ACCP CHEST volunteers worked with more than 100 fifth and sixth grade students from Honolulu's Sacred Hearts Academy on October 24 to promote lung health. Activities included singing "Love, Love, Love Your Lungs," as well as a no-smoking pledge and lung photo displays. Photo courtesy of Sacred Hearts Academy.

The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) 77th Annual CHEST meeting, held October 22-26 at the Hawai’i Convention Center, drew thousands of medical professionals from 78 countries to participate in a multi-faceted lineup of hands-on simulation sessions and ground-breaking research presentations.

Under ACCP’s philanthropic arm, The Chest Foundation, 45 volunteers and medical professionals worked with Honolulu’s Sacred Hearts Academy on October 24 to educate more than 100 fifth and sixth-grade students in a half dozen classes about tobacco prevention and lung health.  The Chest Foundation’s OneBreath initiative also donated $10,000 to support ongoing health programs and activities at the school.

In addition to these events, renowned specialists delivered “grand rounds” lectures at select Hawai’i hospitals to provide their expertise on specific patient cases.

CHEST, on of the world’s largest gatherings of chest physicians, included participation from medical professionals ranging from pulmonary, sleep, and critical care physicians to nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and respiratory therapists.  It was the Center’s fourth-largest meeting this year.

CHEST, one of the world's largest gatherings of chest physicians, included participation from medical professionals specializing in fields such as pulmonary, sleep, and critical care.

The meeting featured more than 300 general sessions.  More than 1,000 abstracts and case reports of scientific studies were submitted for presentation.  These included world-class research on the latest advances in areas ranging from treating and managing sleep disorders to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

New this year was the “Centers of Excellence,” a networking and collaboration forum featuring real-life patient care examples from Hawai’i as well as national medical providers, who demonstrated the outstanding features and special practices that make them unique among their peers.

See CHEST organizers discuss meeting highlights on Hawai’i News Now:

Other major medical conferences at the Center in 2011 have included the BMT Tandem Meetings from Feb. 17-21 with 2,400 attendees; the American Academy of Neurology’s 63rd Annual Meeting from April 9-16 with 10,000 attendees; and the American Psychiatric Association’s 164th Annual Meeting from May 14-18 with 10,000 attendees.