5 Top Conferences for Medical Professionals

A lot of the time, it’s easy to be skeptical about taking the time to attend a medical conference. After all, this generally means a lot of added work and budgeting in terms of figuring out who on your team will attend the conference, where they are going to stay, and who is going to help pick up the workload while they are away. However, conferences are well worth the time spent to attend them.

For one thing, the value of networking can’t be overstated. Conferences, in and outside of the medical field, tend to bring together not just rank-and-file workers, but the decision makers that you want to make connections with. Whether you are looking for mentorship or the chance to make partnerships down the line, you get the best chance of success by reaching out to people who are naturally motivated to excel in their fields. Medical conferences are a perfect example of this.

In addition, there’s a reason why so many important panels at conferences get covered in the news. Many experts take the chance to reveal important news and developments here because it has the most amount of eyes on things. As a result, choosing the right conference could put you in the best position possible to act and improve your practice. The key, though, is choosing the right conference to attend. Here are five standouts.

1. NatCon: Over 5,000 leaders in behavioral health came to the last NatCon Conference, held in Washington D.C. earlier this year. For next year, the event is going to take place in Nashville, and anyone who integrates behavioral health as a part of their job should consider attending. Mental health in general is getting more and more of a national spotlight, and people who visit the conference will get a chance to learn more about different healthcare innovations in this field. This includes new technology as well as integrated healthcare and practical tips to improve your practice. Different topics about policy and advocacy are also going to be up for discussion.

2. Patient Experience Conference: As every medical professional knows, putting together a positive patient experience and showing good bedtime manner are important to keep a good flow of patients coming. This is what the Patient Experience Conference covers every year. Not only are there going to be various panels and events to discuss how to better improve the patient experience in your own practice, you’re also going to be surrounded by other healthcare professionals who are looking to try and improve their own strategies. This makes a great chance to network.

3 National Health Policy Conference: In many cases, especially at the higher levels, the decisions you make as a medical professional or in a medical business are shaped by greater country-wide policy. That’s the main function of the National Health Policy Conference. Here, policy experts and decision-makers come together to take a look at some of the most important available evidence when it comes to the future of healthcare policies and coverage. In addition, experts will talk about how they formulate the research process to improve their policies.

4. MedTech Impact: MedTech Impact takes a bit of a unique spin on the classic idea of people learning about the latest developments in their field during a conference. This brings together medtech manufacturers along with people who are likely to use their products, from medical providers to investors to developers. The chief thing to discuss is the main developments in medical technology, and their potential impact down the line. This includes tech that helps with diagnosis and patient tracking as they recover.

5. CRT Meeting: CRT Meeting is one of the foremost conferences in the country when it comes to interventional cardiology, and brings in around 3,000 interventional and endovascular specialists for each annual event. As more and more CRT Meetings take place, the conference also is home to more and more notable guests and events. For example, the most recent 2018 CRT meeting featured the first live complex coronary case performed entirely by women. This marked only one of 16 live cases performed at the conference, and even more are planned for the future. The Washington, D.C. conference is actually several combined conferences, including:

•    CRT Valve & Structural
•    CRT Endovascular
•    Technology & Innovation
•    Atherosclerosis & Research
•    Nurses & Technologists

So, if you plan on attending one of these, what course of action should you take? For a start, try and prioritize what panels and events you want to see, and try to make connections with people you would like to meet well in advance. This makes sure you hit all your goals when the conference actually starts.

This is a guest blog entry.