Attendance Justification Toolkit

Your one-stop of justification materials for the AAP's Annual Meeting

The AAP’s mission is to advance education and research among medical students, residents, fellows, academicians and other physiatry professionals. We offer these tools to provide a clear path to assist you in achieving your educational goals and leadership potential. The AAP's Annual Meeting is the most cost-effective, educational and career-enhancing experience. Utilizing effective results in your programs and practice is achieved with exposure to new thoughts, ideas and peers that you will experience by attending. It is these key interactions that advance each attendee's career, improves programs and institutions and moves the specialty of physiatry forward.

This toolkit will assist you in communicating the value of being involved in the AAP's Annual Meeting. Your decision maker will be sure to appreciate your initiative and the investment made into your professional development, as well as greater knowledge that you can apply directly to research, education and patient care in your institution.

Benefits of Attending

We understand that you play many roles from clinical practice, to teaching and mentorship, to administration and more. To meet those needs, the AAP has it all! When you propose attending the AAP's Annual Meeting, it demonstrates your commitment to your institution and specialty. Try to identify specific areas for improvement and focus on what you will bring back to the program/ institution/ hospital/ practice to demonstrate return on the investment.

Skills & Knowledge Benefits

State your program, hospital or institution's specific goals or needs, and then state how specific components of the AAP's Annual Meeting will help meet those needs.

• Which topics or specific sessions have particular relevance to your job, department or hospital's current priorities and goals or needs? Identify specifically what you can use, and how.
• Which of the workshops, sessions or mentorship opportunities are most relevant to your skill development, goals, or your program/hospital/institution’s expectations of you? What new skills, techniques or ideas will you bring back?

Networking Benefits

Attending the AAP's Annual Meeting will enable you to meet and interact with peers, up-and-coming leaders and today’s pioneers from around the country. The AAP is particularly focused on fostering mentorship, networking and long-lasting relationships. You will be able to acquire valuable information and insights, gain an understanding of what other physiatrists are talking about, and how they are accomplishing goals or tackling challenges that are similar to your own.

Exhibit Hall Benefits

The Exhibit Hall showcases vendors with new products you could use or evaluate for potential future use. It's an opportunity to collect first-hand information and compare competing technologies all in one place. It's also a chance to discover companies you've never heard of before, offering solutions you don't even know about yet, so you can make more informed decisions for current and future projects.

Sample Justification Letters

Prior to the conference, you will most likely have to submit forms or letters to your supervisor and/or organization to approve the costs associated with attending the AAP's Annual Meeting. We have created several documents you can use.

Letter to Attend with Cost Breakdown (Physician)

Letter to Attend with Cost Breakdown (Resident/Fellow)

Justification Tips

Three days at the AAP's Annual Meeting will be the most cost-effective educational and professional development choice you make all year.

Nine Tips for Building Your Case for Attendance

1. Focus on the issues at hand. Describe what you plan to get out of attending and how that will benefit your work, patients and program/ institution. Explore the meeting schedule and make a list of the sessions that will help you address issues to make improvements.
2. Share and present. Offer to share handouts and present new ideas to your colleagues to spread what you learned. Your peers will get the benefits of your attendance, too.
3. Talk up the takeaways. From new collaborations to practical takeaways, the AAP's Annual Meeting provides information you can put into action when you get home. In addition, you can bring back ideas or solutions from new or improved products and/or services discovered in the Exhibit Hall.
4. Register early to save. You can save by registering before the early bird registration deadline and by becoming an AAP member. Offer to share a room to reduce hotel expenses.
5. Earn CME and meet requirements. Participating in continuing medical education (CME) helps keep you at the forefront of patient care in physiatry. Earn up to 30 CME credits by participating in the AAP's Annual Meeting!
6. Call attention to quality. The AAP is accredited with commendation, the highest level of accreditation possible for providing high-quality CME to physicians. The AAP's Annual Meeting offers a comprehensive, time-intensive learning environment. It's more cost-effective and efficient than participating in multiple seminars or webinars because you get all of the information you need in one place.
7. Have a plan. Request time off early and be ready with a plan that shows who will cover for you while you are attending the conference.
8. Build a networking list. The AAP's Annual Meeting is an unmatched source for networking, bringing together residents, physiatrists and other professionals across the country and world. Make note of speakers, exhibitors or industry representatives you would like to meet or learn from.
9. The value of the AAP's Annual Meeting. A stand-alone 60-minute CME webinar can cost over $100. However, you can earn up to 30 CME credits for as low as $450 (resident/fellow early bird registration price) at the AAP's Annual Meeting. Attendees get all that CME and face-to-face networking in just three days (additional pre-conference days available), meaning fewer days out of the office, lower travel costs and immediate results.

REGISTRATION OPENS IN SEPTEMBER 2020!