Presenting as a medical student
Presenting at a medical or scientific conference is a great way of disseminating the research you have undertaken. Presentations are grouped into two categories: poster and oral presentations. Posters are normally of A0 or A1 size and present information in a visually appealing manner. Oral presentations involve a you standing in front of the conference audience and presenting your research, normally with the aid of Powerpoint. Oral presentations tend to carry more weight on your CV than poster presentations, as they are more difficult to get accepted.
Producing the poster (adapted from www.surgicalinterview.co.uk)
Posters are normally created using Powerpoint or Keynote. Your poster will be one of many posters in a room competing for attention so it is important to make it stand out. Avoid unnecessary detail and space out your text, using relevant and clear graphs and images. We'd recommend a light background with uniformly coloured text and a matt rather than glossy finish.
On Powerpoint select Page Setup from the File menu. Set up your page dimensions according to your poster size—for example, to 118×84 cm for A0 size. Click the right mousebutton and activate the Ruler; and from the Grid and Guides option in this section, select “Display guides on screen”. This will orient you spatially. Move the guides around to divide the page into different sections. If you hold down control and click on a guide, you can duplicate it and create as many vertical or horizontal divisions as you need. These guides will not appear in print. Your page is now set up, and you can start placing your items.
Use Zoom from the View menu to alter the viewing size. Viewing at 33% for an A0 size poster, for instance, will enable you to work with ease. Choose the Fit option from the same menu to view the poster as a single slide or 100% to see what it will look like full size. Text can be typed or copy and pasted into text boxes.
All pictures, tables, and graphic images can be formatted in Powerpoint. To format an image, click on it and then move, size, and rotate it. Enlarge or reduce images by dragging their corners, rather than the middle of their edges, which will stretch them. Select Format after a right mouse click to alter colours, margins, and so on. For graphs imported from graphics packages, double click and then you can format separate elements. Use Text Box and Arrow on the drawing toolbar to label images. Images are best in TIFF or JPEG formats (choose them in the Save As box in your graphics package). Import images into Powerpoint using Insert, rather than by copy and pasting, to ensure better quality.
Aim for 300 dots per inch resolution at the very minimum for your images. For instance, if you wish to print an image 10 cm wide, the pixel (picture element or dot) width should be at least 4×300=1200 pixels. Remember that if you set your poster size to 50% when viewing it on your screen, your images will be twice as large when printed. No matter how good the quality of the printer it can only produce what it digitally sees. NB Copying items from the web is illegal without the express permission of the owner and litigation could ensue.
Most universities, hospitals and high street graphics stores will have facilities for making A0 or A1 posters from your draft. You will need professional printing and laminating services which will likely involve a small fee.
A poster normally consists of these sections:
Oral presentation
An oral presentation is a 5-10 Powerpoint presentation given by the author on their study, followed by questions. It shares similarities in structure with the poster presentation and will normally contain the same sections and information, but also allows you an opportunity to highlight features of the work to promote academic discusion among the experts in the room. It can be stressful, but with the correct preparation and practice, should become an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
The sections listed above for posters are the same for the oral presentation. Simply use a slide or two for each section.
Here are a list of "dos and don'ts" for an oral presentation:
- Do use an image, graph or table on every slide.
- Do keep the amount of text to a minimum.
- Don't read from the slides. You can have notes on paper in front of you if you need to. Ideally, the slide should support what you are saying rather than be a script that both you and the audience are reading at different speeds.
- Do practice several times before the real thing (in front of friends and the people you carried out the study with).
- Do use nervousness to add “freshness” or “excitement” to your talk.
- Do keep your head up and make eye contact with audience members in all corners of the room.
- Don't continually look at the moderator: you are presenting to the audience.
- Don't be afraid of letting your personality come out during the talk. Enthusiasm will keep the audience's attention better than the most exciting of images.
- Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know" if you are asked a question that you are unsure of the answer. Often your senior colleague will be in the audience to lend a helping hand.
Presenting as a medical student can be daunting, but remember that you will certainly be treated sympathetically by your audience, so don't worry if something goes wrong. Take a look at TED medical for examples of inspiring speakers.
Producing the poster (adapted from www.surgicalinterview.co.uk)
Posters are normally created using Powerpoint or Keynote. Your poster will be one of many posters in a room competing for attention so it is important to make it stand out. Avoid unnecessary detail and space out your text, using relevant and clear graphs and images. We'd recommend a light background with uniformly coloured text and a matt rather than glossy finish.
On Powerpoint select Page Setup from the File menu. Set up your page dimensions according to your poster size—for example, to 118×84 cm for A0 size. Click the right mousebutton and activate the Ruler; and from the Grid and Guides option in this section, select “Display guides on screen”. This will orient you spatially. Move the guides around to divide the page into different sections. If you hold down control and click on a guide, you can duplicate it and create as many vertical or horizontal divisions as you need. These guides will not appear in print. Your page is now set up, and you can start placing your items.
Use Zoom from the View menu to alter the viewing size. Viewing at 33% for an A0 size poster, for instance, will enable you to work with ease. Choose the Fit option from the same menu to view the poster as a single slide or 100% to see what it will look like full size. Text can be typed or copy and pasted into text boxes.
All pictures, tables, and graphic images can be formatted in Powerpoint. To format an image, click on it and then move, size, and rotate it. Enlarge or reduce images by dragging their corners, rather than the middle of their edges, which will stretch them. Select Format after a right mouse click to alter colours, margins, and so on. For graphs imported from graphics packages, double click and then you can format separate elements. Use Text Box and Arrow on the drawing toolbar to label images. Images are best in TIFF or JPEG formats (choose them in the Save As box in your graphics package). Import images into Powerpoint using Insert, rather than by copy and pasting, to ensure better quality.
Aim for 300 dots per inch resolution at the very minimum for your images. For instance, if you wish to print an image 10 cm wide, the pixel (picture element or dot) width should be at least 4×300=1200 pixels. Remember that if you set your poster size to 50% when viewing it on your screen, your images will be twice as large when printed. No matter how good the quality of the printer it can only produce what it digitally sees. NB Copying items from the web is illegal without the express permission of the owner and litigation could ensue.
Most universities, hospitals and high street graphics stores will have facilities for making A0 or A1 posters from your draft. You will need professional printing and laminating services which will likely involve a small fee.
A poster normally consists of these sections:
- A Title - like a newspaper heading, it should be relevant and punchy to attract the readers initial attention and emphasise the poster's key message. They are usually 35-45 characters long and should be twice the font size used in the body.
- Below the title is the authors names and contact details of the main presenter.
- Introduction - in as few words as possible tell the reader what your poster is about. It should generate interest and highlight the important features of the study.
- Methods - includes the study design, population, how the study was done, and the statistics used. NB Body text should be legible from 1-1.5m away.
- Results - normally your most prominent section as this is what you want to tell people about. It's a good idea to use graphs and tables to cut down the volume of text and present your results effectively.
- Conclusions - the first section people look at after the title. Your conclusion should briefly state the hypothesis you were testing and whether your results supports it or not. Try to give a clear message, highlighting anything interesting your study demonstrated and the take home message you want to convey.
- References - should follow standard reference format, be kept to a minimum and are normally located at the bottom in a smaller font.
Oral presentation
An oral presentation is a 5-10 Powerpoint presentation given by the author on their study, followed by questions. It shares similarities in structure with the poster presentation and will normally contain the same sections and information, but also allows you an opportunity to highlight features of the work to promote academic discusion among the experts in the room. It can be stressful, but with the correct preparation and practice, should become an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
The sections listed above for posters are the same for the oral presentation. Simply use a slide or two for each section.
Here are a list of "dos and don'ts" for an oral presentation:
- Do use an image, graph or table on every slide.
- Do keep the amount of text to a minimum.
- Don't read from the slides. You can have notes on paper in front of you if you need to. Ideally, the slide should support what you are saying rather than be a script that both you and the audience are reading at different speeds.
- Do practice several times before the real thing (in front of friends and the people you carried out the study with).
- Do use nervousness to add “freshness” or “excitement” to your talk.
- Do keep your head up and make eye contact with audience members in all corners of the room.
- Don't continually look at the moderator: you are presenting to the audience.
- Don't be afraid of letting your personality come out during the talk. Enthusiasm will keep the audience's attention better than the most exciting of images.
- Don't be afraid to say, "I don't know" if you are asked a question that you are unsure of the answer. Often your senior colleague will be in the audience to lend a helping hand.
Presenting as a medical student can be daunting, but remember that you will certainly be treated sympathetically by your audience, so don't worry if something goes wrong. Take a look at TED medical for examples of inspiring speakers.