As IDBugBowl celebrates its 10th anniversary at IDWeek in Washington, D.C., this year, attendees can expect a lively mix of competition, education and community from a group of organizers who have spent months preparing one of the meeting’s most anticipated events.
The hosts spend months prepping for the competition and years serving in the organizing group as question writers, all before taking the stage at the finale of IDWeek at 4:45 p.m. ET, Saturday, Oct. 24. So it’s clear they know more about what to expect than anyone. But it would likely be easier to pry out a question or two than to get any insight into how the hosts will appear on stage, a closely held secret each year.
Elizabeth Markelz, MD, FIDSA, deputy commander of medical services at Brooke Army Medical Center, and Kartikey Acharya, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the Medical College of Wisconsin and program director of the Infectious Diseases Fellowship, danced around that question — but they shared a hint or two.
Dr. Acharya, in his first year as co-host, offered that the hosts will pay homage to D.C. with a nod toward history. Dr. Markelz, in her second year co-hosting, said the competition also will have “an infusion of a contemporary vibe.”
This year’s teams — from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, the University of Chicago and the University of Utah — may want to catch up on previous IDBugBowls as they prepare. (Stay tuned for additional team profiles in the coming weeks on the IDWeek Daily News blog.)
“We don’t repeat a lot of questions throughout the years, but you can get ideas of potential themes or areas of interest,” Dr. Markelz said. “If you’ve been watching this [competition] for a while, you understand there are common categories.”
The question writing process is rigorous, with the organizers spending about six months exploring topics, advocating for questions and vetting answers. The goal is to make sure that there can’t be more than one correct answer and that the question is clear, both hosts said.
“We don’t try to be tricky,” Dr. Markelz said.
While it is a spirited competition, the ultimate goal is to educate. “If it’s something relatively esoteric, we teach people,” Dr. Acharya said. “That’s the whole goal, to come out learning new things at the end of the session.”
For the teams preparing, both hosts recommended remembering it is a team sport. “Prepare with your team,” Dr. Markelz said. “Practice answering questions under pressure.”
And most important of all, “have fun,” Dr. Acharya said. “You are among this broader community that lifts everybody up rather than puts people down.”
Dr. Acharya hopes attendees will stay through the end of IDWeek to take part in the anniversary celebration. “We’ve put a lot of work [into it], and we’d love to have all the attendees come there and enjoy the work and celebrate the contestants.”
It is a fitting close to the week, Dr. Markelz said. “IDWeek is full of lots of different groups interested in different things. This is a unifying factor, focused on medicine and developing and recruiting the next generation. This is a good finale to get everyone together in a positive atmosphere.”
Mark your calendar for the competition Saturday, Oct. 24, at 4:45 p.m. ET. Not yet registered for IDWeek? Register today.