The days of online learning and ‘death by zoom’ have largely come to an end, with conferences transitioning back to face-to-face, allowing attendees to benefit from dynamic communication and networking. However, for students who don’t yet have an income and societies who receive less funding as other national organisations, virtual conferences provide the perfect solution to both parties.
Speciality conferences are known to be of great benefit for students and doctors alike as they provide an excellent opportunity to learn more about a field of medicine or surgery. Some notable benefits include:
Networking, communicating, and building connections with others
- Presenting research, posters, and oral presentations
- Career planning and exploring a variety of career paths and areas of interest.
Having previously organised and hosted the virtual South-West Paediatrics Conference in 2022, I’m familiar the limitations of online conferences. We aimed to deliver an informative, engaging, and eye-opening conference with a range of topics covering the future of ophthalmology to inspire attendees. This year we discussed switching to a face-to-face conference and concluded that for both students and speakers, it would be more feasible continue online.
Plymouth, Cardiff, Exeter, Birmingham, Cambridge, Newcastle, Sheffield, Manchester, and Southampton medical schools were involved in organising NSOC 2023. Each had representatives responsible for different roles at the conference and crucially, the dissemination of social media posts amongst their university. Our efforts culminated in 270 people registering, 160 attending, and 102 feedback forms.
Outline
The day comprised of six 35-minute seminars with 5 minutes for Q&A. A new addition this year was the oral and poster presentation session which gave attendees the opportunity to present some insightful work.
The oral presentations involved candidates presenting for seven minutes, with three minutes of questioning from attendees and judges. Poster presentations lasted three minutes with no questions, providing a variety of enlightening and informative experiences for attendees. Zain Girach and Sharmananthan Ganesananthan won the oral and poster presentations respectively and received cash prizes for their work.
This was also a great opportunity to raise money for the charity ORBIS, who carry out invaluable work across the world in fighting preventable blindness. We raised £69 for ORBIS and will continue to use our platform to support great charities in the coming years
Attendee feedback
102 forms were completed, and the data was then analysed using quantitative and qualitative analysis. Five-point Likert scores ranging between one (strongly agree) and five (strongly disagree) were used to assess three domains:
- Interest in the specialty
- Attendance amenability given the online format
- Insight into the specialty.
Most students felt the conference offered a better insight into ophthalmology, with an average score of 1.84. It was interesting to compare this statistic to the year groups who were present at the conference, 62% of whom were in the final three years of medical school. By this stage, most will have had an academic placement in ophthalmology and some exposure to the field. Therefore, the conference supplemented their current perception and explored new areas they may not have been able to previously explore.
Our national conference attracted international crowds, drawing attendees from across the world, including Georgia, Lithuania, and India. I believe we should ensure all medical students, regardless of background, medical school, or country, have equal access to ophthalmology conferences. Virtual conferences provide a solution where physical barriers are overcome. Despite the limitations, such as requiring stable internet connection and an electronic device, most found the online conference amenable, with a mean Likert score of 1.90.
Reflection
Literature highlights the limited benefit of virtual conferences, due to removing valuable elements such as engagements with speakers. First-hand experience has made me aware of these limitations, however, by having Q&A sessions, breaks where speakers asked questions, and workshops with audience engagement, we worked towards overcoming this problem. From the feedback, it was very encouraging to see attendees didn’t feel like the conference negatively impacted the engagement with speakers. This should suggest to the next NSOC organiser(s) that an online conference may not negatively affect audience engagement.
Moving on to the benefit of the conference for attendees, we organised this conference to inspire the next generation of ophthalmologists and to showcase the future of the specialty. I believe by setting out clear aims and objectives for our conference, we were able to maximise benefit for attendees, as is highlighted by the positive feedback quoted above.
On a personal level, this conference was the major goal of my final year. Organising was stressful, anxiety-inducing but very rewarding. Here are a few tips if you’re looking to organise a national or international ophthalmology conference:
- Start early: reach out to universities across the UK, making sure volunteers are keen and committed
- Clarity: Set your conference theme, aims, and objectives early
- Organisation: set deadlines, create sub-committees, and group chats
- Communication: use closed loop communication
- Check in: Don’t be afraid to check in regularly as this helps track progress
- Accountability: If someone has a role, ensure they carry it out.
Having spoken with ophthalmology consultants and trainees, they’ve highlighted to me that getting involved in organising a national conference demonstrates commitment to the specialty which is great for evidence in your portfolio and potential topics of conversation in interviews!
Conclusion
So far, this has been the most rewarding project I’ve worked on at medical school. Students from across the world benefitted thanks to the hard work of our NSOC committee. With the reflections of what can be done differently next year comes a great appreciation of this year’s success, for which the hard work of all those involved should be commended. As I near the next stage of my career starting as a medical education specialised foundation doctor, I hope to continue to create resources and events that can be used to educate and inspire the next generation of ophthalmologists.
