Importance of Research Presentations

[It's Over 9000!]

I'm a 3rd year medical student who was a co-author on a neurology paper and invited to present at a neurology research conference. However the issue is that I would be missing 3-5 days of my psychiatry rotation (that I can potentially make up), and it would cost quite a bit of money to fly over there. I am also most interested in psychiatry for residency.

Would it be advisable to take the days off for this conference? Or if anyone has any experience with this, is it fairly easy to contact more local conferences and present there?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[NotaCop]

No, psych doesn’t care much about research so if that much time/energy is required just skip the presentation. You’ll match fine without it.

That being said, if you can get the school to foot your travel bill absolutely go for it. Nobody will give you flak for missing the days to present research, and you’ll enjoy the trip and experience.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I agree that you should look into whether your school would pay for your travel, or if the senior author might chip in some money.

Psych doesn't overly care about research, but it certainly doesn't hurt, and if there's any part of you that thinks you might want to stay in academics then these kinds of presentations can stick on your CV forever.

 

[operaman]

Yeah also chiming in to say go if they will pay for it. There are few things you can do as a student that still look good on a CV as an attending. Research is one of them.

You’re also learning a valuable skill in how to present research to others. Many prominent researchers still struggle with this too; it’s a life long learning process and starting now will only make you better later.

 

[GoSpursGo]

I also have to say, there's no way you "have" to stay for 3-5 days. If you're only presenting on one day and nobody is paying for you to go, it's totally fair game to just come in the night before and leave immediately after. It's not a psych conference so you're not going to do much networking, nor are the talks likely to be tailored to your interests. Get in, give your presentation, get feedback (an underrated part of all this beyond checking a box on your CV--it'll make your next presentation better), and get out.

 

[Piglet2020]

I also have to say, there's no way you "have" to stay for 3-5 days. If you're only presenting on one day and nobody is paying for you to go, it's totally fair game to just come in the night before and leave immediately after. It's not a psych conference so you're not going to do much networking, nor are the talks likely to be tailored to your interests. Get in, give your presentation, get feedback (an underrated part of all this beyond checking a box on your CV--it'll make your next presentation better), and get out.

I’m in a similar situation but getting free transportation to the conference. It’s about 3 days but if I present on the first day, how bad would it be if I dont attend the other 2 days and study elsewhere?

 

[GoSpursGo]

I’m in a similar situation but getting free transportation to the conference. It’s about 3 days but if I present on the first day, how bad would it be if I dont attend the other 2 days and study elsewhere?

Depends what you mean. If your school is paying for you to go then they shouldn't really care how many days you stay.

If you won a travel award from the group putting on the conference, it may specify you're supposed to attend for at least X days and give some sort of report on your experience. If that's the case you should probably follow what the award specifies, and your school should be happy to support you attending if you were fortunate enough to win an award.