Attending an in-person veterinary conference is still one of my favourite forms of continued education (and it’s not just for the free pens).
But without a strategic approach, a very real risk exists of walking away at the end of an expensive week with nothing more than a head crammed full of random facts and a bad hangover.
So, how can you make the most of your next veterinary conference?
Pick a topic…
Most conferences will have a few set themes for the week, in addition to a plethora of other topics. Pick one of the themes and make an effort to attend all of the talks on this topic.
Saturating yourself with a variety of different viewpoints and opinions on one theme will ensure you walk away with a deeper level of understanding on at least one topic.
…but be sure to mix it up
Try to attend as many non-clinical talks as possible. Learning about themes like management, leadership, communication and well-being are likely to inspire some of the biggest positive long-term changes in your career. Some of my favourite talks have been plenary sessions by people who have nothing to do with veterinary science.
Make a point of attending a few lectures on topics outside your normal sphere of interest, and even on some you dislike. It’s quite possible you’ll discover your “next big thing” in a field you had no interest in up to that point, or that a little bit of extra knowledge can make one of those things you dislike seem a bit more appealing.
Take notes, but not too many
Don’t try to rewrite the conference proceedings. Rather, listen carefully for – and note – those little gems of wisdom that are casually dropped during lectures:
- “This is the way I approach this…”
- “A trick I find works well here is…”
- “I love this little bit of equipment…”
Make sure to note anything that is completely new to you and all the things you’ve struggled with in the past.
Use technology
I take an iPad into lectures and use the Notes app that comes as standard with it.
I create a folder for that conference in “All iCloud” and make a new note in that folder for each talk I attend. You can use a combination of typed notes, photos of the lecture slides, sketches and audio to record all the information you want to refer back to.
With this technique, your notes are instantly available and easy to find on all your devices via iCloud – so, if you need to refer back to that little trick at 3am, you can simply access it from your phone.
Create an action list
I make a separate note for each conference called “Actions”. If I hear anything that makes me think “we should be doing that”, it goes on this list.
Get yourself out there
It can be tempting to just hang out with old friends at conference, or to just sneak off for an early night after a long day of lectures. This would be a huge mistake.
During a conference, you’ll be spending time mingling with a large chunk of people from your profession – many of whom are leaders in their field and all of them with something to teach you (and quite a few of them slightly drunk). Get out of your comfort zone and engage with them.
Some of the best things to happen in your career will come from interesting conversations with interesting people.
Review
All the amazing things you’ve heard at conference are useless if you don’t internalise them and apply what you’ve learned. It’s likely your lovely notes will languish on that iPad never to be looked at again if you don’t make a concerted effort to review them periodically.
I set a fortnightly reminder on my phone that says: “One thing from conference”. I’ll go through my actions list and pick one thing I’d like to work on – and I won’t tackle the next item until that thing is done.
This approach removes the risk that I’ll get back to the practice with 101 new ideas flailing around in my skull, but never actually get around to instituting a single one of them.
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