Palm trees in Honolulu  provided a welcome backdrop to CHEST 2011, the American College of Chest Physician's annual meeting, but attendees were interested in a tree of a different kind. Inside the clinical resource center, they could navigate an interactive 3-D bronchial tree and practice bronchial procedures using hands-on simulation technology. Those were just some of the exciting new features at the 76th annual conference.

Best-selling author and surgeon Sherwin Nuland, MD, kicked off the event with a keynote address on the role goodness plays in healing and how its importance has been devalued in hi-tech medicine. Following the address, he signed copies of his award-winning book "How We Die," and his recent collection of medical stories, "The Soul of Medicine: Tales From the Bedside."

A symposium explored evidence-based strategies to enhance long-term benefits of rehabilitation. Roberto Benzo, MD, MSc, from the division of pulmonary and critical care medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., discussed motivational interviewing to maximize patient self-efficacy and simple, goal-directed approaches that emphasize patient-clinician interaction. Jean Bourbeau, MD, MSc, of McGill's Respiratory Epidemiology & Clinical Research Unit in Quebec shared details about the home-based pulmonary rehab models used in Canada.

In the hands-on ACCP Simulation Center, attendees practiced bronchoscopy, polysomnography, and pulmonary function testing techniques. They also tried out new web- and phone-based applications intended to enhance pulmonary practices. The ACCP introduced its own mobile-ready website and conference app this year to help attendees plan their conference schedules, navigate the exhibit hall, and take notes on sessions targeting a broad range of pulmonary specialties and practice levels.

A crowd favorite was the Challenge Championship and Awards Celebration, where participants could cheer as their favorite team went head-to-head in a "Jeopardy" game-show format. The session included awards for abstract presenters, case report presenters, and clinical research award recipients.

Forty-five volunteers took a break from the scientific sessions for a community outreach event. They joined The Chest Foundation's Ambassadors Group to present an education program called  "Lung Lessons" to  fifth- and sixth-grade children at Sacred Hearts Academy in Honolulu about how lungs function, what asthma is, and how smoking damages the lungs. Students participated in singing "Love, Love, Love Your Lungs" and learned from visual displays of healthy and diseased lungs, including a "jar of tar" and "Mr. Gross Mouth." It was delightful for participants to see how engaged the students were and the level of understanding they already had about the dangers of smoking and the use of tobacco.

Next year, the conference returns to the continental United States. Mark your calendars for CHEST 2012, Oct. 20-25 in Atlanta.