Confessions of a First Time Presenter

By Kristin Edwards (@KristinMDCT)I ’ve been attending theAnnual Assembly of Hospice and Palliative Care (AAHPM/HPNA) for nearly a decade, but this is the first year I presented a concurrent session. As I return to work, the glow from my 15 minutes of Friday morning fame fading away, I wanted to share a few thoughts for those who, might feel intimidated about submitting an abstract.An abstract can only be accepted if it is submitted.I spent years coming up with ideas for a presentation, but ultimately deciding they were not good enough. A trusted mentor encouraged me to submit my ideas anyway. He saw value in the process even if it meant I might get rejected. The process was an opportunity to learn what messages I wanted to share, develop the ideas fully, and receive feedback, thereby refining those messages. That said, only approximately 20% of abstracts are accepted for presentation at the AAHPM ’s Assembly, and getting the rejection can sting. It is helpful, therefore, to have an alternate plan beforehand, whether it be submission to a journal, blog, or other conference, or to rework it and submit again in the future.“I don’t have any collaborators” probably means “I haven’t reached out.”I often limited myself because I thought I didn ’t know anyone in the field with whom to collaborate, and hadn’t considered collaborating with those outside the field. Last year, when I had an idea worthy of submission, I reached out viaAAHPM Connect, an online community...
Source: Pallimed: A Hospice and Palliative Medicine Blog - Category: Palliative Care Tags: AAHPM conference Edwards HPNA Source Type: blogs