“The most inspiring and mind-blowing meetings ever:” Highlights of the 15(th) SNI Baghdad Neurosurgery Online Meeting, from Participants’ Perspectives

BACKGROUND: Education by lectures has been standard for 100 years or more. Given the 21(st) century technology, people can connect with others around the world instantly, electronically. With the pandemic, teaching changed to one-way information transfer with the loss of interpersonal learning experience. SNI(®) and now SNI Digital(™) have been experimenting with different forms of communication to transfer information. METHODS: Using an interactive education model, a meeting for neurosurgeons in Baghdad was held for students, residents, and neurosurgeons, the first in Iraq for a number of years because of the disruption from the war there. A national and international faculty participated. RESULTS: This 15(th) meeting of the series was described by 42 out of 60 participants as “The best conference I have ever attended.” That significant response highlights the importance of such meetings and how they can be at the highest level possible and be a recipe for success. CONCLUSION: The 15th meeting provides a focused analysis of the underlying characteristics leading to its success so that it can be duplicated.