinforces skills in a way that is much more impactful than traditional classroom or presentation-based education, said CHEST Live Learning Subcommittee Chair, Nicholas J. Pastis, MD, FCCP.

“You really learn in this low-stress environment how to troubleshoot. And you get the muscle memory along the way,” said Dr. Pastis. “If we just do the procedure for you and demonstrate or have pure didactics, you’re not going to learn it.”

The unrehearsed and unexpected

In a similar way, live debates at CHEST 2023 can serve as a safe environment to stress-test issues that don’t have clear-cut answers. The Pardon the Disruption series of sessions accomplish this goal with an entertaining game show format that encourages healthy—and often humorous—skepticism. This year, three separate sessions will feature panelists challenging each other and the established literature on controversies in critical care, asthma, and interventional pulmonology.

“Even if we leave that stage and the meeting without a definitive answer, having heard really smart people debating both sides of an issue makes us a little bit more comfortable in our day-to-day lives of managing patients,” said Session Chair, David Schulman, MD, MPH, FCCP.

CHEST 2023 will offer numerous chances to learn more about the science, as well as the people behind it, in unique and sometimes surprising ways. An educational and entertaining interaction might be around any corner at the convention center, as it was last year when longtime contributor and Games-Based Learning Chair, William Kelly, MD, FCCP, quizzed attendees in the hallways between sessions.

“These events are a small part of what makes a live meeting, and uniquely the CHEST meeting, different,” Dr. Kelly said. “People get to answer a trivia question and win a prize, but it is really about the fun, the excitement of the unexpected, the personal connections, and sprinkling a little more joy into our already happy days that week.”