subject: Medical Conferences-Can we afford them financially and environmentally? [print this page] Continuing medical education (CME)has been for several years now a requisite to maintain certification and licensing for healthcare providersin the United States of America and some countries around the globe. Health care providers traditionally procured their CME required CME hours by attending face to face conferences locally, nationally and internalionally. The changing economy and developing techonology introduces questions about the current validity of these conferences. Years past physicians would attend conferences in their suits and converse among themselves and with experts to gain knowledge. Slide carousels would whirr in the darkened rooms as the scientists and physicians listened intently and participated in a heated question and answer session.
Changing technology made the slide carousels obsolete, it is laptop computers and powerpoint presentation. When a physician or a scientist wanted to show a video they have to lug along their laptop loaded with the presentation with embedded vedios. The universal serial bus (USB) devices with their gigantic storage capacities made lugging personal laptops by the presenters old fashioned. Now they can load their presentations loaded on to their large capacity storage devices and make their presentations jazzy with embedded movies without carrying a personal portable computer.Expanding bandwidth anddata transmission speeds on the internet helpedvirtual conferences gain some traction. Recent advances in the video and audio transmission technologies amalgamated with web conferencing made virtual conferencing a reality.
In addtion to the challenging economic conditions, and emerging technologies, environmental awarness also questioned the validity of face to face to face conferences. There are editorials in British Medical Journal (www.BMJ.com) questioning the impact of conference travel on the overall carbon foot print. Cochrance Collaboration among many other medical societies started doing their conferences electronically and meeting only for the larger conventions and allowing scientists to attend virtually. The concerns of the exapanding carbon foot print of the medical and scientific conferences along with increasing technology and shrinking healthcare finances virtual conferencing is becoming a reality.
At the same time finding these conferences to attend has become a challenge. A unique portal on the webnamed www.MeetingPedia.com was created with travel plans relating to the professional enhancement needs as the focus.Thisportalcanlocate the most desirable and required medical and scientific meetings. This meeting list appears to be ever fresh and expanding.All the work seemed to have been done for the potential conference attendees and served on the platinumplatter! This poral claims that all they need to do is to review andpick a meeting to attend.A one stop web spot to locatethe conference youwould like to attend andmake the travel plans with their innovativeplan your travel. Itautomatically displays the hotels closest to the meeting venue, taking the guess work out.
Meetingpedia arguges that inspite the challenges in the currenteconomy, and impact on the carbon foot print for most of usattending the conferencesis just not all work. Sometimes our families accompany us on our professional meetings. Attendees and their familiesafter ahard day on the trail, snorkeling, or skiing, locate the best restaurant to satisfy their appetite. Another feature of the www.Meetingpedia.com is the ability to discuss the medical meetings enabling the attendees to discuss conferences after their return to their homes. Increasing and clarifying their knowledge base.
Such portals also pave the way to list virtual meetings for the scientists tolocate andparticipate without financialburden to their corporationsand environmental burden to the globe.
Medical Conferences-Can we afford them financially and environmentally?
