Medical conferences have become a staple of professional, academic, and social life for healthcare professionals across many disciplines. These gatherings range from local community meetings to large-scale workshops and international conferences. Attendees include a wide range of professionals, from clinicians and researchers to academics and private industry representatives.
Mobilizing like-minded professionals around a common set of topics creates an optimal atmosphere for learning, discussion, and networking. When you combine that with the latest in medical news, innovation and research from experts in the field, you can see why medical conferences are a calendar staple for many professionals across the industry.
Conferences are often organized by professional associations, and include guest speakers, workshops, demonstrations, panel discussions, and exhibits. Conferences can be a great way to keep abreast of new regulations, such as federal health care reform, or changing technologies and innovations. The chance to earn Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits is often another reason to attend — many healthcare professionals are required to earn CMEs to maintain their credentials and practice.
Exploring a new city and taking a break from the daily routine is another perk of going to a medical conference. Many conferences build in social events like a chance to play at the Waldorf Astoria Golf Club at the American Medical Group Association’s (AMGA) annual conference or cocktail hours, and dinners.
In a field as vast as health care you can probably find a conference or meeting for every facet of the medical world. Here is a small sampling of the biggest, most notable conferences held annually in the United States.
Medical World Americas is a forthcoming three-day medical conference scheduled to kick off April 28, 2014 in Houston, Texas. Modeled after MEDICA, the world’s largest medical trade fair held in Germany, this conference is bound to attract top tier medical experts. Speakers and exhibitors will present medical products, equipment, and technology across the spectrum of prevention, diagnostics, therapy, and rehabilitation.
Specifics likes costs, programs and speakers are yet to be announced — you can sign up for updates here.
American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting hosts its annual meeting in March. The attendees at the 2013 71st annual meeting in Miami Beach, Florida, attended sessions ranging from live cadaver dissections to health care policies. 2014 registration fees will be announced as the meeting approaches.
The academy also hosts a five-day summer meeting, which is scheduled to kick off July 31, 2013, in New York City. Early registration is $410 and late registration is $490 for most attendees — there are reduced costs for students and office staff.
American College of Cardiology Scientific Session & Expo rotates around the country, and landed in San Francisco for the ACC.13 on March 9-1, 2013. This year the conferences focused on the transformation of cardiovascular care. Here is a list of media coverage from the 2013 event.
Registration fees range from $1,000 to $250 depending on attendee position, role and session attendance.
ACC.14 will be held in Washington, DC, from March 29-31, 2014.
Association of VA Surgeons Annual Meeting the 37th Annual Surgical Symposium will be held April 21-23, 2013, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Attendees will hear from keynote speaker Dr. Julie Freischlag, the William Halsted Professor, Chair of the Department of Surgery, and Surgeon-in-Chief at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. The agenda is listed here.
Registration is $325-400 for doctors and $200-225 for students.
The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (AVRO) Annual Meeting is considered one of the largest gathering of eye and vision researchers in the world, and will be hosted on May 5-9, 2013, in Seattle, Washington. The program for the event includes two keynote speeches, networking events, research presentations, and several social events.
Fees range from $275 to 400.
American Diabetes Association Annual Scientific Sessions will be held June 21-25, 2013, in Chicago. The conferences features over 3,000 presentations on diabetes prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Registration for ADA members is $415-500, and non-member fees range from $725 to $825.
American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting celebrates its 166th anniversary this year. President Bill Clinton will deliver the keynote address at this year’s conference, which will be held May 18-22 in San Francisco.
Attendees can select either gold or standard with registration ranging from $350 to $900.
American College of Physicians hosts the Internal Medicine conference, which will be held in San Francisco, California. from April 9 to 13. The conference features a variety of hands-on learning opportunities and courses, providing participants with the opportunity to earn 30 CME credits.
Registration is between $599 and $669.
iHT Health IT Marketing Summit hosted by the Institute for Health Technology Transformation combines the best of technology and medicine. This year’s event was held March 26-27 in San Francisco, and aimed to interrupt typical conference expectations with an agenda that included panel debates and interactive roundtables. Here is a rundown of the agenda and speakers.
Registration was $595 for the 2013 event.
Urgent Care Association of America Annual Convention will be held April 8-11, at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Orlando. The conference will feature programs on growing urgent care centers and film radiology technology, among others.
American Academy of Professional Coders National Conference is dedicated to the business side of the medical world as the nation’s largest training and credentialing organization. The conference agenda covers a host of topics in the world of codes, audits, and medical costs and revenue. This year’s event will be held April 14-17 at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando.
Registration is $845 for members and $1,145 for non-members — but that steep cost also includes a one-day admission to Disney World!
Conferences are one way the professional healthcare community stays active, informed, and engaged with the technological and policy changes in the medical field. And because they are often held during the spring or summer months in sunny vacation spots, conferences are also an enticing way to break up the day-to-day cycle of patient care.
It’s a chance to get in a little R&R and some networking while engaging with top professionals and experts in the field — a reinvigorating educational and social experience. With such a wide variety of topics, themes and cities, just about any health care professional will be able to find a conference that sparks their attention and interest.