Importance of conferences for fellowship...?

[Throwawaywoop]

I'm sure this is asked every year, but how important is attending (and shmoozing at) conferences during residency (esp. during intern year) when it comes to applying to fellowships down the road? I can see how presenting a poster or running a session would obviously be a solid thing to put on a resume, but is there any value to just attending?

Basically I'm a bit conflicted because while I presented at a psych conference once in medical school and enjoyed the experience, I don't feel particularly keen on attending a conference without a concrete purpose. Truthfully, I don't see myself getting heavily involved in the organization politics and whatnot, but I'm not sure how else to stand out and show real commitment to the field....besides research, I suppose. I'd like to get involved in some sort of project before/during second year so I can perhaps present something after that, but I'm also honestly just trying to survive intern year. I've been a bit cautious about getting involved in extracurricular stuff these past 3 months because I've been focusing on just getting settled, but I don't want to have missed an opportunity to eventually have a shot at a top fellowship if it turns out I'm just following the herd and doing what everybody else does (as opposed to always trying to get ahead like the gunners, lol). Any advice? Thanks, folks!

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[NickNaylor]

Might be helpful for the purposes of networking - at least PDs might be familiar with who you are. I doubt it'd be a game changer, but as long as you're not socially awkward it could be neutral to helpful.

 

[TexasPhysician]

Not important unless you are trying for one of the few competitive fellowships like pain. If pain, you should be doing everything you can.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Most subspecialty conferences have trainee tracks, with social and networking events built in. I think they're good for learning about the field and building relationships--may help you narrow down where you want to be pursuing fellowship, or even just get you some firsthand impressions of the culture of some programs. I'd recommend it for those interested in a fellowship--but PGY2 or 3 would be more strategic than PGY1 if you can only do it once. Keep in mind though that if your goal is to present a poster or something, submission deadlines are usually at least 6 months out from the meetings, so you'll want to be planning in advance a little bit.

At this stage in your training do stuff BECAUSE YOU WANT TO, not just to accumulate gunner points.

 

[PistolPete]

Attending AACAP won't really help you get into child fellowship, unless you're presenting a poster. So don't waste your $$$ if you think just attending a conference will have a significant impact on your application.