Medical conference dress code

[ShyRonnie]

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Maybe a silly question, but oh well. I am packing for ACP 2011 and I am curious what people wear to these things. Khakis and a 2 button is what I'm planning for attending the seminars. For presenting a poster I'm packing a suit. This is my first national meeting and I figured some people on here are conference veterans. Thanks in advance!

 

[mrjohndaniels]

Not a silly question at all. I attended a regional ACP conference recently. My personal opinion is that this is a business conference, and you should wear business attire like you would in the hospital. That means a dress shirt, a tie, slacks, and a coat. I would say about half the people there were dressed that way. The other half were wearing either long-sleeved oxford shirts, and some had more casual polo shirts.

Another way to think of it is that you won't be overdressed if you dress up. You might look underdressed if you dress down. If you are going to any evening dinners, definitely dress up.

And of course, you should wear the suit for your presentation.

 

[bravotwozero]

Nope, you guys couldn't be more wrong. You should pull a Dr. Todd and come out sporting a bandanna and a banana hammock.

 

[jdh71]

Maybe a silly question, but oh well. I am packing for ACP 2011 and I am curious what people wear to these things. Khakis and a 2 button is what I'm planning for attending the seminars. For presenting a poster I'm packing a suit. This is my first national meeting and I figured some people on here are conference veterans. Thanks in advance!

That's pretty par for the course, especially from fellows, residents, and students. You'll be fine with your current choice.

 

[gutonc]

Maybe a silly question, but oh well. I am packing for ACP 2011 and I am curious what people wear to these things. Khakis and a 2 button is what I'm planning for attending the seminars. For presenting a poster I'm packing a suit. This is my first national meeting and I figured some people on here are conference veterans. Thanks in advance!

If it is a primarily clinical conference (as ACP is), your choice is fine. Slacks and button down shirt is also fine. Definitely at least a sport coat (or skirt/dress for women) for your poster...suit and tie if you have a platform presentation.

If it is primarily a scientific conference, the advice for your presentation stands, but otherwise wear whatever you want. I'm on my way back from AACR (cancer research) which is a mixed conference and the attendees wore everything ranging from suits to flip-flops and cut-offs.

Finally, if it is a surgical conference, suit all the time or you will be crucified by any attending you see there. And probably by some random a-hole you pass in the bathroom.

 

[sluggo]

Actually, for women, short skirt, heels and low-cut blouse are suggested!

 

[gutonc]

Actually, for women, short skirt, heels and low-cut blouse are suggested!

For juried presentations (especially when juried by a bunch of old white male surgeons), yes.

 

[atsai3]

Maybe a silly question, but oh well. I am packing for ACP 2011 and I am curious what people wear to these things. Khakis and a 2 button is what I'm planning for attending the seminars. For presenting a poster I'm packing a suit. This is my first national meeting and I figured some people on here are conference veterans. Thanks in advance!

At the conferences I attend, the degree of dress formality seems to be inversely correlated with the seniority of the wearer, i.e., medical students bust out the full suit, full professors wear khakis and a sweater. I have observed this to be generally true when it comes to simple conference attendance and poster presentations, and sometimes true for oral/podium presentations. For the latter, if you wear a suit, you can't go wrong.

 

[ShyRonnie]

Thanks for the tips. I went with my original plan and it has been fine. I saw one attendee in shorts and a tye-dye t-shirt that said "Hi, I'm Awesome" so I felt very adequately dressed.

In other news, ACP has been fantastic and after being out of the hospital for months (thank you 4th year) it is nice to be reminded how exciting Internal Medicine is. Breadth and depth, baby.