全球知名医学媒体Medscape近日发表了来自丁香园的调查报告，标题为《Do Chinese Doctors Trust Their Own Meetings?》，中国医生的参会现状获得国外同行关注。
作为首个登上Medscape的中国供稿作者，这是丁香园曾经针对目前国内会议的现状，做的一个调查。结果显示：仅12.1%的医生对目前国内的学术会议比较满意。
东西方医疗体系文化理念并不相同，中国的医学会议也自然带上了“中国特色”。对于医生而言，参加一些高水平的学术会议，可以结交志同道合的人，对于自我提升也有所帮助。
但什么样的会议才能使参会者真正得到教益？
小编2012年曾经参加过一个学术会议，时值中午吃饭时间，会场内依然在进行一场手术现场远程直播。做手术的医生依然在工作，看直播的参会医生们也依然坚守会场，于是出现这样一幅神奇的场景：
前面是大屏幕直播的手术现场，鲜血淋漓；下面坐的是一群求知若渴的医生，一边扒饭一边看大屏幕。
非医学专业的人会觉得很不可思议。但医学圈的人却明白：这些参会医生需要的是汲取知识。这也正是调查中所显示的数据：86.8%的医生选择学术交流是自己参会的主要目的。
学术会议之路，任重道远。对于目前国内的学术会议，您持怎样的观点呢？您觉得国外的学术会议哪些地方值得借鉴？不妨驻足侃侃吧。
相关阅读
丁香园独家调查报告：仅12.1%的医生对目前国内的学术会议比较满意
Medscape:Do Chinese Doctors Trust Their Own Meetings?
附：Medscape原文
Do Chinese Doctors Trust Their Own Meetings?
The DXY Survey on Medical Meetings in China
Medical conferences and related events occur frequently throughout China. Attending a high-level academic meeting can help Chinese doctors build relationships with their peers and improve their professional capabilities. But what types of conferences benefit these busy professionals? Do Chinese doctors find time to attend academic meetings, and what do they believe the purpose to be of these events?
DXY.cn, the largest Chinese online academic portal, conducted an Internet-based survey asking, "What academic conferences are you anticipating attending?"During the 1-month survey, 2162 valid responses were collected and then reported.[1] Of those who responded, 58.0% were doctors located in tertiary hospitals, 27.6% in secondary hospitals, 11.4% in primary hospitals, and the rest were in other settings (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Hospital distribution of the respondents.
In regard to professional titles, about one fifth of respondents were professors or associate professors (5.4% and 17.9%, respectively), two fifths (39.9%) were attending doctors, and the rest were residents and interns (29.5% and 7.3%, respectively) (Figure 2). Over half (59.9%) of the participants had a service experience of 6 years or longer; 31.6%, 1-5 years; and 8.5%, less than 1 year.
Figure 2.
Professional title distribution of the respondents.
What Types of Meetings Do Chinese Doctors Attend and How Often?
Academic conferences are important venues for continuing medical education (CME). The survey shows that most respondents (62.3%) take part in 1-3 academic conferences every year, whereas 19.5% of the respondents attend 4-6 academic conferences annually. Notably, 14.8% of the respondents attend more than 6 academic conferences annually, which means that they participate in such events almost every 1 or 2 months on average. Only 3.4% of the respondents "never attend" (Figure 3).
Figure 3.
On average, how many times have you attended academic conferences annually in the past 2 years?
When answering the question "What is considered the optimal duration for an academic conference?", 86.5% of the respondents favor 2-3 days, while 39.2% and 47.3% prefer 2 days and 3 days respectively. Only 4.7% of the respondents think that 1 day is enough, and 8.8% chose "4 days or more" (Figure 4). A short event often is less informative, whereas a prolonged meeting can overwhelm the audience and make it difficult to arrange daily activities.
Figure 4.
What is the optimal duration for an academic conference?
The respondents were asked to select which sponsors of academic conferences were most trusted and to choose as many as applied. As shown in the survey, the vast majority (91.1%) of the respondents prefer to take part in conferences held by academic societies/associations, hospitals/departments, and colleges/scientific research institutes (accounting for 45.5%, 31.2%, and 15.2%, respectively). Only 8.1% of the respondents are more interested in events sponsored by advertising/exhibition companies (Figure 5).
Figure 5.
Which sponsors of academic conferences are most trusted by you?
Symposiums/workshops are most welcomed by doctors because they are more focused and targeted. On the contrary, about one third (34.2%) of the respondents prefer to attend national academic conferences. In keeping with academic globalization, a notable 17.6% of doctors show interest in international academic meetings. Few doctors are interested in local academic conferences and commercial events (6.6% and 0.6%, respectively) (Figure 6).
Figure 6.
What types of meetings do you prefer to attend?
Are Chinese Doctors Interested in CME?
Respondents were asked about their major purpose for attending academic events. They were allowed to choose any answer choice that applied. Most (86.8%) respondents choose "academic exchange" as their main purpose for attending academic meetings. Also, 76.2% of the respondents are willing to learn about new technologies and new products at such events. Academic meetings also can serve other functions: 47.5% of respondents attend to obtain CME credits and 31.3% go for social networking (Figure 7).
Figure 7.
What do you think is the major purpose of attending an academic event?
Normally, CME credits play an important role in academic conferences. However, more than half (55.6%) of the respondents clearly expressed that they will attend academic conferences that offer no CME credits, while 39.4% chose "it depends" and only 5.0% insist that they will not attend an academic meeting without CME credit.
An interesting question, then, is whether doctors from different tiers of hospitals have different attitudes toward academic conferences that do not offer any CME credit. The survey shows that up to 58.1% of the respondents from primary hospitals will not attend, while only 6.3% and 4% of doctors from the secondary and tertiary hospitals, respectively, chose this option, which may be explained by the fact that doctors in the secondary and tertiary hospitals have more access to CME credits. Therefore, meetings that highlight CME credits may be more popular among doctors from primary hospitals.
Will Chinese Doctors Pay Their Own Way to Conferences?
As shown in the survey, most (78.4%) respondents attended academic conferences with a registration fee below RMB 1000 yuan, 20.9% have participated in events with a registration fee of RMB 1001-3000 yuan, and only 0.7% attend those with an RMB of 3001 yuan or above (Figure 8).
Figure 8.
What is the general registration fee for attending such a conference?
In reply to the question "Are you willing to attend academic conferences at your own expenses?", only 24.0% chose "yes"; 28.2% chose "no," and 47.8% replied "it depends" (Figure 9a).
Figure 9a.
Are you willing to attend academic conferences at your own expenses?
To 87.1% of the respondents, an "acceptable self-paid expense" is "below RMB 1000 yuan"; 12.7% chose "RMB 1001-3000 yuan," and only 0.2% selected "RMB 3001 or above" (Figure 9b).
Figure 9b.
If "yes," what is an acceptable self-paid expense?
Are Chinese Doctors Satisfied With Academic Meetings Held in China?
The medical sciences have become more specialized in recent decades and so have the academic conferences. Are doctors in China satisfied with their domestic meetings? The survey respondents were invited to score the overall conditions of the domestic academic conferences using a 10-point system. The results showed that scores below 5 accounted for 20.8%, scores of 5-7 for 67.1%, and scores of 8 and above for only 12.1% (Figure 10).
Figure 10.
How do you evaluate the overall situation of domestic academic conferences? Please grade it from 0 to 10.
In a list of "areas for improvement," the options selected most frequently included repeated topics, commercialization, high charge, limited interaction, and poor organization capability (Figure 11).
Figure 11.
Are there any areas for improvement?
On the basis of the feedback from the respondents, meeting sponsors in China may consider: (1) enhancing academic inclusiveness and encouraging academic debates; (2) linking academic lectures with real-world clinical practice; (3) avoiding out-of-date information; and (4) improving the registration and receipt processes, finding a balanced point between academia and commercialization.