Are you going to Vancouver Next Summer?
The 42nd annual meeting of the International Urogynecological Association is scheduled for June 21-24th in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Are you planning to attend? Well if you are undecided, let me paint a picture.
Your flight lands in Vancouver Airport, recently named the best airport in the world. A short train ride delivers you to the heart of our dynamic city and Vancouver Convention Centre. The award winning Vancouver Convention Centre is nestled beside Coal Harbour with views of the beautiful North Shore Mountains. Vancouver is Canada’s Pacific gem, a clean safe, and vibrant cosmopolitan city. Downtown Vancouver is a dynamic walking community. Nearby is Stanley Park, the largest metropolitan park after Central Park in New York city. And you will want to be out of doors given the temperate climate and 18 hour long days to enjoy it.
The meeting itself will provide the clinical and academic content that you have come to expect from IUGA. There will be a wide offering of workshops on timely topics to enhance your practice. A special surgical session in cadavers will offer surgical pearls on multiple approaches to repairing apical prolapse. Meet the experts for breakfast before the meeting. The latest scientific research will be interspersed with focused state of the art lectures. And we will feature panel discussions on preventing birth trauma and on the microbiome in pelvic floor medicine. There will also be a debate of estrogen versus laser therapy for genital atrophy syndrome and keynote lectures on mesh in prolapse surgery and the management of pelvic pain.
You will be torn between the offerings at the meeting and the desire to explore. Of course there will be plenty of opportunities to see Vancouver through the social events. Alternatively, plan a few extra days to visit the Sunshine Coast, Whistler, or Victoria, which are all a short drive or ferry away. Or if you prefer take a floatplane to these destinations from right outside your hotel in Coal Harbour. There are also opportunities for whale watching, golf, kayaking, hiking, and mountain biking.
So don’t miss this opportunity to enhance your practice and visit one of the most beautiful unspoiled parts of the world. See you in Vancouver!
Geoff Cundiff,
Chair of the Local Organizing Committee
