“You’re on mute:” How to organise a virtual medical conference

‘Choose Psychiatry’ goes virtual: experiences and learning from the online 2020 National Psychiatry Summer School

“…COVID-19 created a need for online educational learning. 2 Our survey data showed that the 2020 National Psychiatry Summer School had a positive impact on attendees’ perceptions of psychiatry as a career choice, and demonstrated how virtual medical education events can successfully engage large audiences while simultaneously reducing the historical geographical and financial barriers to beyond-curriculum teaching. The survey showed that the virtual format was positively received by our attendees.…”

“…COVID-19 created a need for online educational learning. 2 Our survey data showed that the 2020 National Psychiatry…”

“… 1 Online conferences have become the ‘new normal’, providing numerous new challenges and opportunities for medical education. 2 ‘Choose Psychiatry’ initiatives by the Royal College of Psychiatrists (RCPsych) have also adapted to these changes. The National Psychiatry Summer School (NPSS) was one such event, planned from the outset as a virtual event with RCPsych sponsorship and successfully hosted online over 2 days in July 2020.…”

Digital literacy in contemporary mental healthcare: electronic patient records, outcome measurements and social media

“…The organisers were further able to tap into a wider group of speakers, who could now address the conference from their own home or workplace (Vinchenzo 2022). Noteworthy in our opinion is that this event was arranged and run by two medical students, with some support from the RCPsych, and they have provided details of their learning for others (Nabavi 2020). No doubt many of us nevertheless miss the face-to-face aspects of such events and the networking, which is harder to replicate virtually.…”

Seeking inspiration at the end of a turbulent year

“…Even as I write, we’re learning of a newly identified variant of the virus 4. If you are looking to share knowledge yourself with your peers, through a medical school or society, you may want to read “You’re on mute,” which provides tips on organising virtual medical conferences 5…”