Thursday, March 13, 2008

Sponsored by the National Health Service Corps (NHSC), Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the AMSA Foundation

13th Annual Poster Session Winners

The Application Deadline Has Now Passed

Convention attendees and AMSA chapters are invited to share their projects and research. Submissions are encouraged in the following areas:

Community Service Projects Medical Education

Basic Research Clinical Research

The abstract should include a concise introduction describing the purpose of the poster, as well as a brief description of the methods, results and conclusions. If appropriate, results can be presented in tabular form. Students are encouraged to seek assistance from faculty advisers and others in preparing their abstracts and posters. Abstracts will be judged by a committee composed of medical professionals on the following criteria:

• Innovation and originality of project or research
• Clarity and organization of the presentation
• Scientific merit and/or clinical significance (for basic research & clinical research submissions)
• Impact on community work/service, widening the pipeline and community health center projects (for community service submissions)
• Impact on medical students, school, or education (for medical education submissions)

Community service project and medical education abstracts must be submitted on the abstract form no later than 12:00 noon EST, January 17, 2008 . Abstracts must be typewritten. Electronic submission of abstracts is preferred.

If the judging committee selects your abstract for the poster session, you will be responsible for mounting your own poster prior to the poster session, presenting your poster during the event and removing your display materials at the conclusion of the session. Presenters will display their work graphically and are encouraged to be near their displays to discuss their work with meeting attendees and judges who will be attending the poster session. Students whose abstract submissions are selected best in category will be invited to deliver a brief oral presentation on their poster topic during the Thursday afternoon session.

All submissions received by the stated deadline will receive a response from the AMSA national office. The authors of abstracts selected for the poster session will be contacted by e-mail to confirm plans for convention attendance and presentation after the judging process is complete. Notification of the official time and room location of the poster session will also be announced by e-mail.

The poster session is a graphical presentation of an author's work-using graphs, photographs, diagrams and any sample educational materials developed-on a poster board. One side of a 4'x 8' freestanding poster display board will be provided for each presenter. Bring all your display materials with you pre-assembled.

For more information about the poster session, contact Vieng Rattanong at 1-703-620-6600, ext. 299.

GUIDELINES FOR POSTER SESSION POSTERS
All poster exhibitors will be responsible for mounting their own poster on the evening of the poster session, Thursday, March 13, 2008. Check for the time and place in the program when you arrive. Presenters are encouraged to be near their displays during the designated poster session to discuss their work with meeting attendees who will be attending the poster session. Participants must remove their own display materials at the conclusion of the scheduled poster session or materials will be discarded.

How To Prepare Your Presentation
The poster session is a graphical presentation of an author's work-using graphs, photographs, diagrams and any sample educational materials developed-on a poster board. One side of a 4'x 8' freestanding poster display board will be provided for each presentation. Bring all your display materials with you already assembled. Suggestions for poster displays are as follows:

1. Draw a rough sketch of your poster. The space provided for your exhibit is 4'x 8', so you should proportion your drawing accordingly. You may find it helpful to use graph paper and "post-it" notes to better visualize where the components of your presentation will go.
   
2. Crowded, cluttered posters are difficult to read and are often disregarded in favor of more eye-pleasing posters. Make sure every item on your poster is necessary. Keep the text to a minimum and emphasize the graphics-charts, graphs and photos. Save what you might put in text for discussion with attendees.
   
3. When composing your poster, use blank space around the paper to highlight or offset information. Be sure to align all paper edges. Place related materials (i.e., text and photos or graphs with their legends) close together and offset with surrounding blank space. Space your information proportionally. A good way is to divide your space either vertically or horizontally into three or four sections.
   
4. Include a banner strip 2" to 4" high with the title of the presentation in large letters, the institute and laboratory/branch where the work was completed, the name(s) of the author(s) and the name of the school or university.
   
5. Typewritten materials must be easily read at a distance of four (4) feet. Ordinary typewritten copy or handwritten copy is difficult for the audience to read, so try to use a computer and increase the font size to at least 18 points. The abstract should be placed in the upper left-hand side of the poster.

Example of a displayed poster:

4' x 8'

1. Title, Institution, Name(s), School 2.   3. 4. 5.   6.

(Adapted from American Society for Microbiology's "Guide to Poster and Slide Sessions.")