Benefit of Attending the Conference

Hi all,


I am thinking ahead to next year, and am wondering about the benefits of going to the OPM conference. I know that many people who have gone who are still on this site may be a bit biased (as they are likely involved in organizing them), but I just wanted non-salespitchy summary of the benefits of going. Just practical benefits that will help me in the med school application process. I presume that next year’s conference will be in DC, and it could be a good time for me to attend. But would like to know if it is worth the expense and time in the middle of the summer semester.


Thanks!

OPM is a non-profit, so I doubt you are going to get a sales pitch from anyone.


The list of this year’s speakers and their topics should be your guide. Will those topics be informative to you? Your call.


Networking is an obvious benefit and should not be overlooked in any industry. Knowing and learning from the like-minded, those who have gone before you, and industry professionals will be of great benefit to you now and in the future (after you become a MD). From a personal standpoint, the relationships forged will be a great reward.


Best wishes in reaching your professional goals!


Layne

Going to a conference does several things. The first is that you get to put a face to a screen name. If you see the people that you are interacting with online, it feels more personal. The second reason is that you can truly see that this organization is for real and not just another website that is giving you false promises.


But I believe that the most important benefit is that people seem to leave the conference with a greater fire in their belly. I have heard from people that after the conference they really hunkered down and got to work. Or, it was what it made the decision to apply to medical school more concrete.


Finally, as mentioned before networking. You cannot put a price to networking. Who would you network with? Other than the doctors and medical students that already are part of old pre meds, you can network with the various school officials that will be AT the conference. How many questions are posed on the boards about post bacc programs and past grades and the most common response is to go and talk to one of the schools. Well, here is a chance. See if you can set up a time at the conference to have a meeting with an official from the school.


As for next year’s conference. The location has already been selected but it will be announced at the conference in Chicago.

To me, the conference gives attendees specific tools that they can use to:


– make the decision about going through the process of applying to medical school


– once they decide that this is a journey they wish to undertake, give them skills about maximizing their application and chances for admission


Hope this helps.


Tara

  • Ltap93 Said:
OPM is a non-profit, so I doubt you are going to get a sales pitch from anyone.

The list of this year's speakers and their topics should be your guide. Will those topics be informative to you? Your call.



What? I can't use my used car salesman sales pitch here?

All joking aside, Why I spend the time and effort in organizing it is because I think it is worth it.

In 2003, I attended my first conference and happen to sit down next to two other people from New York and we become our support network here because of it.

Several people I know go each year as a recharge and renewal, even some of the academic advisors and presenters say that to me.

For example, Lori Haxton,Vice President of Student Service and Admissions AT Still, which has Osteopathic Schools in both Missouri and Arizona, a woman who has a schedule overflowing with commitments, asked me to please make room for her two-hour workshop "you are the admissions committee." Not some simple "here is how you fill it out" but in-depth review of about a dozen real application packets. The kind of insights you get from seeing how the "black box" of admissions works in invaluable.

Last year one of our presenters, Trena Gologan of GA-PCOM broke her foot and couldn't make it but her boss, the CEO of the Georgia Campus, John Fleischmann filled in. This year Trena is coming and her boss is too. John isn't presenting but coming just to be exhibiting his school. Imagine another conference for students where the CEO of the campus will be staffing a table.

Judy Colwell is the first person every year who sends me an email "when is the conference?" She always wants to do her presentation on the "nuts and bolts of applying" because she wants accurate information to be disseminated. She never asks for any costs of her hotel, airfare, for honorariums, for her donation of consulting hours, to be reimbursed. She is always on the forums answering questions.

I could go on with past presenters such as the head of a transplant section at NIH, an associate dean of Georgetown Medical School, or the Associate VP of Application Services at AACOM (who invited us to present at their conference this past April), but I will leave you with one.

Dr. Karen J. Nichols, president-elect of the American Osteopathic Association and Dean of the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine is coming to speak to our small group.

And I'll say, that if none of them were coming I would still go. Just the insights, supports, ideas, and all other things from the students thinking about going, currently applying, in their first two years of medical school, in their clinical rotations, picking a residency, surviving internship, and finally becoming a full fledged doc is worth it


  • gonnif Said:
  • Ltap93 Said:
OPM is a non-profit, so I doubt you are going to get a sales pitch from anyone.

The list of this year's speakers and their topics should be your guide. Will those topics be informative to you? Your call.



What? I can't use my used car salesman sales pitch here?





After your obligatory meeting with the sales manager, and if you throw in some of that rust-proof undercoating, then just tell me where to sign!!!


A few years back, I flew from Orlando to DC for the conference, and I’m very glad I did. Met some great folks, learned some great stuff. There’s a hassle and an expense associated with it, but IMHO, it’s well worth both.


The way I looked at it was that the entire process - from deciding to prereqs to med school and beyond - was going to take a lot of both time and money. The confernece was one of the better investments I made - and one of the most enjoyable, as well ;).

Thank you all for your responses. I think that you have conveyed a point that networking provides a support I hadn’t thought of. Now that I have finished my first semester of premed, I am already feeling in need of a therapist! I can see this is going to be a long haul. I will definitely try to go next summer, wherever it is. Thanks!!