M. F. Amendola1, M. Amendola1 1Virginia Commonwealth University,Surgery,Richmond, VA, USA
Introduction: The Society of Vascular Surgery (SVS) conducts its Annual Vascular Meeting (VAM) which includes a moderated and interactive poster sessions each spring. Our group has participated in this activity over the last three years and have tracked interest in our poster content via a presented poster QR code linked to a recorded presentation about the abstract being presented. Recently, a newer format for scientific posters has been introduced which features a large central take home message with support details in smaller font on either side. We wished to examine our poster QR activity before and after this format change.
Methods: All posters presented at the 2017 and 2018 VAM in the traditional format were compared to posters at the 2019 VAM in the new format. All QR codes were collected and included what city the scan took place. Content between the two groups was examined including total words utilized, total number of graphics and/or pictures presented and if the poster was in the more competitive moderated section. The groups were statistically compared with Fisher’s Exact Test** and t-test*.
Results: During the study period there were fifteen posters in the time period and ten in the “After.” There were non-significant differences in the total number of moderated posters (13% v. 10%; p=1.0**), total words per poster (572 ± 95 v. 558 ± 150; p=0.78*) and graphics presented (1.8 ± 0.94 v. 1.9 ± 0.87; p=0.79*) for the Traditional and New groups respectively.
Conclusions: In examining our online activity as captured by QR code usage, there was a significant increase in utilization of online QR codes and more scanning undertaken during the meeting time for the new poster format compared to the traditional format. There were no significant changes in terms of the content being presented. These data should encourage educators who are presenting abstracts in poster format to consider using this presentation type to encourage online engagement with learners during this and other vascular surgery meetings.
