Symposia
Symposia are designed to capture a coherent set of three to five individual presentations that centre on one theme in which speakers address in depth an issue or a question of relevance. An important asset of a symposium is that it places individual experiences or research results in a broader context and allows time for interaction between the speakers and discussion amongst the group.
A Symposium starts with a chairperson who briefly introduces the focus and it is followed by at least three but no more than five individual presentations. Each Symposium ends with a concluding section that opens the discussion among the speakers and the audience.
The person who initiates the symposium proposal should consider inviting colleagues from different countries to provide an international perspective.
When submitting, the symposium abstract should be submitted as one single abstract for the whole symposium. The available time is 90 minutes.
The review criteria includes:
- Relevance and importance in advancing healthcare communication
- Innovation in healthcare communication research, teaching/assessment or policy/practice
- The proposed presentations fit together in a logical manner to address the topic (for example, offering contrasting perspectives or range of experiences/findings)
- Description of how interactivity will be fostered among speakers and with the audience
- Symposia speakers have appropriate experience/expertise to address the topic
- Impact/significance of the suggested focus as a whole.
Fields for completion within the electronic form:
The electronic form will contain 5 areas:
Title: A title of 100 characters (including spaces) or less
Author(s) details: Title, first and last names, email address, department and organisation of session chair.
Presentation Type: Symposium
Topic: You will be asked to select 1 from a list of submission topics, that best describe your work.
Body: The body of the structured abstract should be limited to 600 words including individual speaker descriptions (anything over this word limit will be automatically rejected) and should follow the categories, directions, and word limits detailed in the instructions based on category of abstract. Please ensure you have read and follow these instructions as they vary based on the category type of each abstract.
Rationale: Why is the topic important, what is its relevance for communication in health care, and what do you want to achieve?
For each speaker: A brief abstract of each speaker’s contribution, without identifying the chair or speakers by name.
Qualification of speaker: Without identifying chair or speakers by name, supply the expertise/experience of the speakers regarding the symposium topic (for example, “speaker 1 has conducted several research projects on this topic or “speaker 2 has taught and developed curriculum on this topic for over 10 years”)
A timetable: showing how the 90 minutes will be allocated for each component, e.g., chair’s introduction, presentation 1, presentation 2, presentation 3,etc, discussion among speakers, discussion with the audience and concluding thoughts.
Association Management Company and Professional Conference Organiser