By arriving early to CHEST 2026, clinicians can immerse themselves in an expansive educational experience unlike any other at the meeting.
Premeeting courses on Saturday, October 17, will allow learners to fully focus on procedural training and career development topics for a whole morning, afternoon, or even the entire day—a unique opportunity for clinicians who have busy itineraries the rest of the week, said Zachary DePew, MD, FCCP, Chair of CHEST’s Live Learning Subcommittee.
“Four or eight hours is longer than any individual session you’re going to find at the main meeting, but the reason why the duration is longer is because either the breadth or depth is greater,” Dr. DePew said. “We can provide more content, more hands-on time, and experience on the Saturday course because we’re not competing with all of the simultaneous other offerings.”
Full-day ticketed courses will provide comprehensive training in either advanced critical care echocardiography or advanced robotic and navigational bronchoscopy. A half-day morning session will guide learners through the latest in lung function testing, and a half-day afternoon session will address current and future directions in mechanical ventilation. All courses will employ hands-on learning with state-of-the-art equipment, high-fidelity simulations, and real-time feedback from expert faculty across multiple domains.
Additional ticketed sessions will be tailored specifically to the experiences of advanced practice providers (APPs) in critical care. A new session on critical care updates for APPs will be offered as a half-day morning session. It will be followed in the afternoon by a hands-on session on essential critical care procedures, which was offered for the first time last year. Together they represent an invaluable opportunity for APPs of all experience levels to fill in or refine knowledge and skills, said Session Co-Chair Allison Wynes, DNP, CCAPP, FCCP.
“It is a great way to get a solid bundle of education that you know is going to be applicable to you,” Dr. Wynes said. “It’s going to be useful to your job. It’s going to be fun. You’re going to meet people. It’s going to be with your peers, taught by your peers. And it’s going to be a great introduction to the CHEST environment and what CHEST has to offer to APPs.”
Interested individuals can register for any of the six ticketed courses through the CHEST 2026 registration site. (Full meeting registration is not required.)
Four full- and half-day career development courses—for medical educators, physician leaders, women in chest medicine, and pulmonary and critical care medicine fellows—will also be available for free on a first-come, first-served basis. Find registration forms, including requirements and deadlines, at the links that follow.
Saturday, October 17
Ticketed Sessions
Advanced Critical Care Echocardiography: A Hands-On Course
7:30 am – 5:30 pm MST
This course will provide training in advanced critical care echocardiography (ACCE), including image interpretation, image acquisition, and clinical applications. Learners will engage in small-group, hands-on training, alternating with case-based interactive image interpretation. Brief focused didactic lectures will be incorporated into the training sequence and include real-time demonstration scanning coordinated with the learning goals of the hands-on training. Training will be personalized to the level of training and specific clinical practice needs of learners and provided by skilled faculty, all of whom are certified by the National Board of Echocardiography in ACCE.
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Advanced Robotic and Navigational Bronchoscopy: A Hands-On Course
7:30 am – 5 pm MST
In the rapidly evolving field of bronchoscopy and lung nodule evaluation, this course is designed to equip practicing pulmonologists with essential skills for advanced diagnostic procedures. It covers various techniques such as robotic bronchoscopy, electromagnetic navigational bronchoscopy, radial probe endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS), and linear probe EBUS. The course emphasizes hands-on procedural training and a flipped classroom approach, focusing on evaluating pulmonary nodules, lung cancer screening, diagnosis, and staging. This course aims to bridge the gap in technological advancements for bronchoscopic biopsies of peripheral lung lesions.
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NEW!
Lung Function Testing With the Experts—Evidence for Race, Reference Equations, Statistics, and Performance: A Hands-On Course
7:30 am – 12 pm MST
Pulmonary function testing (PFT) is integral to the evaluation and management of patients with respiratory symptoms or disease. This course provides a comprehensive review of PFTs by international experts with a combination of lectures and hands-on testing. Attendees will have the opportunity to perform a variety of lung function tests on themselves and other attendees using commercially available instruments. This course will focus on test performance, quality control, and interpretation in accordance with recent ERS/ATS lung function testing standards.
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NEW!
Mechanical Ventilation Beyond Evidence-Based Guidelines: A Hands-On Course
1 pm – 5 pm MST
Evidence-based guidelines for managing mechanical ventilation improve patient outcomes. This course explores current options for managing gaps in these guidelines and addresses future innovations still in development. The course will first review current guidelines and their limitations. Following this will be three concurrent, hands-on workshops using ventilators with active/passive lung models: (a) Beyond the ARDS Network-based guidelines for lung protective ventilation; (b) The challenges of recognizing and managing air trapping; (c) A potpourri of novel concepts addressing important clinical challenges (eg, self-induced lung injury, reverse triggering, assessing mechanical power, best positive end-expiratory pressure, feedback modes).
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Critical Care Updates for Advanced Practice Providers
8 am – 12 pm MST
This fast-paced course will review the newest treatment guidelines that advanced practice providers (APPs) need to know to keep their critical care practice up to date. Case-based lectures will cover high-yield topics such as sepsis management, resuscitation goals, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), respiratory support, and cardiac emergencies. The course is designed by APPs for APPs to keep you at the top of your game.
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NEW!
Essential Critical Care Procedures for APPs: A Hands-On Course
1 pm – 5 pm MST
Gain hands-on clinical experience performing and managing essential lifesaving procedures in acute care settings. In this course, learners will develop procedural competency in central venous catheter placement, intraosseous access, paracentesis, thoracentesis, and lumbar puncture, as well as refine foundational surgical techniques including suturing. Learners will also build airway management skills through practice with bag-valve-mask ventilation and extraglottic airway placement. Enhance critical care proficiency by learning the principles of mechanical ventilator waveforms, troubleshooting, and ongoing ventilator management in patients who are unstable.
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Free Sessions (Preregistration Required)
Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Fellows Course (Nominations closed)
7:30 am – 4:15 pm MST
This full-day course is filled with an interactive, lecture-free educational experience that teaches evidence-based medicine in a way that is fun, easy to remember, and directly applicable to patients. Topics covered have been chosen based on needs assessment surveys of focus groups of Program Directors and fellows, and they cover content areas that fellows are often unable to master otherwise, including advanced airway rescue, advanced critical care echocardiography, bronchoscopic control of bleeding, extracorporeal support for respiratory failure, mechanical ventilation: ventilator dyssynchrony, pulmonary artery catheter waveforms and interpretation, and treatment of hypercapnic respiratory failure.
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Educator Development Course (Limited Seating)
8 am – 4:30 pm MST
This free CHEST Educator Development Course, held ahead of CHEST 2026, will help you effectively deliver engaging, learner-centered education on a framework of adult learning theories and medical education principles. This interactive, in-person course will further your teaching, curriculum development, and educational assessment skills.
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Leadership Development Course (Limited Seating)
8 am – 4:30 pm MST
Leadership competencies are critically important for physicians to navigate clinical practice, research, and administrative roles. Yet leadership competencies, which are different than clinical or scientific competencies, are not included in traditional medical curricula. Some would even argue that the frequent “command and control” leadership style seen in health care creates a “hidden curriculum,” which handicaps physicians who remain unexposed and unaware of the fuller palate of leadership competencies and styles. This course reviews some essential leadership competencies for emerging physician leaders. Specifically, the course will use an experiential and highly participatory approach to develop an awareness of the attributes of an effective leader, the features of an efficient team, and a useful approach to conflict management.
The free course, held ahead of CHEST 2026, is perfect for anyone in a leadership role or looking to expand their current role into leadership. This course is recommended for individuals who have been in practice for five or more years.
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Women’s Half-Day Career Development Course by Women in Chest Medicine (Limited Seating)
12 pm – 5:30 pm MST
Attend a free half-day career development course from the Women in Chest Medicine Interest Group designed to support career advancement while building leadership, communication, and advocacy skills. This interactive program, held ahead of CHEST 2026, brings together leaders, educators, and peers to explore leadership identity through self-assessment, discussion, and assertive communication in clinical and professional settings.
Attendees will gain practical tools for advocating effectively within their institutions, including how to interpret and leverage health care finance data to strengthen their case. A hands-on elevator pitch workshop will help participants clearly articulate their values and goals.
The course will also feature short presentations from established leaders on developing a strong personal brand. Participants will engage in rotating small-group discussions focused on strategic career advancement in educational, clinical, and research domains providing tailored guidance and opportunities for mentorship.
The course is designed to emphasize reflection and peer learning, leaving attendees with actionable strategies, greater confidence in their leadership voice, and a stronger professional network within the chest medicine community.
Join Us at CHEST 2026
Connect in person with influential clinicians from around the world—and attend top-tier educational sessions focusing on the most relevant clinical topics. CHEST 2026 will have it all, including optional add-on sessions to customize your learning. Reserve your spot before July 13, and save up to $210 with early bird pricing.
