Maynard Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Our class is going to be organizing a trip to the conference for interested first-year students. A lot of the online information on the conference is vague and it's hard to figure out what exactly there is to do there. For the people who've been there before, was there a lot for students to do? Do you feel like it's worth dropping a few hundred dollars for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UGoLong Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 You don't need the CME, but there are some excellent speakers. You will never see more PAs in one place and you can network. There are employers there as well (or were, the last time I went). I went to my state's PA conference when I was a student and enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted February 10, 2016 Moderator Share Posted February 10, 2016 the exhibit hall alone is worth the price of admission as a student. tons of recruiters there if you don't have job lined up yet. I went as a student and found it worthwhile. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dphy83 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 I went as a student to last year's conference, and I'd recommend going for a few reasons: 1) The lectures were enjoyable. It was nice to sit and listen to people speak and not be concerned about an exam on the subject matter - you get enough of that during didactics. 2) It will give you an idea if you want to use CME time and money for future AAPA conferences when you are practicing and can actually earn CME credit 3) Networking and job prospects (as mentioned by UGoLong and EMEDPA) 4) It's a good opportunity to unwind with some classmates in a different city. Dinner, drinks, site-seeing, culture, whatever. 5) Not sure how literal you were, but if you can go to the conference for a "few hundred dollars," I would jump on that. When I went, I spent way more than that on my flight, hotel, registration, and leisure activities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator EMEDPA Posted February 12, 2016 Moderator Share Posted February 12, 2016 DO NOT stay at the official conference ctr unless someone else is footing the bill. I usually stay a few blocks away at perfectly nice places for 1/2 the cost... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cordelia*8 Posted February 12, 2016 Share Posted February 12, 2016 One of the many selling points for the program I'll begin in just a few months is that our whole class will attend, and the cost is covered by tuition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlumsden Posted March 6, 2016 Share Posted March 6, 2016 I went to the AAPA conference in San Francisco as a first year student. It made the hell week of finals really, really stressful, but I think it was worth it. Some of the lectures were great, and it was nice to hear material presented differently than it had been presented in class. Also, there are presentations helpful for a new grad, covering things like understanding your first contract and negotiating salaries. The Challenge Bowl had a fun, party like atmosphere, and students were treated really well. I would go again, but my clinical rotation in May is just a bit intense to go out of state for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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