SCALE Conference Goes Virtual

July 24-26 Event Expected to Draw Record Attendance

The nation's largest dermatology and cosmetic surgery convention is going virtual this year ... but could very well have the greatest impact to date.

From July 24-26, the 15^th Annual Music City Symposium for Cosmetic Advances and Laser Education (SCALE) conference will offer more than 800 attendees world-class training and CME credit from the comfort of their home or office.

Adapting to Change

"Once COVID-19 hit, we had to be realistic," said Michael Gold, MD, SCALE co-founder and owner of Gold Skin Care Center in Nashville. "Conventions around the world were being cancelled, so we made the decision early to go virtual. The nice thing about Nashville is that we have the AV teams and engineers who know what they're doing and can come to our offices to professionally film it."

While panel and Q&A discussions will be hosted live, 90 percent of the convention will be pre-recorded, allowing for higher quality production than available through live feed. Despite the unexpected new format, going virtual has allowed organizers to promote SCALE on a global front and provide more healthcare professionals more opportunities for CME.

"Like many other innovations we've experienced over the past several months, virtual education will continue to play an important role in medical education moving forward," said oculofacial plastic surgeon and SCALE co-founder Brian Biesman, MD. "Advantages of the virtual format include the ability for attendees to both participate in the program as it is presented and to review it later should they wish to do so."

Less Cost, More Training

Registration fees are less than half of previous years, and attendees will have full access to SCALE presentations for four months following the event.

"As several lectures are sometimes presented concurrently, if an attendee is present at a meeting in person, they will miss some of the content presented," Biesman said. "With a virtual format, they can tune into one of the sessions and then watch the other sessions presented simultaneously at a time of their choosing, expanding learning opportunities."

The virtual event will include 80 exhibitors and more than 80 world-renowned instructors. "Our faculty are on top of the food chain in dermatology and plastic and cosmetic surgery," Gold said. "The teaching will be high quality, and attendees will have the opportunity to come back and do it again or see what they missed."

A highlight of every SCALE conference, the six-hour cadaver head facial dissection workshop will be prerecorded and reformatted into a video course attendees can continue online after participating in the first session during the conference.

Highlighting Nashville

The event also will retain its Nashville vibe - a strong draw each year for visitors worldwide. "We really want to showcase Nashville," Gold said. "It's our home, so we've been working hard on a design and layout to reflect that."

In fact, Gold and Biesman hope more local providers will check out the conference that brings hundreds to their hometown each year. "Nashville has seen a huge increase in the number of cosmetic and aesthetic procedures being performed," Gold said. "If you're going to do them, make sure you learn them ... and this is an opportunity you'd rarely get online, especially from the medical dermatology side while earning CMEs, " he said. "Hopefully if they like what they see, they'll come back in 2021."

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