by Understanding Where Medical Conferences Typically Fall Short
Worldwide, there can be up to a hundred thousand international medical conferences each year. Flocks of doctors, surgeons, and others, young and old, drift away from their patients and their laboratories and fly to distant destinations to gain knowledge from others (often the very same experts at different events), who are invited by seemingly obscure selection processes to enlighten and instruct their peers and juniors. Several thousand may attend these major conventions. Taxis, trains, airlines, hotels, restaurants, tailors and dressmakers, luggage manufacturers, and professional convention organizers are kept engaged as a result. CME (Continuing Medical Education) points are earned, a lot of jet lag is caused, and quite a lot of carbon is released into the atmosphere – as much as ten thousand tonnes for an average-sized medical science conference.
It is undeniably exciting to go to a new place, perhaps to another country, to meet peers and friends in new and exciting environments, to forge new professional connections, and perhaps to learn something.
Reality Diverges From Real Expectations
- The reality, however, is different – we often sit on uncomfortable gilded steel hotel chairs in a cold, air-conditioned ballroom to listen to a summary of a text that we have already read or should have read, all accompanied by a barrage of visual aids, oftentimes presented on several huge multimedia screens.
- People come and go during presentations, chat with each other and fall asleep as their jet lag and breakfast overwhelm them.
Fellow Participants Who Attend For Other Reasons
- Often, you find yourself sitting behind someone holding an iPad or cellphone aloft, obscuring the field of view of those behind in order to photograph each slide.
- What do they do with the pictures?
- Many attendees don’t listen to the speakers but text each other, tweet each other, or read their emails.
- Others eat or drink, often drowsy.
- And when it comes to Q&A time, how curious it is that the same people grab the microphone again and again, perhaps in an attempt to be recognized as joint experts on the subject under discussion or simply to show that, yes, they are in the audience and were not asleep.
Disoriented Speakers
- On the rostrum, the speaker is so blinded by a spotlight that, at first, it is difficult to feel the audience.
- Adjusting to the lighting, a crowd of tiny red lights becomes evident, like fireflies – this is the mobile phone and iPad brigade.
Poor Sound Engineering
- The sound system is invariably aimed at the audience, not the rostrum, so that for the speaker, the voices of the speakers are distorted, barely audible, and often extremely difficult to locate; a particular danger for those whose first language is not English.
Lacklustre Poster Sessions
- Poster sessions have been introduced to allow greater participation of young conference participants, but they lack guidance, and standards vary.
- Too many of them are simply overlooked by bewildered registrants, perhaps because they are single case reports or previously published documents.
- It is not uncommon for the first author and presenter to be absent, being fully occupied chatting with friends over a glass of wine, or organizing the entertainment for the evening.
- For some of these delegates, the poster was the passport to attending the extravaganza.
- Some conventions have no limit to the number of posters a delegate can present.
- Less than half of the posters will appear as peer-reviewed articles in a reputable journal, which surely speaks to their quality.
Mismanagement On The Part Of Conference Organizers
- Surely the conference organizers have a duty to separate the gold from the simple “I was there too” offers?
- At major conventions, gigantic and lavishly furnished corporate booths, usually near posters, offer coffee, pastries, and ice cream as well as “educational materials”, pens and pencils, and USB drives, in a format that is hard to resist, offering welcome relief from the plethora of concurrent academic sessions.
- There are so many sessions that you can sometimes see a guest speaker addressing a nearly empty room while the hallways and cafes are crowded with delegates.
- How many delegates can cope with twenty to thirty oral communications and several poster rooms per day for several days?
The Issues Aren’t Specific To The 21st Century
In general, there are five goals for attending a top medical conference
- presenting one’s own work in order to gain critical feedback,
- learning something new,
- making new acquaintances,
- beginning collaborative research, and
- most importantly, exploring a new cultural environment.
Unfortunately, the relevance of these goals is questionable in today’s hyperactive medical conference environment. Within the first few years of the 20th century, observers began complaining that there were too many medical conferences, often in distant destinations, that large conferences were expensive, that the abstracts did not reflect the presentations, that many articles had “only one academic interest”, that the lecturer discipline was poor and that the information given could be learned more quickly by staying at home and reading the newspapers. That social events offered by congresses were popular features realized during this time when it was noted that tickets to social events were always in high demand and in the late 19th century a group of Norwegian physicians even decided to conduct their medical conference in a yacht.
The Medical Conferencing Conundrum
- Conferences aim to disseminate and advance research, teach, educate, foster collaborations, provide a forum for employment opportunities and opportunities to review evidence-based policies and guidelines.
- They also offer significant business opportunities to organizers, which are often companies dedicated to medical communication.
- However, apart from self-satisfied messages posted on websites by organizers in the days after a medical conference concludes, there is little or no evidence that these goals are being achieved – or even that they have ever been realistic.
- What do we gain from this program of human activity on an industrial scale?
- There are no objective analyzes of the supposed benefits of either attending or speaking at medical conferences.
- Yet it is generally considered an important experience for young physicians or researchers, as well as established clinicians, to attend such events, and poster presentations and speaker engagements are faithfully recorded in CVs.
- CME points are usually earned from these attendances in recognition of the presumed value of the attendance.
- Certainly, it can be a major and unforgettable experience to hear a truly expert and international personality review his/her understanding of a difficult scientific field, but such presentations are rare.
- Those who dominate major symposia are not always those with the most scientific merit, hard work, or originality of thought but represent those who have successfully navigated the necessary circles of power.
Small-Scale Medical Conferences Potentially More Impactful
- The suggestion that virtual participation via the Internet can replace physical participation has not yet been sufficiently tested, and surveys of international medical conference attendees have not strongly encouraged the development of this option.
- On the other hand, small symposia and targeted workshops and seminars can have a transcendental effect on young and established researchers.These symposia are most influential when they are present in small numbers (maybe less than forty).
- A genuine and informed exchange of information and ideas is then facilitated.
More Insight Into The Efficacy Of Large-Scale Medical Conferences Is Necessary
- Ideally, data from a major medical conference (ten to twenty thousand delegates) about –
- session attendance data (not registration but actual attendance),
- number of visitors to each poster,
- number of questions asked,
- necessary expenses to each delegate, including –
- hotel,
- total travel and
- living expenses,
- benefits received and information on arrangements for patient care in the absence of the delegate,
should be obtained and analyzed thoroughly.
- Some are trying to measure performance changes once back home, which would be interesting, although admittedly difficult to ascertain.
- Nevertheless, an analysis of the supposed intellectual and clinical benefits must be rigorously sought.
- It is probably unrealistic to seek access to the organizer’s financial data, but such information would be interesting.
- If the organizer is an academic institution, what use are the benefits of the conference for the improvement of patient care and the continuing education of doctors?
The Present State Of Medical Conferencing
- What are the CME recognition criteria?
- At present, it can be observed that the medical conference industry seems more focused on profit for the organizer and guest speakers rather than necessarily and primarily on the benefit to attendees and their clinical and academic work.
- This concern should be addressed through rigorous analysis, not opinion.
- It is, therefore, certainly time for a thorough and proper analysis of this huge industry – after all, the entire field is paying.
What You Should Think About Before Attending A Medical Conference
Medical conferences organized by renowned medical organizations and societies are a dominant feature of the academic, professional, and social aspects of all healthcare-related disciplines. These conferences come in all sizes, from comparatively small regional gatherings, workshops, and symposia to larger global mega-conferences, which mobilize tens of thousands of clinicians, research scientists, exhibitors, and employees to build small cities for a few days. The actual number of medical conferences taking place annually isn’t really known. One source suggests that over two thousand healthcare-related conferences took place in the year 2011. This included about two hundred and fifty that were online webinars and others that took place in physical locations around the world. Obviously, this list is incomplete and only represents a fraction of such conferences. An estimate of over one hundred thousand medical appointments per year may not be unrealistic if local appointments are also counted. The cumulative cost of these events in the world is impossible to assess.
Are medical conferences useful? In theory, these conferences aim to disseminate and advance medical research, upskill, educate, and shape evidence-based policy. While these are laudable goals, there is virtually no evidence to support the usefulness of most medical conferences. Conversely, there is a growing body of evidence suggesting that medical conferences may serve a particular system of questionable values that may harm medicine and health care.
Travel
- The problems start with the travel needed to attend an upcoming medical conference.
- The waste of fuel caused by participants traveling to various destinations across the country and around the world is immense, corresponding to an estimated environmental load of more than ten thousand tonnes of carbon for each average-sized international conference.
- When compared to the majority of the fossil fuel-reliant industries, though, this is just a fraction of the overall global carbon emission rate.
- However, you can always choose to attend virtual medical conferences if you are particular about cutting down on your carbon footprint.
The Dilution Of Quality Research
- The availability of a plethora of lectures promotes a mode of scientific citizenship in which mass production of abstracts, without or with cursory peer review, leads to poor resume construction.
- Although most research conferences have adopted peer review processes, the ability to judge a 150-400 word abstract is limited, and the process has more sentimental value.
- Reviewers can filter primarily names and affiliations to inform an opinion on the work.
- Such peer reviews differ from those used at equivalent engineering or computer science meetings, where full proceedings papers are presented, reviewed, and published.
- Additionally, in these sciences, post-publication review benefits from the immediate demonstration that the technology does or does not work, as opposed to the nebulous or non-existent validation of many biomedical discoveries.
- Additionally, many abstracts reported at medical conferences are never published as full-text articles, although abstract presentations may nevertheless communicate premature and sometimes inaccurate results to a wide audience.
- It has long been documented that many outcomes change when research reports undergo extensive peer review and are published as full articles.
- However, it is unclear why this data cannot be released immediately when ready, and it is unclear why it is necessary to attend a meeting away from home to hear it.
- A last-minute online virtual portal could be created for the timely dissemination of important results.
- Conferences can also create a branding system that boosts the reputation of scientists working in the field and promotes breeding after prestigious opinion leaders.
- There are already high-level medical conferences like this taking place all over the globe.
- To discover such an event, just look up our upcoming conference listing.
The Issue Of Speaker Credibility & Potential Conflicts Of Interest
- Opinion leaders are experts whose popular statements can exert great influence independently, in the absence of or even against the evidence.
- Winning the podium for a plenary presentation or important sessions at a large meeting confers prestige, even if there are few guarantees that what these star speakers say has value and quality.
- Every society and professional organization creates its cadre of leaders, with conferences making those leaders visible to members who usually participate passively by listening.
- Given the dynamics of large professional societies and conferences, leadership is sometimes judged not solely on scientific merit, the quality of one’s research work, and the authenticity of thought but instead on the ability to navigate circles of power.
- Some young scientists may even be discouraged from thinking that merit, hard work, and originality of thought are what count. Instead, they may struggle to better position themselves within influential corporations, hoping to one day earn a place on the podium in the specialized arena.
- Power and influence seem to be abundant in many of these conferences.
- It’s no surprise that the drug, device, biotech, and healthcare industries are taking full advantage of these opportunities to hire thousands of practicing physicians.
- Lush exhibits and infiltration of the science program through satellite meetings or even main sessions are typical avenues of engagement.
- Despite the fact that many conferences necessitate all speakers to disclose all potential conflicts of interest, the majority of speakers often have many conflicts of interest, as also demonstrated by empirical assessments of groups of similar experts named on author lists of influential guidelines from professional societies.
- Disclosure is for sure worthwhile, but it is unclear what factual information can be obtained from conferences in which many speakers have conflicts of interest, even if those conflicts of interest are disclosed.
- Moreover, it seems difficult for a scientific program to be objective and impartial when the management of certain professional societies is made up of individuals who have significant conflicts.
- It is even worse if these individuals have gained prominence in these organizations owing to, at least in part, that they have these relationships and these conflicts.
- To attend those medical conferences where organizers take due steps to ensure that there are no such conflicts of interest, look up our upcoming medical conference listing.
The Dissemination Of The Latest Research Insights
- In the electronic age, where information can be shared instantly around the world, the contribution of major medical conferences to the dissemination and development of medical science (and science in general) is unclear.
- Education and training can also take place outside these places. Some of the resources devoted to conferences and the extravaganzas that accompany them could be better spent on developing more effective modes of education.
- When it comes to social media, it’s unlikely doctors would visit these platforms when so many other virtual and real options abound for connecting and brainstorming with peers and experts.
- For small groups of focused researchers, face-to-face meetings can indeed be useful and indispensable.
- These small brainstorming meetings and workshops for and by scientists with specific, well-defined goals will likely require only a tiny fraction of the resources currently needed for mega-conferences.
- Some of the substantial resources for mega-conferences could be better directed to more scientifically productive research workshops.
The Future Of Medical Conferencing
Are the dinosaurs of medical conferencing doomed to extinction? The future will tell. Medical conferences will disappear if doctors stop paying attention to them, if they do not value them and if they do not attend them, and, of course, if donors do not finance them. One option is to let evolution and history take their course. However, many interests favor the maintenance of professional conferences that favour the massive Sovietization of medical disciplines. Therefore, natural selection might not be capable of operating efficiently. Eventually, some evidence should be accumulated on whether specific types of current conferencing offer advantages over other means of meeting the same needs, including social networking tools, remote conferencing, and repurposed meetings. For example, repurposed conferences could be designed to be devoted entirely to academic detail. All of their satellite exhibits and symposia would deal with how to prescribe specific interventions appropriately and how to promote low-cost, well-tested, and sure-fire pharmaceuticals. These redirected lectures could also focus on how to use fewer tests and fewer interventions or even no tests and no interventions when they are not clearly needed.
Another experiment may involve the application of stricter criteria to select organizers of medical congresses. For example, one option is to exclude from organizing committees (and also from the leadership of professional medical societies) all researchers with industry connections within the last three years.
Large professional conferences, as they are now, are perhaps the best thing about modern medicine, as claimed by many business departments in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry and most hotel chain directors. However, if there is uncertainty and balance about the usefulness or lack of usefulness of medical conferences, it may be time to perform formal studies to assess what types of meetings or other Research dissemination and education methods work best for producing excellent physicians, improving medical care, and controlling costs.
Why You Should Definitely Consider Attending An Upcoming Medical Conference
Whether it’s to network with fellow attendees, speakers, and others, raise awareness of your own research, get practical advice from experts in your specialization, or simply stay up to date with current trends in research and innovation, it’s important to attend scientific conferences.
In fact, if you haven’t participated in an international conference yet or at least thought about taking part in one, you might be missing out entirely.
Highlighted below are seven reasons why it is important to attend medical conferences.
Forging Long-Lasting Professional Relationships
- The advantages of networking in your professional field are no secret.
- Whether it’s boosting your career, giving your work exposure, or exchanging new ideas, networking is integral.
- In the medical and healthcare disciplines, where most researchers and doctors don’t have time to network online, conferences are the best.
- As the conferences are usually separate from the workplace of the participants, this opens up a lot of space to meet, discuss and brainstorm with people in the field.
- In addition, the atmosphere during the conferences is such that it promotes networking.
- Whether it’s at Q&A events, walking from booth to booth, or even in the cafeteria, medical conferences are great places to network with a variety of people in your discipline.
Gaining Recognition & Cementing Your Position As A Bonafide Domain Expert
- Presenting or even taking part in medical conferences can become a huge stepping stone in your career.
- Today, most physicians, researchers, and clinicians attend medical conferences in order to network and distribute their own expertise.
- If you’ve got years of experience or expertise, you shouldn’t hesitate to jump at the mention of lectures.
- The more people you engage, the more expertise you share, the more reputability you will gain.
- This can have a huge impact on your career development and open you up to exciting new job openings, collaboration requests, and more.
- That said, no matter which medical specialty you belong to, you must start by taking part in any forthcoming best medical conference 2024 mentioned in our listing.
- You’ll find dozens of upcoming events in a variety of medical specializations for you to choose from.
Keeping Abreast Of The Latest Medical Developments
- A typical scientific conference generally hosts numerous presentations, a couple of keynote speakers, and a number of booths or vendor presentations demonstrating the latest technologies, tools, and their efficacy in the field.
- By attending an upcoming conference 2024, you will make sure you don’t miss the most cutting-edge advances in your specialty.
- In addition, the way the conferences are organized ensures that promising work is always in the spotlight.
Level Up Your Medical Expertise
- According to one study, almost half of all physicians surveyed said they get knowledge about improving their practice from attending medical conferences.
- By listening to experts and medical professionals in your specialty, you will learn what works for them, the process they have put in place, the impact of the treatment, and much more.
- This will give you an idea of more efficacious treatment methodologies to adopt in your own practice.
- This is particularly true for oncologists, neurologists, and cardiologists, where patient-specific treatment is crucial.
- For research scholars and professors, a medical conference can prove to be a huge bank of knowledge.
- In fact, comprehensive and exhaustive note-taking is a fairly common sight at these conferences.
Raising Awareness Of Your Own Research Findings
- One of the immediate advantages of participating in a medical or healthcare conference is definitely the opportunity to get to present your own research findings to those in the same or related specialties.
- By adhering to a few easy-to-follow steps, anyone can submit an abstract and be accepted to present their paper.
- You could share preliminary results, recently collected results, or data that has not yet been published.
- Don’t forget that you’ll be presenting to professionals who have taken time away from their practice or work to learn something new and share their own expertise and ideas – it opens up numerous options.
- By presenting, you’ll not only afford your research the exposure it deserves, but you will also end up garnering invaluable feedback on your findings.
- Your audience can even ask questions or add ideas that make you see your own research in a different light.
- Also, if your work is extraordinary, medical conferences are the perfect place to find funding and potential collaborators, which brings us to the next point.
Gain Access To Funding & Publication Opportunities
- In the field of medical health, collective R&D projects, including special issues, journals, and even books, aren’t unusual.
- What better way is there to meet like-minded professionals in your specialty who are genuinely interested in your work than at scientific medical conferences?
- Whether or not you present at a medical conference, you always have the advantage of defending your work face-to-face with people in your specialty.
- The more you raise awareness about your work, the more likely you are to attract potential collaborators.
- What is better?
- With plenty of possibilities available, you have the opportunity to approach the person you think will compliment you and your work.
The Chance To Gain Knowledge From The Brightest Minds In Medicine & Healthcare
- Whether you’re a research graduate, Ph.D. student, or just starting your professional career in the field of healthcare, it can be quite reassuring to meet seasoned professionals and experts in your specialty.
- Hearing them and taking part in their Q&A sessions may just be what you require to take your own research and career forward on the right path.
- Having a one-on-one with them is a good way to take it up a notch. Although it might be nearly impossible in the real world, grabbing a one-on-one during a conference is pretty straightforward.
Whether you’re a research graduate, doctoral student, or in the middle of your established professional career, attending medical and scientific conferences can have huge positive implications for your research and career.
It’s where the brightest minds in your field meet, and there’s no reason you should miss it.
Want to stay one step ahead? Look up our listing of forthcoming medical events. Every event that’s listed is vetted to make sure it’s organized by reputable and reliable medical conference organizers who have nothing but the best interests of participants in their minds.
