Report by: Dr Shivam Sharma, MS, DNB (ENT), Senior Resident, Department of ENT, SMS Medical College and Hospital, Jaipur, India
The 6th World Congress of Cochlear Implants in Emerging Nations under the aegis of Global Cochlear Implant Access Network (GCIAN) and the 18th National Conference of the Cochlear Implant Group of India, under the aegis of the Cochlear Implant Group of India (CIGI) was held recently on the 12-14 November 2021. The theme for the meeting was ‘Implantable Hearing: Refined and Redefined’, and what an extravagant feast it was for anyone connected with cochlear implants!
The conference was held virtually with a very user-friendly interface. There were three separate halls, one each dedicated to Surgery, Audiology and Rehabilitation.
The Scientific Programme included integrated panel discussions on various topics, keynote addresses by luminaries in the field of CI, instructional courses, masterclasses, invited lectures and free papers and posters. A unique feature was the unedited Video Masterclass session where the surgeon shared his/her video with minimal or no editing and gave a live; this concept was very well received by the CI surgeons of CIGI and GCIAN.
The conference had an instructional course on radiology relating to cochlear implant surgery and outcomes. The CIGI Oration was awarded to Dr Madhuri Gore from Bangalore for her outstanding work on audiology and electrophysiology related to cochlear implant sciences.
“World Café” was a new concept for me and my personal favourite in the conference. These were Expert Committee Meetings in which all the senior-most and vastly experienced surgeons/audiologists/rehabilitationists came together to discuss a particular topic related to Cochlear Implant Surgery, Audiology and Rehabilitation. Interesting themes were covered including: CI in anomalous cochlea; CI or ABI in CN hypoplasia; ANSD; Programming in Challenging Situations; Mainstreaming and Bilingualism-Multilingualism.
There were a variety of oral papers and poster presentations by candidates from all parts of the world. I was very happy to get a chance to present my E- and was grateful to receive the first prize.
There were 607 registrations online and most halls had more than 200 attendees on average each day. There were 140 faculty members sharing their wealth of knowledge and experience including 54 international faculty. This virtual conference, a first of its kind in the history of CIGI was organised by a superb team.
In short, it was nothing short of an enlightenment to attend the 6th GCIAN and the 18th CIGICON for anyone who wished to learn and grow in the ever-developing field of Cochlear Implants in all aspects of CI, whether surgery, audiology or post-operative rehabilitation.
The next CIGICON will be in New Delhi in October November 2022 and we are hoping this would be an in-person conference. Please visit www.cigi.in for further updates.
