Why More Podiatric Conferences Should Offer Remote Attendance Options

One trend I have noticed in the last few weeks in my email inbox has been the invitation to watch conference programming online from the comfort of my home for free.

With the busy schedules we have, it is difficult to attend the various conferences held yearly across the country. Often, we attend our local state meeting and possibly the American Podiatric Medical Association (APMA) National meeting or the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons (ACFAS) Annual Scientific Conference every few years. These conferences are just the tip of the iceberg of what is available.

What I have found exciting recently is the ability to “attend” conferences from the convenience of a computer, being able to watch their content on-demand when I find the time. Whether it is a quick lecture before office hours start, during lunch or another break in the day, physicians are still able to continue learning whether it is refreshing our knowledge on a topic or reviewing new techniques, literature or ideas/concepts.

Some of these lecture/online conference seminars I have been emailed about in the last three weeks include:

Orthopaedic Summit (OSET) 2018 (https://orthosummit.com/). Sign up for free at FootInnovate.com. There is more content available on the website. Note: Footinnovate.com contains OSET lectures and the Baltimore Fellows Course 2013 lectures.

California Orthopaedic Association 2018 (https://coa.org/). Sign up for free at Orthobullets.com. There is more content available on the website.

American Society of Podiatric Surgeons (https://www.aspsmembers.org/). Email sign-up will offer occasional complimentary webinar participation with full membership giving you access to more video content.

It would be nice in the future for more conferences to offer this remote attendance option, whether it is free or of minimal cost. When attending a conference with multiple tracks, it is difficult to get to all the lectures one wants to attend with some tracks occurring simultaneously. If all of the lectures were recorded, the conference goers would have the ability to watch a missed lecture at another point. The organization could possibly offer all of the video content to non-conference goers for a cut rate (and no CME credit), giving anyone the ability to gain the educational experience.

Furthermore, by offering the free content, the conference might gain a new attendee due to the viewer being interested in participating in the conference on-site. After finding out about the Orthopaedic Summit conference series, I am now considering attending the meeting this December. (The conference offers specific sub-specialty registration for the grouped foot/ankle lecture content.)

Questions for discussion: Does anyone have other online resources they use for accessing video content related to foot and ankle medicine?

Dr. Hood is a fellowship-trained foot and ankle surgeon. Follow him on Twitter at @crhoodjrdpm or check out his website www.footankleresource.com, which contains information on student/resident/new practitioner transitioning, as well as links to online academic and educational resources.