Medical Shows Face Online Rivals: Continuing Education

For most medical shows, educational seminars are the bread and butter of attendance building. But in a changing world of fast-paced, easy-to-access information, some worry about competition from less-expensive online educators.

For example, ArcMesa Educators can provide up to 10 hours of nursing coursework online for $84, or individual courses for as little as $28. The company makes accreditation easy by allowing pupils to work online from home, studying and taking tests that are instantly graded. At the end of coursework, pupils can print out a certificate proving that they completed their classes. ArcMesa will even send home-study packets to people who are uncomfortable working online.

Compare that with the hundreds of dollars it costs to register for a medical convention, in addition to the travel, hotel and meal expenses incurred for a multiple-day event.

Association tradeshow managers, however, don't seem worried. "There are other certification providers out there, but for our association, that's not a major challenge," said Randy Bauler, exhibits and sponsorship director of the Natl. Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition. "We have the education our nurses look for."

This year's show, held May 18–20 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, grew its attendance by 5 percent over last year's show in San Antonio, Texas, pulling in 6,800 critical care nurses.

Still, the competition for attendees does affect the kinds of seminars the show offers. "There are certain topics we discuss here that you can't get elsewhere," Bauler said, as well as "the live interaction with other people. There are many questions you can ask, probe, get a different perspective on."

The Natl. Teaching Institute & Critical Care Exposition runs four days with three days of exhibiting. The package costs association members $399 and nonmembers $550. By taking full advantage of the educational seminars offered at the convention, Bauler claims nurses can complete up to one-third of their annual required continuing education in a few days.

Still, for many nurses, it isn't economically feasible to travel across the continent once a year to maintain certification requirements. That's an important reason why the show rotates to a different region each May. While some fly, a large portion of attendees carpool from nearby areas, sharing lodging to keep down costs, Bauler said.

Other show managers agree that, while competition from online deals and catalogue offers doesn't pose a huge threat, they remain aware that the tradeshow has to offer something more than just educational seminars to maintain attendance levels.

"We've got to be more creative," said Pat Norman, director of conference services for the Natl. Medical Assn., which puts on the Natl. Medical Assn. Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly. She pointed out that members enjoy the networking opportunities available at the show — something they'll never get from home study — and the ability to get hands-on experience with equipment that may be new to them.

Nevertheless, the cost difference between a home course and a few days at a tradeshow is something to consider, and her association does what it can to keep costs down. "The scientific portion of our show is five days long," she said. "Physicians have to take the week off, which can be difficult."

Her team has thought about making the event a one-day conference, but that wouldn't allow attending physicians to earn their required 45 hours of annual continuing education in one fell swoop. One idea is to offer online courses in conjunction with what is available at the show.

Another benefit of the longer show is that physicians, forced to take the week off, sometimes bring their families. "The resort properties are a big draw," Norman said. "We even have youth programs during the day for the children." Additionally, this year was the first that units were offered for nurses, a request from many physicians married to nurses wanting to make the most effective use of time together.

In many cases, however, making sure health care workers have sufficient access to education material, whether it be at a tradeshow or not, is all that accreditors care about.

Nancy Spector, director of education for the Natl. Council of the State Boards of Nursing, said her organization doesn't care which avenue nurses take when completing their coursework. "We look at the quality of what's being offered," she said, noting that some online coursework does the trick just as effectively as classes at tradeshows. She pointed out that only 25 state nursing boards even require continuing education courses and that the amount of necessary education varies from state to state.

Some show organizers echo this sentiment. Kathleen O'Brien, senior vice president of programming and community services for the Alzheimer's Assn., said she'd like to see a large turnout at her organization's 12th Natl. Alzheimer's Disease Education Conference at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel July 16–18. "But it's important to us that people have information about the disease," O'Brien said, even if it means accessing that information online. She hasn't considered online or correspondence continuing education courses a major threat to the attendance levels of the annual conference, but admitted, "We're continuing to take a look at that. For adult learners certainly online is one strategy, but in person, you get a different perspective."

Even considering her show's $295 fee, she anticipates 1,000 to 1,200 attendees this year, and is still registering exhibitors. The show includes 32 individual sessions, three plenary sessions, three symposiums and three "train the trainer" programs.