anyone ever present their research at the APA?

[PeeWee137]

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just curious if anyone has experience doing this. my abstract just got accepted to the young investigator poster session at the upcoming APA. i know this is months away, but i'm just trying to find out if this is a formal presentation or you just stand by your poster and smile. last time i presented an abstract, i was told to just stand there and smile, but i was severely misinformed and i got attacked by judges asking me a million questions. therefore i'd prefer to know in advance.
while we're at it - any tips on how to navigate the APA as a med student? is there a program director meeting that i can barge in on and suck up? lol.

thanks everyone!

 

[Lauraaa]

I went last year to do the same thing - the young investigator's poster presentation. I didn't find it to be a big deal - I stood there by my poster for a hour or two and people would come up and ask me a few questions, most were very encouraging and the questions were very basic. I think if you're presenting as a med student at the APA most people understand if there are some flaws in your study, and some give you tips and contacts of people if you want to carry on your research further. Most are just appreciative of the fact that you are taking on the initiative of getting started in psychiatric research so early, as a med sudent.

Congrats! It'll be fun.

 

[PeeWee137]

thanks so much for the reply! im really excited to go to DC. should be good times!

 

[whopper]

I didn't find it to be a big deal - I stood there by my poster for a hour or two and people would come up and ask me a few questions, most were very encouraging and the questions were very basic

Agree. I did a poster at IPS. While I didn't think my own presentation was a stupendous piece of research because it was a case presentation, I thought (and I'm biased) that it was a very good case. However lots of the posters I thought weren't so interesting. One presenter did a poster where he reviewed a few badly done studies in a specific area that needs more done (I'm only withholding the topic for this guy's protection, he's desperate to get into a program), and came up with the conclusion that more studies need to be done in the area in his poster.

Several of the posters though from the young investigators, while not the CATIE trial did show some promise, and several of the presenters in the IPS poster presentations were top guys with excellent posters standing alongside the young, greener docs. So in terms of the educational experience it was excellent.

 

[danzx8]

you should defenitely know your presentation well enough to answer any possible questions. You may have 20 bypassers, whom you only need to smile to, but then you can have someone who is doing research in the same area, who will be interested to know specfic details. In such cases you may have a long discussion.
Hope this helps

 

[Lauraaa]

Another thing you might want to do is print off one-sheet copies of your poster to give to people who might be interested in your work while at the poster presentation, especially if it hasn't been published yet. That way they remember you and it's easier to maintain your contact with them.

 

[Lauraaa]

Also, I don't know if there's a "PD" meeting, but there's a big booklet of all the events and who's presenting what. If you're a third year and thinking of a couple places you might want to go, you could look up reserachers from those programs whose research you might be interested in, go chat with them at their posters, and mention your work or how you might like to collaborate in the future... couldn't hurt, and could give you some ideas on where to take your research next!

Good luck, that's very exciting!

 

[PeeWee137]

thanks for all the great ideas! i hear the APA is ginormous but i'm told they try to hold alot of events for students. so it should be fun! and DC is a fun town... 😀

 

[Hurricane]

Haven't presented at APA, but at various other conferences. In addition to being able to answer any questions, people may also ask you to "take me through it." You should practice a very brief presentation lasting only 1-3 minutes that hits the high points of your research.

Good luck!