Conferences

Tips for Getting Approval to Attend the Medical Student Educators Development Institute

Be Prepared. Review the Talking Points Below:

• Explain what you plan to get out of attending and how that will benefit your work, organization and patients.
• Act like you sincerely want to go.  Say so.
• Assure your supervisor (or approving person) that you are committed to the organization and you want to learn to contribute more. 
• You will make huge personal career gains by participating in the institute, but this is not the primary benefit to your employer.  
• Emphasize that they are putting resources toward the organization’s faculty, not toward you personally.Offer to prepare and deliver a short presentation and Q&A to your colleagues to share what you learned. That way others on faculty at your department will get the benefits of your attendance, too.
• Find your favorite conference session handouts and presentations on the STFM Resource Library and share them with your colleagues. 
• Be ready with a plan that shows some options for coverage while you are attending the conference.
• Offer to share a room to reduce hotel expenses.

Facts to Share With Your Supervisor:

• For the investment, the institute will provide me with more experience and skill development than most professional development opportunities.  
• Conferences are a terrific educational experience but the consistency of working with the same faulty, mentor and colleagues for an entire year will create a synergy that is more valuable than one-time conference attendance.
• In the long term, my participation in the institute will be financially beneficial to the organization. The grant writing and negotiation skills alone can increase my ability to bring us new revenue and resources.