Registration Guide Now Available

The time has come for one of the most historically stressful times of medical school at the University of Melbourne. For the seasoned individuals, you may be preparing to accept the fact that you will be spending the whole week of the conference stuck in Plenary 2, attending sessions that you had no choice but to pick because the website crashed on you too many times to count. You may also be scoffing at the MD1s, with their naive optimism and foolish sense of excitement, because they have not been where you have been – they have not lived through the nightmare that is the MD Student Conference Registration.

This year, we are doing something different – hopefully, revolutionary. In the vein of other medical conferences you will be attending in the future, the majority of the academic sessions in this year’s academic program will not have prior registration. This means that during each day of the conference, you will be able to choose the academic session you wish to attend in real-time. (This is definitely something that has never happened before because people have always attended all of their timetabled sessions.) Each session will have their own maximum capacities, and as such, you must present yourself to the session of your choice before its capacity is reached. Otherwise, you will be turned away at the door, and you will need to find another session to attend.

We are, however, going to make sure that you are able to attend at least one session of your choice. Registration this year will involve selecting one Academic Workshop that you would like to attend. These workshops are designed to be practical and more hands-on, which is an opportunity that some students have missed out on in the past due to registration difficulties. Since you are only choosing one academic session, this year’s registration process will be easier, smoother, and less stressful.

Registration will open on Monday 15 May at 10 AM. You will receive an email to your student email address with the link to the registration form. Follow the instructions on the registration page to register on Monday, May 15 at 10 AM.

We hope that this new system – one guaranteed practical Academic Workshop and free choice of academic session attendance during the week – provides a much better experience for you this year. We want you to enjoy being at the 2017 MD Student Conference because at the end of the day, it is your conference.

Sincerely yours,

Jonathan Chen & RJ Seastres
Co-Convenors
2017 MD Student Conference