3rd International Conference: Where’s the Patient’s Voice in Health Professional Education – 20 Years on?
The third international conference was a wonderful event that brought together a diverse group of 260 patients, community members, students, academics, health professionals, and administrative staff from 14 different countries. PCPE was pleased to be able to provide bursaries to support the participation of 45 patients and 29 students. The buzz of conversation started with the welcome reception on the Wednesday evening and continued non-stop until the conference closed at midday on Saturday. The feedback we received contained consistent themes of inclusion, support, and belonging. Here a couple of typical comments:
“The organization, careful curation of topics, planning, and accessibility were all better than I could have imagined, and I appreciated being included. This was one of my first conferences for healthcare education, and my first conference presenting, and I felt welcomed and supported through the event. I was able to connect with interesting people from around the world and make new lasting friendships. The way the conference fosters an environment to bring your whole self to healthcare education was inspiring.” – Jess (Communications Coordinator, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto)
“The Patient’s Voice conference is the first conference I have been to where I’ve felt a real sense of belonging, comradery, and come away enthused to further propel patient involvement in my local context. Everyone was so warm and welcoming, and it was also just great fun!” – Amber (Post-Doctoral Research Associate University of Leicester, UK)
It was especially gratifying to see so many young people at the conference, eager to take the work forward and hopefully organize the next conference.
There were many people who made the conference a success: special thanks to UBC Conferences and Accommodation for conference organizing, and to the staff of the Marriott Pinnacle Hotel who cared and fed us so well.
