Education Forum Evaluations Indicate Success, Guide Future Improvements

By Steven Lane

The 2007 Education Forum was officially a success! In addition to the record-setting attendance — the final total was 460 attendees — conference evaluations show that 95% of conference attendees rated the meeting as “excellent” or “good.” The evaluations also provided the Association with specific information about individual sessions, which helps the Education Committee, the board of directors, and PAEA meetings staff to make improvements and plan content for future meetings. Member evaluations and comments are invaluable, and thanks are due to the 233 people (a 51% response rate) who completed the evaluation that was sent to all attendees after the meeting. This article will review some of the Education Forum data, and provide some background on various aspects of PAEA's conference planning for members who may not be familiar with this process.

The bulk of the meeting programming is the responsibility of the Education Committee, which reviews and selects proposals and schedules most of the educational sessions, and develops the format for the retreats. (See separate article on the Education Committee's activities.) In addition, the Research Institute developed a series of basic research workshops, which was well received, with each of the five sessions being rated excellent or good by at least 85% of respondents. The RI also oversaw the selection of faculty papers and posters; both the paper presentations and posters were rated excellent or good by more than 90% of respondents. Comments indicated that members would like the poster displays to be more visible and to be up for longer.

Among the special sessions, Dr. Dick Krugman's keynote address and Dr. Francis Collins's plenary sessions were the most highly highly rated, with close to 100% of respondents rating these as excellent or good (and the majority of these excellent). Dr. Collins’s presentation was part of a general focus on genetics that included several other sessions and a series of posters around the forum hotel. Sixty-eight percent of respondents said that these sessions had increased their knowledge of genomics, and more than half (52%) indicated that they planned to review their program's genomic instruction as a result of the genomics content at the meeting.

A major change this year was in the design of the program. PAEA communications staff worked with a professional design firm to develop a new program design, and considerable thought was given to finding ways to present the information in an accessible, readable, and attractive way. The Education Forum includes several different kinds of sessions, some of which are presented simultaneously, so clear presentation is key. The new at-a-glance grids were appreciated, and overall more than half of respondents rated the new program “excellent” and 92% good or better.

Forum attendees represented a wide range of programs and faculty positions. One hundred and twenty-two (88%) of PAEA's 139 member programs were represented, the highest number of any Education Forum. Among faculty positions, 25% of attendees described themselves as faculty, 21% were program directors, 18% clinical coordinators, and 12% academic coordinators. Many attendees were relatively new faculty: 11% indicated having been in PA education less than one year and 34% less than three years. More than one quarter (27%) of respondents were attending their first Education Forum.

Evaluations scores and open-ended comments identified some areas for improvement next year. Among these are the retreats and consortium meetings, and the motion discussion session, a new session designed to provide an opportunity for debate on motions prior to the business meeting. Changes will considered for all of these sessions for next year. And the message was heard loud and clear about the Awards Luncheon. We will look for ways to shorten it next year, perhaps by putting more of the material into a printed program. (Please note, however, that Dr. Collins’s presentation was not delayed by the luncheon running long, although the break between these sessions was shortened.)

Finally, the conference evaluations also provide valuable information on why faculty attend the Annual Education Forum and their preferences about locations. The leading reason for faculty to attend the forum continues to be program funding — 79% of respondents selected this as a factor — followed closely by the educational programming (77%). Networking opportunities are also important (52%), as well as acceptance of a conference proposal (41%). Perhaps surprisingly, only 15% of respondents considered proximity of the forum to the PA program an important factor in the decision to attend. In terms of selecting the conference city, the responses were less definitive, with a wide range given. The most important factor, selected as one of the top three of eight possible reasons by nearly 70% of respondents, was “hotel accommodation and food costs.” However, the single factor selected as most important by the highest percentage of people (25% chose this as number 1) was “self-contained hotel and meeting location with onsite activities/attractions.” These facilities tend to have higher food costs. Flight costs and proximity of the hotel to the airport were also considered important by many respondents.

Almost every decision about the Education Forum involves trade-offs. Self-contained resorts provide on-site amenities, but are more expensive. Smaller cities have less expensive hotels, but can be harder to fly into. To add time to a particular session means either taking time away from another session or running more sessions simultaneously. Adding another day to the meeting is one solution, but this would add expense as well as increase the time that faculty are away from their programs. Additional coffee breaks and meals are appreciated, but naturally this adds to the cost.

Conference evaluations and other feedback are considered very carefully as decisions are made about the next year’s forum. Please keep it coming.