While younger healthcare professionals tend to be more tech-savvy and thus more receptive to virtual meetings, the human element of in-person events can’t be replicated online. Fortunately, there are stories out there that prove the value that young HCPs and medical students can gain from being in front of professional colleagues to listen, ask questions, and exchange thoughts and ideas.
One such story is found in this article from Healio, detailing how an aspiring oncologist made the most of her presence at the very first medical conference she attended: The American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting.
As a foreign medical student who took a break in her studies to do a clinical rotation in Buffalo, N.Y., Andrea Anampa-Guzman paid her own way to attend the 2019 ASH annual meeting because she was interested in lymphoma research. Sure enough, she was able to meet two doctors whose material she had read online and who she wanted to engage in conversation. The result: One of those doctors is now her partner in a project to reduce physician burnout, while the other is now her research boss in the lymphoma section at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo.
For medical societies looking to boost their attendance among the under-40 contingent within their specialty, promoting a story like Anampa-Guzman’s could loosen the purse strings of those who oversee young HCPs so that they’ll show up at your event.
