Mauricio S. Abrão, MD
“This is a special year, as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary Global Congress with the high-caliber educational programming that the industry has come to expect from AAGL. I look forward to welcoming you to this year’s milestone event!
CYPRESS, Calif. (PRWEB)
September 20, 2021
The AAGL is proud to announce the 50th Annual Global Congress on Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery (MIGS), November 14-17, 2021, at the Austin Convention Center in the vibrant city of Austin, Texas. AAGL’s congress is the premier scientific conference for gynecologic surgeons hosting thousands of attendees from around the globe. Delivering the latest education and best practices in MIGS, this year the golden anniversary Global Congress will, for the first time, offer both a virtual and an in-person attendance option. The four-day collegial gathering will also have more than 80 companies represented in the 128,000 square foot Exhibit Hall with over 1,000 industry ambassadors and executives in attendance, making AAGL’s Global Congress the quintessential conference for medical technological innovations and product launches. For the protection of all attendees, participants, and exhibitors, safety protocols will be in place, including mask requirements and proof of vaccination.
Programing for AAGL’s 50th Annual Global Congress centers around this year’s theme of Innovation and Globalization. For the first time ever, AAGL will offer attendees an Early Bird Discount. Registrants who sign up before the Early Bird Deadline of September 25th will not only save $100 on attendance fees, but will also be given access to an exclusive “pre” Postgraduate Advanced Anatomy Anatomic Dissection Course; “How to Become a Sailor and Not a Pirate – The secrets of Laparoscopic Retroperitoneal Surgical Anatomy to Perform Safe Gynecologic Surgery” – live-streamed from the International School of Surgical Anatomy (ISSA) in Verona, Italy, on Saturday, September 25th.
The hybrid event kicks off with an Opening Session featuring addresses from AAGL President Ted T.M. Lee, MD, and Honorary Chair Thomas L. Lyons, MD, MS. This is then followed by the presentation of the prestigious Foundation of the AAGL Noteworthy and Signature Awards recognizing exceptional individuals in the MIGS community and the “best of the best” in abstract submissions. The presentation will conclude with a tribute acknowledging the leadership and service of past AAGL president, Dr. Jubilee Brown.
The next three days will be filled with high value content including 20 postgraduate (PG) courses granting continuing medical education (CME) credits. The PG courses include didactics, hands-on simulation labs, and cadaver labs covering a wide range of innovative topics such as Reproductive Surgery, Ovarian Endometrioma, Pelvic Pain, Fibroids, Endometriosis, Robotics and more. General Sessions offered throughout the event will consist of live Surgical Tutorial Sessions, Panel Discussions, and Debates, all of which are eligible for CME and conducted by experts from around the world. In addition, non-CME presentations will be offered in Video Sessions, Open Communication Sessions, Plenary Sessions, and Virtual Poster Sessions. “This is a special year, as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary with the high-caliber educational programming that the industry has come to expect from AAGL. It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of the executive board and the current vice president of the most prestigious association on gynecological surgery worldwide,” Mauricio S. Abrao, MD, PhD, AAGL Global Congress Scientific Program Chairman.
An exciting new feature added this year is the addition of AAGL Talks. These “TED-like” talks will provide attendees with 15-minute bursts of in-depth information and inspiration. Presented by industry innovators and foremost authorities in gynecologic surgery, the AAGL Talks will feature topics such as Hysteroscopy, Leadership and Mentoring, and Surgery for the Transgender Patient.
AAGL is honored to welcome this year’s Jordan M. Phillips Keynote Speaker, pioneer in tissue engineering, Linda G. Griffith, PhD. Dr. Griffith is Professor of Biological Engineering and Mechanical Engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where she also directs the Center for Gynepathology Research. Opening Session will kick off with her dynamic presentation, “Deconstructing and Reconstructing the Patient.”
The AAGL will also be recognizing this year’s Honorary Chair, Dr. Thomas Lyons, whose clinical practice, the Center for Women’s Care & Reproductive Surgery, was devoted to gynecologic endoscopy, pelvic reconstructive surgery, and infertility. Having retired from active practice in December 2017, he remains dedicated to the development and teaching of minimally invasive, patient-friendly procedures to physicians worldwide. A member of AAGL since 1981, Dr. Lyons served on the Board of Directors (1995-1997) and is currently an active member on the AAGL Advisory Committee and the Foundation of the AAGL Board of Directors.
Last year, in response to the pandemic, AAGL successfully produced an engaging, completely virtual, 49th Global Congress that embraced modern technology and welcomed more attendees than ever before. Utilizing the technological advances in professional online presentations used by the AAGL last year, this year’s meeting will make history by allowing attendees to choose their own educational experience using a hybrid model. This meeting model provides exceptional education opportunities for those who are eligible to travel and participate in person, or for those who attend virtually. All attendees, including those who opt to attend virtually, will have access to more than 32 hours of CME, live-streamed and pre-recorded sessions, and unique opportunities to network with peers from all over the globe.
In celebration of the 50th Annual Global Congress, AAGL has put out a call for remembrances of Congresses past. Historians of the AAGL, those who have attended a previous AAGL annual meeting or those who are graduates of the AAGL’s Fellowship in Minimally Invasive Gynecologic Surgery program are encouraged to share their photo memories, post stories, or congratulatory anniversary videos to the Memory Wall on the AAGL Global Congress website. In his video recently posted to the Memory Wall, Dr. Peter Maher from Australia said, “I went to my first AAGL meeting in 1993 in San Francisco, and I immediately fell in love with the positive energy, comradery, as well as scientific content of this meeting.” He went on to say, “Over the last 50 years, AAGL has done amazing things for women’s health, as well as physician education all over the world.”
AAGL is a professional medical association of laparoscopic surgeons and is the global leader in minimally invasive gynecologic surgery. AAGL’s mission is to elevate the quality and safety of health care for women through excellence in clinical practice, education, research, innovation, and advocacy. For the last 51 years, the AAGL has created a culture of contribution among its members and facilitated a worldwide exchange of information regarding gynecological breakthroughs and best practices. Find out more about the AAGL at: http://www.aagl.org.
For more information please contact Linda Michels, Executive Director, AAGL, at 714-503-6204 or lmichels@aagl.org.
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