"Many national biomedical conferences offer programs for undergraduates as part of their main conference. For instance, the American Society of Hematology organizes a full day of events and activities for trainees prior to its annual main conference and the American Society of Cell Biology runs an undergraduate research poster competition. A wide array of regional, national, and international conferences occur throughout the year in every medical and scientific topic imaginable so students should ask their research adviser about which conferences would be the most relevant for them and their work.
You can participate in a meaningful exchange of ideas with veteran practitioners and researchers. Students who have made significant progress in their research should also consider participating in a conference’s general scientific session, where researchers present their findings as posters or oral presentations." …
I’m sorry. I’m still giggling at the concept of researchers and veteran physicians who are presenting at said conference interacting meaningfully with undergrads…
However, if the cost of attending the conference is right (i.e. FREE – attendance & travel fees are paid for through a grant from the student’s university or if the conference is local) then attending might be worthwhile for the average non-MD/PhD applicant.
Or that winning an award for a poster is impressive. The author is a med student at Stanford. If her point (across several articles) is to engage in the field, fine. But that’s not earth shattering.
Was also thinking of the significant expense for an undergraduate to attend these meetings. With $7400 as the number most recently cited as the cost of the interviewing season, attending a conference would be an unaffordable luxury for almost all applicants.