Why Attending a Conference Should be Your 2026 Goal

The reasons to go to conferences are absolutely endless.

I can't tell you how invigorating they are - I feel rejuvenated. I'm writing this after the national emergency medicine conference that I last attended and I distinctly remember how I was absolutely brimming with excitement and overflowing with ideas.

Professional conferences are essentially a giant nerd-fest, in the best way possible. Being surrounded by like-minded individuals who offer unique perspectives on life and medicine is so encouraging and I always come away feeling better in every way: clinically, from an academic standpoint, career-wise and psychologically.

Some highlights from the conference I attended this fall:

• getting evidence-based insight into delivering bad news as a doctor (no one ever teaches you how to do this)
• learning about Aslanger Pattern and the cardiovascular effects of marijuana from one of the experts in our field
• seeing some of my favorite lecturers teach in person (including the aforementioned EM-cardiology "celebrity")
• meeting unique people that I would never have crossed paths with: doctors-turned-entrepreneurs, innovators, financial gurus and so much more
• career opportunities: networking, shaking hands, getting business cards & speaking to recruiters in person, which is so different than over the phone

There is so much more to medicine than going to work, seeing patients, and going home, disgruntled and exhausted.

I learn something from every single human I talk to about how they practice medicine, always a little differently. One guy took his kids out of school for a year and took an entire year off to travel around with his family while they were still young. Another works 42 days more-or-less in a row and then spends the rest of the time seeing the world with his fiancée. Another started an AI scribe company that's slowly taking off, growing with new users every day. He's decreasing his clinical duties to focus more on his company. Another doc is starting a new academic position and talked about how she got into a leadership position at such a "young" age in her career.

These are just tiny little snippets and I could go on and on. I know: conferences are not cheap to attend, but the value a good conference can bring is, in many ways, priceless.

I do have blog posts that cover different aspects of conferences and networking, which are listed below, but I wanted to summarize why conferences are worth your while:

• evidence-based updates in your field that you might otherwise never come across without reading lots of research papers
• workshops that teach hands-on-skills (usually extra cost)
• career fairs & networking opportunities with like-minded individuals
• a chance to travel on CME / hospital / grant / business funding; usually conferences are in fun or exciting cities and you get to explore between sessions
• vendor booths with lots of goodies, discounts and giveaways (I won a pair of AirPod Pros at one conference!)
• reunions with old coworkers and co-residents
• earn much-needed CME for your recertification as an attending (note: not the cheapest way to get CME, read more about CME here)
• in-person meetings of special interest committees you might have joined (for example, ACEP has dozens of committees, such as ultrasound, research, toxicology, locum tenens group, etc.)

How do you pay for conferences?

• If you are a resident/medical student, this is your time!
  • Present something and your program will often pay for it!
    • Tips on writing your first ever case report!
  • Look for grants and scholarships, they are out there!
  • Offer your time and volunteer behind-the-scenes and get free or discounted access.
• If you are working as a W-2 employee, your package often has CME money that you can put towards your travel
• If you are working as a 1099 physician, your CME-endeavors are a business expense:
  • 100% of travel / lodging / car as needed for the conference
  • 50% of your meals
  • You can tack on extra days for local exploration, but it cannot exceed >50% of the "business" portion (note that travel days are considered towards business days). For example: you can't do a 2-week road trip after a 3 day conference and deduct the entirety of flights/lodging/car.

How to find conferences to attend?

Easy! Google is a great place to start. "Emergency medicine conferences 2026" is a simple basic search that will get you started. You can also look up the national organizations for your specialty and see when their annual academic meeting or conference is.

Some examples:

• Emergency Medicine: ACEP, AAEM, SAEM
• Internal Medicine & Subspecialties: ACP, CHEST, ACC
• Surgery: ACS, AAST
• Critical Care: SCCM, ResusX

You can also expand internationally: look for the international organizations and see when their annual conferences are held, and where. For instance, there's an emergency medicine conference in Spain every year called Incrementum.

When you start listening to podcasts, you'll also learn about some more niche conferences: EMCrit, Emergency Medicine Cases, ResusX, etc.

Add all these to a list or calendar, and compare costs, destinations, timings, and see which one you would be more interested in. Add them to your calendar and start planning how to make it there: do you need to ask for vacation days? Do you need to schedule your shifts in such a way to be able to go?

If you're a resident, this can be challenging. We had to petition our program to find coverage for our senior class to be able to attend and it took about 4 months of prep. But with lots of prepwork and a supportive program, it can be done.

Final thoughts

The title of this blog post is slightly misleading because some of the major conferences in 2026 have already come and gone, so you may have already missed your specialty's big annual conference. But I hope that I can get you preparing for next year because preparation is key. And the effort will be worth it, promise.