Traveling to Lithuania

This evening I am traveling to Vilnius, Lithuania to give a 10-minute presentation at the annual meeting of the European Association of Poison Centers and Clinical Toxicologists. I am presenting AMIGO, an artificial intelligence tool that predicts whether somebody at home can stay home, needs to go to the Emergency Department immediately, or can call the clinic in the morning.

I wasn't originally planning to go. I am the second author. But, when first author couldn't go, I thought it good to present the work to my European colleagues even though I presented an earlier version at the annual meeting of American College of Medical Toxicology two months ago.

It took me time to learn that the value of conferences isn't only in exchanging information. It's a chance to market yourself and to meet people you otherwise wouldn't and talk shop with them unabashedly.

But, it's not all about my career. My wife and I have a five year-old. Nor, do we have a nanny, unlike many of our colleagues and neighbors. If I travel solo, she can't work. Her mother might watch our daughter for a few hours, but that doesn't address the second shift. Them coming with me is slightly better. I can step away from the conference and share some of the responsibility for child-rearing. Deliberations like in this paragraph are one step away from dissolving into a contest between the opinion that nobody forced us to have kids and the opinion that nobody quite knows what it means to have kids until you do.

In the end, I'm traveling solo because we initially thought that travel would be too tough for our daughter and not worth the readjustment to school after missing a week too much, but I could accomplish things at a conference I couldn't elsewhere. Namely, I can network off the record, which sounds questionable when it's really about providing a nurturing environment for evolving ideas.

I can get an honest opinion from people about webPOISONCONTROL and how to make it better, to improve its product-market fit. I can meet with the technical team and figure out what we've been missing over Zoom. Two years ago, I thought these reasons were less substantial than discussing scientific findings. What I didn't realize until trying to direct things is that these softer discussions create the milieu that allows certain work to be done and prioritizes some work over others.

But there is a duality to conferences as a dad. I wish she could be there next to me, to see what a good part of academia looks like. The first night alone is nice. None of the abrogation of self that comes with a young child. But it comes at the expense of my wife shouldering the burden and Chary Toxicology taking a hit when I return.

Som things I did Now it's time to capitalize on a 7-hour flight, apparently with no working WiFi.