If You Sign Up, Show Up!

I had a marvelous time at the Scientific Assembly again this year – though the hike to the convention center put some muscles in the old calves.  Fortunately I live in a flip flop society and was smart enough to bring several pairs along for jogging through the Mandalay Bay.

Contributing to the EMRA Life After Residency was a blast and hope to do it again soon.  I heard the job fair was a confusing mad house, but strictly hearsay.

My class on CV prep had a third year of 1/3 turn out and I don’t get it.  We have a 2 hour workshop on creating an effective CV, a skill most docs lack in spades.  Those who have attended in the past 2 years gave rave reviews.  The class caps at 45 people and fills up quickly.  The most we’ve had actually turn up is this year’s 18.  Why sign-up if you’re not going to show up?  This is especially true of a course with an attendance cap.  Many people I spoke with said they wanted to come badly, but the class was closed.  There should be some sort of penalty for signing up and not showing up, particularly if you prevent others from attending.  Other than that, it’s just, well – rude!!  We’ll keep teaching it, but I think we’ll up the attendance number in the future to accomodate all these nasty no-shows!

Scientific Assembly, whether hosted by ACEP or AAEM, is such a valuable career tool.  The opportunity to meet, converse and enjoy the company of your peers is something that should be experienced as often as possible.  The ideas flow, you get to put faces to names and thank those people who have smoothed your path along the way.  Looking forward to San Francisco!