Professional Congress Organizers who invest in quality and understand the value of high-end education have showcased their adaptiveness and active response to the needs of the Scientific & Science Community. Continuing Medical Education as a key element and tool to a multi-level network of education, professional as well as personal development, is identified as top priority in future strategies focusing on the design of customized scientific meetings, offering a strong element on interaction and engagement.
PCOs can offer all available resources to accommodate such needs. More precisely in the field of Surgery, a variety of interactive and engaging educational sessions can provide young HCPs the opportunity to be educated quickly and efficiently in new trends and techniques. This form of scientific education showcases a high-increase and demand in the last years and has the capacity to perform at a higher level with the support of event organizers, in collaboration with scientific & research institutions.
The art of engaging Health Care Professionals through interactive learning experiences
The NoDE Institute example
Research has found that interactive sessions and hands-on exercises are particularly effective in engaging participants, young scientists, and students and in enhancing their learning experience. The inclusion of practical stations with surgical simulators, models, or cadavers allows young surgeons to practice the newly learned techniques under the supervision of experienced faculty. This active participation and real-time feedback contribute to the development of their surgical skills.
An example of a leader in the field of continuing medical education and interactive knowledge in the field of surgery, providing an innovative service, is NoDE Institute, based in Athens, Greece.
Τoday, at a time when developments in medicine, especially in surgery, are progressing rapidly, NoDE offers opportunities for continued education and training in state-of-the-art knowhow, so that both doctors and patients have access to the latest medical developments and the benefits of specialized surgical expertise in Greece and beyond. NoDE is the only non-profit educational organization in Greece to systematically offer labs for hands-on surgical workshops using fresh cadaveric models for surgery. AFEA proudly supports NoDE in the organizational element of all its activities, through a long-term partnership.
Education is an unending process exploring new possibilities. Lifelong learning and continued easy-access training in advanced applications and cutting-edge methodologies allow NoDE to stay abreast of medical advances and offer the best possible care to patients.
The digital reality and remote access to new knowledge have changed the balances in high-end education and it really takes serious discipline to sit still and give ear to what someone has to say.
It is important to make the task of listening and learning easier on our audiences by actively engaging them, and this can be achieved through the new forms of interactive educational sessions presented in this article.
There is a variety of elements which can be implemented in these training models, which can achieve audience interaction, participation, and engagement, such as the training on next generation virtual reality systems, live surgeries, training programs, continuing medical education, advanced cadaveric courses, observerships, hands on courses in collaboration with experimental research centers, interactive talks, as well as live cases observations. All the above are very efficiently implemented by NoDE institute.
Especially, in the case of hand-on workshops, experience has shown that they intend to have positive effects on the engagement and effective learning for young surgeons.
Let’s shift our focus
Meeting Planners and the entire Meetings Industry should never stop exploring new methods of attracting the attendee’s attention, when it comes to designing and delivering upscale education in collaboration with their clients, Organizations, and Institutions. It all comes down to improving the skillset and the experience of the attendees and in general our audiences, by moving beyong the traditional meeting formats.
In the process to shape the future of meetings, we should shift our attention to new forms of educational meetings, adapting to practical, interactive training, empowering engagement and interaction of participants, especially when it comes to young professionals. The global Meetings Industry and especially the IAPCO Community can offer the expertise, quality, commitment, and professional support to this direction.
An OnPoint Article by AFEA for IAPCO by:
Sissi Lygnou, CEO, AFEA
Martha Kornarou, Senior Project Manager, PCO Services, AFEA
Elena Fifi, Digital Marketing Specialist, AFEA
The NoDE Institute, Greece
