CardioExchange Archive

Several Cardiology Fellows who are attending ACC.11 this week are blogging together on CardioExchange. The Fellows include Sandeep Mangalmurti, Hansie Mathelier, John Ryan (moderating and providing an outsider’s view from Chicago), Amit Shah, and Justin Vader. See the next post in this series, and check back often to learn about the biggest buzz in New Orleans.

By this stage, those traveling to New Orleans for ACC/i2 have their flights booked and accommodation arranged.

With so many different conferences going on each year, how do fellows decide which ones to attend? Do people prefer the big meetings like ACC and AHA, or would they rather attend the subspecialty conferences such as those offered by ASE, HFSA, and SCAI ? Or is it simply a matter of where their abstracts get accepted?

Most fellowship programs seem to guarantee their fellows the chance to attend at least one meeting per year. But this brings us to the most important question. As many an Irish mother would say, “These meetings are all well and good, but who is paying for all of this?” How do fellows fund the trips to these conferences? At my institution, each fellow is provided an educational allowance for the year — this can cover anything from travel and accommodation for attending conferences to tuition for courses or the cost of textbooks. At the end of the year, we each submit our receipts and get reimbursed up to a certain amount.

I know of some fellows who, when presenting research, are covered by their research group for conference costs. Perhaps someone with experience in this area can elaborate on these types of opportunities?

Other options include paying out of pocket, being supported by industry, or obtaining a travel grant. Do many fellows pursue these alternatives? How hard or easy is it for most fellows to get financial support to attend conferences?

For more of our ACC.11 coverage of late-breaking clinical trials, interviews with the authors of the most important research, and blogs from our fellows on the most interesting presentations at the meeting, check out our Coverage Roundup.