Poster and Abstract Presentations at National Meetings: A Right of Passage

Introduction

In this installment of the Clinician Educator Series, Drs. Wood and Morrison provide a practical and detailed guide to presentations at national meetings. They also include what they term “the hidden curriculum” or the reasons why these presentations are important to the careers of academic palliative medicine faculty.

Presentations at national meetings provide new faculty with the opportunity to disseminate their work. Often, faculty mistakenly believe that only results of research, a randomized controlled trial, for example, are worthy of dissemination. This is not true. Educators are hungry to learn about new ways of teaching palliative care to students and residents. Likewise, clinicians are interested in the unusual case that pushes the limits of our knowledge. Presentations at national meetings provide an opportunity for valuable discussion and debate that can broaden the knowledge base in our young field and promote cross-institutional relationships and collaborations.

Recently, organizations such the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine and the Society of General Internal Medicine, recognizing the importance of these interactions, have developed opportunities specifically for educators to share their innovations in curriculum development and evaluations. Forums such as these provide a platform for faculty to build a national reputation, which is an important criterion for academy promotion for clinician educators.

The task of producing a poster or presentation for a national meeting can seem daunting at first blush. Fortunately, Drs. Wood and Morrison present an easy to follow, step-by-step approach that will ensure high-quality presentations.