SUCCESSFUL MEDICAL CONGRESSES
“40 years of experience have taught us that each event is different from the next in terms of aims, features and services required. Medical and scientific congresses, in particular, require special measures that should not be underestimated, but turned into strengths”
Alberto Boccanelli – Sales Manager Tecnoconference | TC Group
I. HOW TO ORGANIZE A MEDICAL CONGRESS
The organization of successful medical and scientific congresses involves several steps. What are the steps involved in organizing a congress? Let’s find out together:
1. Identifying the purpose of the medical congress
By understanding the reason for holding a medical congress, it reveals automatically how to organize it. Having your goals well in mind is essential for an event without surprises.
2. Choose the congress venue carefully
In the case of an on-site medical congress, the choice of the ideal venue must consider the aims of the congress, the space required and its location. There is no standard formula in choosing a venue, but a careful study of needs.
3. Establish the budget
Knowing exactly what budget you have means you can maximise your resources and distribute them strategically without finding yourself in a financial crunch.
4. Publicizing the medical congress
‘The medium is the message‘, so to speak. McLuhan’s motto, in this case, prompts us to choose the media for advertising the medical congress, precisely on the basis of its target audience. Hospital doctors, university professors, nurses, technicians, represent very different professional figures in terms of age and fields of application. A good rule of thumb is to identify the targeted field networks and figure out whether to make the most of new technologies or go back to the old, dear paper invitation.
5. Have a precise schedule
Having a specific timetable for both the organizational step and the conference program is of paramount importance. There are technical deadlines for each step of the event that should not be underestimated.
II. Who organizes the medical congresses
The two key figures in the organization of medical and scientific congresses are the CME Provider and the PCO (Professional Congress Organizer).
The first develop the training plans according to the national plans and manage their content; while the second, with teams of specialised technicians, effectively transform them into on-site, virtual or hybrid congresses, conferences and seminars.
What CME means
CME stands for ‘Continuing Medical Education‘ and is a program of compulsory training activities for all healthcare professionals, active in Italy since 2002. Every health professional must obtain 150 CME credits in a maximum of three years, in the form of a choice between:
– RESIDENTIAL TRAINING (RES): educational activities carried out in a physical location, such as congresses or conferences
– DISTANCE TRAINING (ODL): virtual and hybrid educational courses in which lecturer and health professional are not in the same place
– FIELD TRAINING (FSC): training carried out during on-site activity
A final multiple-choice test will verify the operators’ participation in the course, certify their efforts in achieving the objectives and provide proof of the training level reache
CME Provider
CME Providers are universities, scientific societies, institutes, health care orders and colleges, publishing houses, companies, agencies and public or private entities that are qualified to provide CME events. Providers have the objective of offering a free training programme to maintain a high level of knowledge related to the theory, practice and communication in the healthcare field for all its professionals.
PCO
The CME Provider, once the training programme has been drafted, asks for the help of a PCO for the organisation of its medical scientific congress. The Professional Congress Organiser takes care of all the organisational aspects of a medical and scientific congress. He is the sole point of reference for the Provider and a key figure for the professionals. He/she is able to meet the customer’s requirements and maintain relations with the providers. S/he never loses sight of the budget and constantly supervises the work in progress.
III. Services for successful medical congresses
Medical and Scientific congresses are a HUB for exchange between health professionals. They increasingly play a role in training that is acknowledged and validated by the CME programme. Each training format requires different technological services:
Audio, video and lighting services
The service provides all the audio, video and lighting services for a successful on-site medical congress. We pffer a service you can reply on thanks to experience, competence and expertise of its technicians as well as continuous assistance before, during and after the event.
IT services
Times, contents, technologies and operators have changed just as the needs for medical and scientific training have changed. We increasingly need up-to-date doctors who are ready for future challenges using means that don’t limit but rather provide opportunities.
Digitalization in the world of medical congresses has driven the process forward indefinitely, creating a circuit of continuous, qualified and borderless training.
Tecnoconference are the benchmark Partner in Italy for medical-scientific congresses, with a constantly evolving Congress Software Suite capable of supporting every management step. The added value of our Suite can be seen in the seamless integration of complementary software. In practice this can be seen: from the management of scientific content in presence and remotely and the production of proceedings in real time; to the display of posters in digital format; to the use of information and content on the event APP and information monitors; to the web platform for the use of CME courses and virtual events.
For more than 20 years, we have been running international medical congresses and promoting projects of excellence such as ‘EUS Skyline‘ a live online medical congress, which was broadcast with a 12-hour live surgery from no less than 18 centres on five continents. An extraordinary event that exceeded all limits and won the FCE Awards 2023 in the innovation category.
Simultaneous translation services
Simultaneous translation services are vital for all international medical and scientific congresses. At Tecnoconference, with over 40 years’ experience, we guarantee:
- teams of simultaneous interpreters specialising in specific content
- BOSCH (DCN) Next Generation equipment, the ideal solution for both small discussion groups and multilingual medical congresses thanks to its 32 channels
- certified ‘BOSCH DICENTIS Technical Specialist‘ technicians who are always up to date, thanks to annual training courses at the Bosch headquarters in Eindhoven with continuous support before, during and after the event
- cabins in accordance with the current ISO 4043/2016 standard
- seamless material preparation and coordination
IV. OUR OFFICES
With our three locations in Florence, Milan and Rome we are able to provide all types of technological services for medical and scientific congresses.
Our audio, video and lighting service consists of 600 square metres of storage in Florence, 400 square metres in Milan and a total of 600 square metres in Rome divided into two warehouses. This allows us to fulfil all kinds of requests with an above-average availability of technological material throughout Italy and Europe.
We also enjoy the advantage of having our own in-house and owned software house, which allows us to offer IT services for medical-scientific congresses that are always up-to-date and/or designed on demand.
Are you looking for services for the organization of medical and scientific congresses? Contact us for a free quote. Our team of experts will offer you services tailored to your needs without losing sight of your budget.