OMA | Fall Conference Preview

By Angela Fitch, MD, FACP, FOMA

Obesity Medicine Association’s (OMA) fall conference is fast approaching and is the event for healthcare providers looking to hone their skills and connect with industry leaders treating patients with obesity today. The theme for the 2022 conference is Overcoming Obesity 2022 and the line-up is packed with expert speakers and the latest innovations in obesity medicine and treatment. This year’s conference digs into elevating our patient’s experience, understanding the carbohydrate-insulin model debate and focusing on the future of obesity care — and many other topics relevant to obesity medicine right now.

Conference attendees will gain a better understanding of how to launch or advance their obesity practice, discover emerging pharmacotherapy for obesity treatment, and explore advanced techniques for developing personalized treatment plans for patients with Type 1 diabetes, bipolar disorder, adolescents with obesity, and patients with limited resources.

Offered both in-person, in Anaheim, California, Oct. 12-16, or virtually Nov. 2-5, the 2022 fall conference gives OMA’s more than 4,000 members the opportunity to design their own experiences by solely attending the Fall Obesity Summit or by adding on pre-conference courses, also available in-person or virtually.

Conference Offerings

Each conference session falls under one of OMA’s four pillars of obesity: nutrition, behavioral modification, physical activity and pharmacotherapy. The pre-conference courses also include practical applications for participants to optimize their practices and develop individualized treatment plans for their patients. Conference highlights include:

The Fall Obesity Summit will cover late-breaking research on phenotypic-guided lifestyle interventions, emerging pharmacotherapy for obesity treatment, utilizing motivational interviewing, special populations and more.

Optimizing an Obesity Medicine Practice, a pre-conference course, focuses on utilizing best practices in an obesity medicine practice, covering topics such as patient-centered engagement, utilizing standard office-based diagnostic tests, building an obesity treatment network in your community, and billing and coding obesity medicine visits.

Building an Obesity Treatment Plan, a pre-conference class, explores how to develop obesity treatment plans for patients with complex diseases, conditions and lifestyle factors.

Notable Sessions

The in-person conference provides ample networking opportunities for attendees to connect with industry experts and join Q&A sessions. Notable sessions include:

Shared Medical Appointments: Understanding the Essentials to Successful Group Visits in Obesity Medicine explores the spectrum of care options you can offer your patients. This session will review how and why shared medical appointments are important in an obesity medicine practice.

Integrating an OM Practice Into an Existing Surgical Program focuses on the “how, what and why” of integrating into an existing bariatric practice and offers insights for ROI assessments, clinical pathway development and other obesity-specific standards.

Patient Perspective: The Lived Experience of Childhood and Adolescent Obesity, goes beyond the data and shares Faith Newsome’s personal experiences with obesity and her decision to undergo bariatric surgery at 16 years old.

The conference will also reflect on collective progress achieved in the fight against obesity and celebrate individual contributions to the field of obesity medicine. On a personal note, I’m looking forward to attempting to fill Dr. Ethan Lazarus’ shoes and assuming my new post as OMA president at the conference.

We are at a pivotal time in obesity medicine. Now is the time to be part of the transformation of care as our treatment options increase and our access to care improves with telemedicine and other care delivery support options.

To register for OMA’s Fall Conference, Overcoming Obesity, in-person or virtually, visit https://obesitymedicine.org/fall/pricing.

Angela Fitch, MD, FACP, FOMA, is the Co-Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Weight Center and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Harvard Medical School. She graduated from Iowa State University with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Dr. Fitch worked for Procter and Gamble as a product development engineer for two years before she decided to follow her passion and go to medical school. She graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and then went on to do a combined residency in internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children’s Hospitals. After her four-year residency, Dr. Fitch was chief resident in internal medicine for another year.

In 2012, Dr. Fitch became the medical director for the Metabolic Health and Weight Management Clinic at Park Nicollet Clinic and began practicing bariatric medicine full time. She currently serves as President-elect of OMA and has previously served as vice president, secretary/treasurer and trustee on OMA’s board of trustees, the 2015-2016 chair of the clinical management of obesity section of The Obesity Society, and a member of the ABOM writing committee. In 2016, Dr. Fitch received the Dr. Peter G. Lindner Award from OMA, and in 2017, she was recognized as OMA’s Obesity Medicine Clinician of the Year