519 - How Conference Cash Improved Conference Attendance

Monday, May 1, 2023

9:30 AM – 11:30 AM ET

Poster Number: 519
Publication Number: 519.424

Collette M. Tilly, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; Maria Serrano, UAMS, Little Rock, AR, United States; Brittany Witt, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States; Pratheepa Ravikumar, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; Reid A. Counce, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, United States; Hannah Barkley, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States; David L. Becton, UAMS/Arkansas Childrens Hospital, Little Rock, AR, United States; Rebecca Perin, UAMS, Little Rock, AR, United States; Joana Mack, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine, Little Rock, AR, United States

Presenting Author(s)

Collette M. Tilly, MD (she/her/hers)

Resident Physician
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences College of Medicine
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Background: Trainee attendance at conferences as part of their education curriculum significantly declined secondary to social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. With abysmal participation in the education curriculum - despite a shift from virtual to in-person conference - came a significant decrease in our academic center’s pediatric board examination pass rate. An incentive program was implemented to address the decline in conference attendance.

Objective: The objective was to create a points system to reward trainees who attended conferences while actively engaging learners and improving exposure to board-style questions.

Design/Methods: This IRB-exempt quality improvement project was conducted at a single academic hospital which included pediatric and internal medicine-pediatric residents. Participation was optional. Data reflected in this abstract was collected from July 2022 to December 2022. Attendance and participation of board style questions were collected through RedCap. Participants received five points for correctly answering the board-style question. If the answer to the question was incorrect or no question was available, the participant received one point for attending conference. Participants could use the “conference cash” that they earned to “cash in” and “collect” their prize. Monthly prizes were also given to help facilitate “buy in” for this incentive program.

Participants were also given an anonymous pre-survey which included questions regarding conference attendance, barriers to attendance, and resident wellness. At the 6-month interval, the “conference cash” program was evaluated with another anonymous survey to the participants.

Results:

During the initial 6-month period of implementation, 2693 attendance entries were collected. 93 out of 95 trainees participated. Points ranged from 0 to 225. No participant has collected a prize yet due to the low accumulation of points. The pre- and post-intervention survey showed the following: Only 25% of trainees felt somewhat unprepared or very unprepared compared to 54.3% prior to conference cash implementation. Morning report attendance increased from 77% to 81.3% while noon conference attendance increased from 57.1 to 62.5%. Overall, 62.5% of trainees felt that the Conference Cash program had a beneficial effect on their resident education.

Conclusion(s): A single yet versatile data collection tool streamlines the collection of learner attendance in an efficient and timely manner. Focusing resident education on board-style preparation while offering incentives increases conference attendance.