An Experience That Lays the Foundation 

How you can help trainees connect with the giants in chest medicine 

Think back to your training—whether it was decades ago or just a few years back. 

What would it have meant to you to spend an intimate evening eating dinner and sipping drinks with CHEST leadership at this pivotal point in your career?  

Potential lifelong connections can begin with one simple introduction, and CHEST is aiming to make some of these meaningful introductions at the Belmont Stakes Dinner and Auction in New York City coming up on June 11.  

Networking is often easier said than done, especially for someone early in their career who may not yet know the benefit of doing so. It can also be intimidating for a fellow-in-training to strike up a conversation with someone who is established and recognizable in a field in which they are working to excel.  

“A major barrier I’ve seen in working with the trainees is that they don’t know how valuable networking is, and when they realize [its value], they wish they had started much earlier,” said Chair of the CHEST Training and Transitions Committee, Mauricio Danckers, MD, FCCP. “Going up and introducing yourself to a CHEST leader can be intimidating for a fellow, especially in a smaller setting, but—on the other hand—having that smaller setting allows for you to have much higher quality of time spent together. You’re able to meet people you’re likely to remember and establish stronger connections in a shorter period of time rather than passing by at a meeting, saying hello, and exchanging numbers.” 

Registered attendees of the Belmont Stakes Dinner and Auction will include CHEST President, David Schulman, MD, MPH, FCCP; President-Elect, Doreen Addrizzo-Harris, MD, FCCP; President Designate, Jack Buckley, MD, FCCP; and other members of CHEST leadership.  

With a capped attendance, event guests will be part of a select group coming together to celebrate patient advocates and support the initiatives of CHEST and the CHEST Foundation by raising funds to improve patient care.  

“The most meaningful introductions will happen when interests align,” said Dr. Danckers. “If the fellow and the CHEST leader have an area of focus in common, they will immediately have something to talk about and the connection will be that much stronger.” 

One way to support the event is to sponsor the attendance of a trainee who will be assigned a CHEST leader to meet that evening. By sponsoring a fellow’s attendance at the Belmont Stakes event, you can lay the foundation to create the next great physicians in your field.