Footnotes - Fall 2022 - 10

REFLECTIONS AND
TIPS ON ENJOYING A
SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE
AS A NON-PRESENTER
By Sharon Dei-Tumi, TUSPM Class of 2024
A few months ago, I had the privilege of
attending my first in-person podiatric medical
conference - the 2022 APMA National. This
conference was one of the things I looked
forward to attending when I matriculated at
TUSPM because I had heard a lot about how it
is designed to challenge students interested in
scholarship for the advancement of podiatric
medicine. While attending conferences was
not a foreign concept to me, the thrill of an
in-person meeting in the wake of COVID was
too much for me to ignore. However, the reality
of the financial commitment required to attend
and enjoy the conference was equally glaring.
Therefore, when the opportunity presented to
apply for the APMSA travel grant, I jumped at it!
As the day of the conference approached,
I had a peculiar feeling which I initially could
not explain. As I dug deeper, I realized it was
because for the first time in a long time, I found
myself attending a conference where I was not
a presenter. I knew that in order to maximize
my experience, I had to devise a plan of action.
The things I did which I found most effective
are as follows:
Create your personal schedule. Most
conferences if not all, have a program which
is sent out a few days before the conference.
At The National, a digital version of the entire
program was made available on the APMA
Engage app. This made it extremely convenient
to conduct a day-by-day review of sessions and
select the ones I found most interesting. By the
time I was done creating my personal schedule,
I had a fair idea of what my 4-day weekend
would look like and was more at ease. As an
added tip, I also made my schedule flexible,
so I could hang out with friends or enjoy the
amenities at the facility and the city.
Network with other attendees. Networking is
a guaranteed benefit of attending conferences.
To ensure this, many conferences strategically
include social activities in the program. At
10 footnotes
the National, these socials included a 5K
marathon, a resident and student meet-andgreet,
exhibition halls and many others. In my
opinion, these events should be your priority,
especially if you are not a presenter, because
they create opportunities to engage in genuine
conversations with different groups of people.
Personally, most of my research collaborations
and/or professional opportunities blossomed
from such interactions.
Surprise yourself. While creating my schedule,
I made it a point to include one session
that I was not immediately drawn to. One
of such sessions was the " 3C Patch Wound
Management System Dine & Demo Workshop "
led by Dr. James McGuire, a wound treatment
specialist and TUSPM clinician. During the
session, I found myself intrigued by the
discussion and ultimately decided to stay.
The bigger surprise, however, occurred a few
weeks later while on my clinical rotation with
Dr. McGuire. One of our patients was identified
as a candidate for the 3C patch, and I got to
work on them! I smiled under my mask as
I applied the patch to the wound base and
wondered if I would have been this excited
had I not attended the 3C Patch session.
Overall, I truly enjoyed my experience and
am glad I did not psych myself out of it
simply because I was not presenting. So, to
anyone considering why you should attend
a conference, especially if you don't have
research to present, I say why not? Why not
allow yourself the opportunity to see what
others are doing? Perhaps you may find
motivation or a partnership to kick start your
own research. Why not allow yourself to
interact with the giants in our field in person?
Why not allow yourself to interact directly
with the residents or residency director of the
program you are very interested in? Thanks
to the APMSA leadership, we also have the
opportunity as students to apply for travel
grants-so truly, why not?
Footnotes - Fall 2022

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