One of them is definitely going to be attending conferences.
For some reason, I have never really been to a proper conference before. I could have gone in my past profession, but I already knew that I wanted something else, so spending money traveling and attending these as well as taking leave was not something I wanted to do. There was also the issue that for the first couple of years I was working, I was quite junior on staff in a department that preferred letting their more senior staff attend.
I got to go to weekend educational sessions, which I always enjoyed.
As a medical student, we have had the AMSA conference every year, but to be blunt, this seems to be more of a massive week-long party than a genuine educational event, and I could never make it a priority. I am older, in an established relationship, and am an introvert, so the AMSA conference seems like my idea of a nightmare.
Next year the AMSA conference is going to be in Hobart. I'm seriously thinking of going down to Hobart the week before, for the Global Health Conference. I have relatives in Hobart who I could stay with for a week who live in the centre of town. It would be nice to get away and attend this. It also doesn't cost the earth, which has been another prohibitive factor in potentially attending these things as a student.
It is something worth thinking about.
I am also wanting to attend at least one conference in my intern year. I'll just have to find one to attend before I put in my leave preferences for intern year so that they hopefully match up.
What is it about conferences that I'm looking forward to? I'm not sure. Things are so shiny and well-presented most of the time. You get to spend your whole day focusing on areas that you are interested in. If you are lucky and they haven't changed the laws yet, there may be freebies from sponsors.
I'll have to see what it is really like when I get there in 2011.
2 comments:
This introvert attended the GHC and spurned Convention. The GHC was wonderful! It was a meaningful and sometimes challenging way to spend 3 days, and it put our absurdly privilaged medical system into perspective. I hope you'll get the chance to go for it!
Thanks for letting me know that you enjoyed it. Hopefully I'll be able to get there. :)
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