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Preparing a Poster Presentation

Posters are a legitimate and popular presentation format for research and clinical vignettes. They efficiently communicate concepts and data to an audience using a combination of visuals and text. Most scientific meeting planners take advantage of the popularity and communication efficiency of poster presentations by scheduling more poster than oral presentations. Poster presentations allow the author to meet and speak informally with interested viewers, facilitating a greater exchange of ideas and networking opportunities than with oral presentations. Poster presentations often are the first opportunities for young investigators to present their work at important scientific meetings and preparatory for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Poster Production Timeline

In order to be successful, certain prerequisites must be met. First, you must have a desire to be scholastically effective and be willing to put the time into the design and production of the poster. Second, you need organizational skills. Like any other endeavor associated with deadlines, you must be able to deliver the product on time. Posters are associated with more deadlines than oral presentations, due to the necessary interaction with graphic artists, graphic production, and the needs of the meeting itself. Organizational skills are also needed to create a concise and logically structured graphic and text presentation of the research or vignette. In order to help you achieve these goals, this article addresses poster planning, production, and presentation. It may be helpful to create a poster production timeline .

• Determine if your poster will be judged at the scientific meeting. If so, ask for the judging criteria , which will be immensely helpful for you to plan and construct the poster.
• Know the rules . It is your responsibility to know the physical requirements for the poster including acceptable size and how it will be displayed. A 4' × 4' display area cannot accommodate a 6' × 6' poster and a 3' × 3' poster will look insignificant in an 8' × 8' display area. All scientific programs that sponsor a poster session will send you information on the display requirements at the time your poster is accepted for presentation. Review and follow the instructions precisely. However, be warned that not all scientific programs will automatically tell you how the poster will be displayed. Some programs provide a cork/tack-board system that allows you to display your poster by fastening it to a solid display board with stickpins. This gives you the option of displaying your poster as many individual parts (components of the poster, such as abstract, methods, graphics, conclusion, are fastened individually to the display board) or as one piece. Other programs "hang" their posters from a frame by large spring clips. This means that the poster must be created as a single unit and cannot be too heavy for the clips or too light such that it will curl upwards like a window shade. A few programs still use easels to display posters, mandating that the poster be constructed of or placed on a firm backing that can be supported in this way. The point is, find out how the poster will be displayed and engineer a poster that best meets the requirements.
• Determine exactly how the poster will be produced. Will you hire a graphic artist for partial or complete production? Does your institution provide graphic services to your department? Will you need to do this yourself? If payment is required, who will pay for the production? Regardless of who is doing the work and how it will be financed, only you can determine the individual tasks and set the deadlines. Make sure your deadlines include sufficient time to revise the poster if you find mistakes or otherwise need to make changes prior to the scientific meeting. Finally, if you are working with a graphic artist, make your timetable after consultation with him/her so it is realistic and he/she understands your time constraints.
• Compile a list of components that will appear on the poster. There are common elements to all posters, whether they are research presentations or clinical vignettes. At the top center, the poster should display the title, authors, and institutional affiliations. Any necessary acknowledgments can also be placed here. Many scientific programs will insist that the abstract be included on the poster and will specify its location (i.e., upper right corner).

Scientific posters should follow the IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) .

• The Introduction presents the background and the purpose of the research. The background information typically consists of a statement summarizing the current knowledge in an area, what knowledge is missing, and how this research project addresses the knowledge gap. A hypothesis can be included in the Introduction.
• The Methods section should specifically address the following areas: research design, research setting, number of patients enrolled in the study, and how they were selected. The Methods section should also include a description of the intervention (if appropriate), a description of the outcome variables and how they were measured, and the method of statistical analysis.
• The Results section includes the quantitative data. This section usually begins with a description of the subjects in the study and a description of those who were not included because they failed to meet the inclusion criteria or dropped out. Include the frequencies of the most important outcome variables. Consider comparisons of the outcome variables between various subgroups within the study (treated vs. untreated, young vs. old, male vs. female, and so forth). Numerical results should include standard deviations or 95% confidence limits and the level of statistical significance should be indicated.
• Finally, in the Discussion section, state concisely what can be concluded from the study and its implications. Make sure that the conclusions are supported by the data presented in the Results and do not present unsubstantiated personal opinion.

Clinical vignette posters generally have three components: Introduction, Case Description, and Discussion. A short Introduction typically describes the context of the case and explains its relevance and importance. When describing the case, follow the basic rules of medical communication by describing in sequence the history, physical examination, investigative studies, and patient's progress and outcome. The main purpose of the discussion is to review why decisions were made and to extract the lesson from the case. Be wary of boasting that your case is the "first" to describe a particular phenomenon, since even the most thorough searches often fail to reveal all instances of similar cases. Keep in mind that the best research and clinical vignette posters are those that make a small number of points (even just one) clearly and succinctly.

As you review your content, make decisions on what can be displayed pictorially. Posters that are mainly text discourage others from visiting and reviewing your work. Make your presentation as visual as possible; not only does it make your poster more appealing, but information can be transmitted more efficiently with a picture, figure, or graph. For example, information on patient demographics could be represented as a pie chart, frequencies of outcomes as bar graphs, and comparisons of means and statistical significance as tables. Clinical vignettes offer an excellent opportunity to display clinical photographs that illustrate important points of pattern recognition.

Finally, find out if you are required to be present during the poster session. Most scientific meetings schedule a period of time for the author to stand by the poster during the session. This enables you to answer questions about your work and, in some situations, is part of the judging process. Find out if and when this is scheduled.

A Few Tips on Poster Appearance:

Avoid clutter.

Limit your poster presentation to a few main ideas. It's better to present a few of your findings well than present all of your findings poorly. Arrange your poster components to read from left to right and top to bottom. Emphasize important points on the poster with lines, frames or boxes, and arrows.

Keep the lettering simple.

Use no more than three different font sizes; the largest for the poster title, second-largest for section titles, and smallest for text. For all lettering, use both upper- and lowercase letters. Words composed of all uppercase letters are difficult to read. The smallest font should be large enough so it is easily read from a distance of 3 to 5 feet (usually, 24-point font).

Keep the colors simple.

Too much color can be distracting, while too little color can be boring and lifeless. Use color mainly to highlight important elements.

You will need to decide how your poster will be constructed. Your budget and available graphic art resources will most likely influence this decision. At one end of the spectrum, you can inexpensively produce a poster with a graphics software package (such as PowerPoint) and a color printer. Your output will be limited to individual components that measure 8" × 11" to 11" × 17". These components will probably need to be mounted on a stiff backing, such as poster board or foam core, to effectively display them. At the other, more expensive end of the spectrum, you can work with the graphic arts department at your institution. They can use sophisticated software programs, such as Quark, to design and create a poster. The electronic version of the poster can be sent by e-mail to a printing or service bureau. Service bureaus produce a variety of visual products including posters, slides, signs, and limited print editions of books. They can print any size poster with all its component parts as a single unit usually within 24 to 48 hours. The cost of this service is difficult to estimate because it is dependent on a number of variables including poster size, use of color, resolution of the print (dpi, or dots per inch), whether it is laminated, or backed with foam core. A moderately priced poster may cost from $500 to $600. The staff in your graphic arts department can help you pick the options that are within your budget.

At the time of production, it is your responsibility to review the first draft, or copy, of the poster. This is your best chance to correct errors and make changes to improve the accuracy and visual attractiveness of the poster. Use the Poster Checklist  to aid your review. In addition, have a colleague help you proofread. It's a good idea to have someone unfamiliar with the research or case help you because he or she will quickly identify areas that are confusing or ambiguous. It's a good idea to have someone who is expert in spelling and grammar review the poster as well. As mentioned previously, schedule the proofreading early enough in the process so that you have time to make any corrections or changes prior to the meeting.

As you prepare to travel to the scientific meeting, consider the following tips:

• Arrange for a proper carrying case for your poster. A worthy investment can prevent damage to your poster and your reputation.
• Don't check your poster as luggage. Carry the poster with you at all times. Better your clothes get lost than your poster.
• Come with some basic equipment. Although these items are typically provided at scientific meetings, you may not have quick access to them. Bring with you:
• Push pins, tacks, or stapler
• Know where and when to set up your poster. The room or area reserved for posters is usually noted in the meeting program. Arrive early to set up your poster. This will allow you to adapt to any surprises in the physical layout or unannounced changes in the method of displaying the poster. Additionally, it's easier to put up your poster when there are fewer people competing for space and equipment. Most scientific programs assign a unique identifying number to your poster that corresponds to location of the poster in the display area. Find out what your number is and place your poster in the corresponding spot.
• Know when to "stand-by" your poster. The time will be listed in the meeting program. Arrive on time and stay until the end of scheduled time. Don't wander off; you may miss the judges, your next fellowship director, or your next partner or employer.
• Know when to take your poster down. Meeting rooms turn-over fast. Have a clear understanding when the poster session is over and when the poster must come down. Failure to take the poster down at the appointed time can result in the hotel or convention staff (not so gently) removing it.
• Be prepared to promote yourself. Consider bringing handouts and business cards for those who visit your poster. Use this opportunity to "network" with other professionals who share similar academic interests.

This final section provides examples of what makes a poster effective. As you study the examples, note that they share similar characteristics:

• Organized and easy to follow the flow of information
• Easy to read, using large font size and are not overly dense with text
• Attractive, due to judicious use of colors, use of graphics, and arrangement

Listed below are a number of important poster characteristics and examples illustrating those characteristics:

• Use of a poignant attention getter
• Use of graphics  to communicate data
• Well organized  poster with easy to follow flow of information
• Overly dense  presentation of content

Presentation Skills Toolkit for Medical Students

New section.

The ability to design and deliver an effective presentation is an important skill for all learners to develop. The Undergraduate Medical Education Section of the Group on Educational Affairs developed this toolkit as a resource for medical students and health professions trainees as you learn to create and give effective presentations in the classroom, in the clinical setting, and at academic meetings and conferences. In this toolkit, you’ll find helpful resources on developing and delivering formal lectures and presentations, poster and oral abstract presentations, patient presentations, and leading small group sessions.

Please note: Availability of resources may change over time. To suggest edits or updates, email  [email protected] .

On this page:

Formal lectures and presentations, posters and abstracts, patient presentations.

• Leading Small Groups

Traditional academic presentations in medicine and the biomedical sciences are necessarily dense with complex content. Thus, slides tend to be wordy, and presenters may use their slides as cue cards for themselves rather than as tools to facilitate learning for their audience. With the necessary resources, medical students (and presenters at all levels) can better identify appropriate learning objectives and develop presentations that help learners meet those objectives. Organization of content, clarity of slide design, and professional delivery are all essential components to designing and giving effective formal presentations.

Achieving all of these elements can make creating and delivering a formal presentation challenging. The strategies and resources below can help you develop a successful formal presentation.

View long description of infographic .

Strategies for success

• Define the objectives of the presentation. Always define learning objectives for each of your lectures to make it clear what knowledge or skills the audience should acquire from your presentation. The best learning objectives define specific, measurable, or observable knowledge or skill gains. Furthermore, consider how to communicate the importance of the topic to your audience and how information should be arranged to best communicate your key points.
• Design an effective slide set. You should begin creating your slides only after defining your objectives and key points. The slides should support your talk but not be your talk. Keep slides simple. The audience should be able to review a slide and grasp key points quickly. Avoid lengthy text and distracting decorative fonts, clip art, graphs, and pictures. If additional wording or images are necessary, consider handouts or alternative methods of sharing this information. Lastly, design your slide deck to emphasize the key points, revisiting your outline as necessary, and summarize concepts at regular intervals throughout your presentation to strengthen knowledge gains.  
• Practice your performance. Effective public speaking starts with preparation and practice. Ensure there is enough time to create your lecture and a supporting slide deck. Know your lecture material and slides without prompts! Understand the audience and learning climate (the size and knowledge level of your audience) and be prepared for the venue (virtual, in-person, or both, lecture hall or classroom). Think about what effective audience engagement may look like and how to incorporate audience response systems, polling, etc., into the lecture.
• Create a positive learning environment. Anticipate questions and allocate sufficient time to answer them. Always repeat the questions being asked for the audience’s benefit and to ensure your understanding. Some questions may be challenging, so be prepared and answer honestly. It is acceptable not to know an answer.
• Demonstrate professionalism in presenting. Exhibit professionalism by being punctual and having appropriate time management. Remember that mistakes happen; be kind to yourself and remain calm and collected. Be enthusiastic: If you can enjoy the experience, so will your audience. Finally, be open to feedback following your presentation. 

Additional resources

Below is a collection of resources that further address the elements of creating and delivering a formal presentation. Each resource addresses a specific presentation skill or set of skills listed above and can be used to develop your understanding further. 

• Healthy Presentations: How to Craft Exceptional Lectures in Medicine, the Health Professions, and the Biomedical Sciences (requires purchase, book). This illustrated book is a practical guide for improving scientific presentations. It includes specific, practical guidance on crafting a talk, tips on incorporating interactive elements to facilitate active learning, and before-and-after examples of improved slide design. (Skills addressed: 1-3)
• American College of Physicians: Giving the Podium Presentation (freely available, website). This guide includes recommendations related to presentation delivery, including tips on what to wear, how to prepare, answering questions, and anticipating the unexpected. (Skills addressed: 3-5)
• The 4 Ps of Giving a Good Presentation (freely available, PDF). This simple guide on public speaking from the University of Hull covers such topics as positive thinking, preparing, practice, and performing. (Skills addressed: 3-5)
• Zoom Guides (freely available, website). This website from the University of California, San Francisco is one of many great resources created by universities for presenting on a virtual platform, specifically Zoom. (Skills addressed: 3-5)
• Writing Learning Objectives (freely available, PDF). This excellent resource from the AAMC defines Bloom’s Taxonomy and provides verbiage for creating learning objectives. (Skill addressed: 1)
• Adult learning theories: Implications for learning and teaching in medical education: AMEE Guide No. 83 (freely available, article). This AMEE Guide explains and explores the more commonly used adult learning theories and how they can be used to enhance learning. It presents a model that combines many of the theories into a flow diagram that can be followed by those planning a presentation. (Skill addressed: 1)
• Assertion-Evidence Approach (freely available, website). This approach to slide design incorporates clear messaging and the strategic combination of text and images. (Skill addressed: 2)
• Multimedia Learning (requires purchase, book). This book outlines the learning theories that should guide all good slide design. It is an accessible resource that will help presenters of all levels create slide decks that best facilitate learning. (Skill addressed: 2)
• Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentoring in the Biosciences (CLIMB) (freely available, website). This website from Northwestern University shares slide design tips for scientific presentations. Specific tips include simplifying messages and annotating images and tables to facilitate learning. (Skill addressed: 2)
• Clear and to the Point (freely available, online book). This book describes 8 psychological principles for constructing compelling PowerPoint presentations. (Skill addressed: 2)

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Presenting the results of the research projects, innovations, and other work you have invested in at regional and national meetings is a tremendous opportunity to advance heath care, gain exposure to thought leaders in your field, and put your evidence-based medicine and communication skills into practice in a different arena. Effective scientific presentations at meetings also provide a chance for you to interact with an engaged audience, receive valuable feedback, be exposed to others’ projects, and expand your professional network. Preparation and practice are integral to getting the most out of these experiences.  

The strategies and resources below will help you successfully present both posters and abstracts at scientific meetings. 

Strategies for success  

• Identify a poster’s/abstract’s purpose and key points . Determine the purpose of sharing your work (feedback vs. sharing a new methodology vs. disseminating a novel finding) and tailor the information in your poster or abstract to meet that objective. Identify one to three key points. Keep in mind the knowledge and expertise of the intended audience; the amount of detail that you need to provide at a general vs. specialized meeting may vary. 
• Design an effective poster . Design your poster to follow a logical flow and keep it uncluttered. The methods and data should support your conclusions without extraneous information; every chart or image should serve a purpose. Explicitly outline the key takeaways at the beginning or end.  
• Present in a conversational, informal style . Imagine you are explaining your project to a colleague. The purpose of your work and key points should guide your presentation, and your explanation of the methods and data should link to your conclusions. Be prepared to discuss the limitations of your project, outline directions for future research, and receive feedback from your audience. Treat feedback as an opportunity to improve your project prior to producing a manuscript.  

Additional resources  

These resources support the development of the skills mentioned above, guiding you through the steps of developing a poster that frames your research in a clear and concise manner. The videos provide examples that can serve as models of effective poster and abstract presentations. 

• How to design an outstanding poster (freely available, article). This article outlines key items for laying out an effective poster, structuring it with the audience in mind, practicing your presentation, and maximizing your work’s impact at meetings. (Skills addressed: 1-3) 
• Giving an Effective Poster Presentation (freely available, video). This video shows medical students in action presenting their work and shares strategies for presenting your poster in a conversational style, preparing for questions, and engaging viewers. (Skills addressed: 2,3) 
• Better Scientific Poster (freely available, toolkit). This toolkit includes strategies and templates for creating an effective and visually interesting scientific poster. Virtual and social media templates are also available. (Skill addressed: 2)

As with all presentations, it can be very helpful to practice with colleagues and/or mentors before the meeting. This will allow you to get feedback on your project, style, and poster design prior to sharing it with others outside of your institution. It can also help you prepare for the questions you may get from the audience.  

Patient presentation skills are valuable for medical students in the classroom and in the care of patients during clinical rotations. Patient presentations are an integral part of medical training because they combine communication skills with knowledge of disease manifestations and therapeutic strategies in a clinical scenario. They are used during active learning in both the preclinical and clinical phases of education and as students advance in training and interact with diverse patients.  

Below are strategies for delivering effective patient presentations. 

• Structure the presentation appropriately . The structure of your narrative is important; a concise, logical presentation of the relevant information will create the most impact. In the clinical setting, preferences for presentation length and style can vary between specialties and attendings, so understanding expectations is vital. 
• Synthesize information from the patient encounter . Synthesis of information is integral for effective and accurate delivery that highlights relevant points. Being able to select pertinent information and present it in an efficient manner takes organization and practice, but it is a skill that can be learned.  
• Deliver an accurate, engaging, and fluent oral presentation . In delivering a patient presentation, time is of the essence. The overall format for the presentation is like a written note but usually more concise. Succinctly convey the most essential patient information in a way that tells the patient’s story. Engage your listeners by delivering your presentation in an organized, clear, and professional manner with good eye contact. Presentations will go more smoothly with careful crafting and practice. 
• Adjust presentations to meet team, patient, and setting needs . Adaptability is often required in the clinical setting depending on attending preferences, patient needs, and location, making it imperative that you are mindful of your audience.  

The resources below provide samples of different types of patient presentations and practical guides for structuring and delivering them. They include tips and tricks for framing a case discussion to deliver a compelling story. Resources that help with adjusting patient presentations based on the setting, such as bedside and outpatient presentations, are also included. 

• A Guide to Case Presentations (freely available, document). This practical guide from the Ohio State University discusses basic principles of presentations, differences between written and oral communication of patient information, organization, and common pitfalls to avoid. (Skills addressed: 1-3) 
• Verbal Case Presentations: A Practical Guide for Medical Students (freely available, PDFs). This resource from the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership provides a practical guide to crafting effective case presentations with an explanation of the goals of each section and additional tips for framing the oral discussion. It also provides a full sample initial history and physical examination presentation. (Skills addressed: 1-4) 
• Patient Presentations in Emergency Medicine (freely available, video). This training video for medical students from the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine demonstrates how to tell a compelling story when presenting a patient’s case. The brief video offers handy dos and don'ts that will help medical students understand how best to communicate in the emergency department efficiently and effectively. These skills can also be applied to patient presentations in other specialties. (Skills addressed: 1-4) 

Additional information and support on effectively constructing and delivering a case presentation can be found through various affinity support and mentorship groups, such as the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), Latino Medical Student Association (LMSA), and Building the Next Generation of Academic Physicians (BNGAP). 

Leading Small Groups

For physicians, working within and leading small groups is an everyday practice. Undergraduate medical education often includes small group communication as well, in the form of problem-based learning groups, journal clubs, and study groups. Having the skills to form, maintain, and help small groups thrive is an important tool for medical students.   

Below are strategies to provide effective small group leadership. 

• Outline goals/outcomes . Delineating the goals of a meeting ensures that everyone understands the outcome of the gathering and can help keep conversations on track. Listing goals in the agenda will help all participants understand what is to be accomplished. 
• Establish ground rules . Establishing explicit procedural and behavioral expectations serves to solidify the framework in which the conversation will take place. These include items such as attendance and how people are recognized as well as the way group members should treat each other.   
• Create an inclusive environment . In addition to setting expectations, group leaders can take steps to help all participants feel that their perspectives are valuable. Setting up the room so that everyone sits around a table can facilitate conversations. Having individuals introduce themselves can let the group understand everyone’s background and expertise. In addition, running discussions in a “round-robin style” (when possible) may help every person have an opportunity to express themselves. 
• Keep discussions constructive, positive, and on task . As meetings evolve, it can be easy for conversations to drift. Reminding the group of goals and frequently summarizing the discussion in the context of the planned outcomes can help redirect meetings when needed. 
• Manage virtual meetings . Online meetings present their own challenges. Adequate preparation is key, particularly working through technological considerations in advance. Explicitly discussing goals and ground rules is even more important in the virtual environment. Group leaders should be more patient with members’ response times and be especially diligent that all participants have an opportunity to be heard.   

The resources listed below outline additional helpful points, expanding on the skills described above and providing additional perspectives on managing small group meetings of different types. 

• Communication in the Real World: Small Group Communication (freely available, online module). This chapter includes an overview of managing small groups, including understanding the types and characteristics, group development, and interpersonal dynamics. (Skills addressed: 3,4) 
• Conversational Leadership (freely available, online book chapter). This short online resource provides guidance for determining group size and seating to best facilitate participation by all group members. (Skill addressed: 4) 
• Tips on Facilitating Effective Group Discussion (freely available, PDF). This resource from Brown University provides tips for effective group facilitation, creating an environment conducive for discussions, keeping conversations positive, and managing common problems. Also included is a valuable list of references for further exploration. (Skills addressed: 1-4) 
• Facilitating Effective Discussions: Self-Checklist (freely available, online checklist). This checklist from Brown University provides an easy-to-use, practical framework for preparing for, performing, and reflecting on small group facilitation. (Skills addressed: 1-4) 
• Sample Guidelines for Classroom Discussion Agreements (freely available, PDF). These guidelines from Brown University give useful tips for managing classroom discussions, including when disagreements occur among group participants. (Skill addressed: 2) 
• Fostering and assessing equitable classroom participation (freely available, online article). This online resource from Brown University includes methods to maximize group members’ participation in discussions and to communicate expectations. Also included is a valuable list of references for further exploration. (Skill addressed: 3) 
• Facilitating small group learning in the health professions (freely available, online article). The aim of this paper published in BMC Medical Education is to provide students involved in peer/near peer teaching with an overview of practical approaches and tips to improve learner engagement when facilitating small groups. It includes a discussion of the roles of facilitators, strategies for fostering interactions among the group, and methods for resolving common problems. (Skills addressed: 1-4) 
• Facilitating a Virtual Meeting (freely available, PDF). This infographic from the University of Nebraska Medical Center includes key points to consider when facilitating an online meeting, including technical considerations, preparation, and follow-up. (Skill addressed: 5) 
• Most universities have a communication department with faculty who specialize in small group communication. You may also find that these individuals are a valuable resource. 

This toolkit was created by a working group of the Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) Section of the Group on Educational Affairs (GEA). 

Working Group Members

• Geoffrey Talmon, MD, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Jason Kemnitz, EdD, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine 
• Lisa Coplit, MD, Frank H. Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University 
• Rikki Ovitsh, MD, SUNY Downstate College of Medicine
• Susan Nofziger, MD, Northeast Ohio Medical University  
• Amy Moore, MEd, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine 
• Melissa Cellini, MD, New York Medical College 
• Richard Haspel, MD, Harvard Medical School 
• Christine Phillips, MD, Boston University School of Medicine 
• Arvind Suresh, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth 
• Emily Green, PhD, MA, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University 
• Holly Meyer, PhD, MS, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences 
• Karina Clemmons, EdD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
• Shane Puckett, EdD, University of South Florida 
• Angela Hairrell, PhD, Burnett School of Medicine at Texas Christian University 
• Arkene Levy Johnston, PhD, Kiran C. Patel College of Allopathic Medicine
• Sarah Collins, PhD, UT Southwestern Medical Center 
• Patrick Fadden, MD, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine 
• Lia Bruner, MD, Augusta University - University of Georgia Medical Partnership 
• Jasna Vuk, MD, PhD, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences 
• Pearl Sutter, University of Connecticut School of Medicine 
• Kelly Park, Baylor University Medical Center

How to create an effective poster presentation

Organizers of nursing conferences depend on nurses who have created new programs or are doing research to submit their work for presentation at conferences. Through these presentations, nursing knowledge is disseminated.

If you belong to a professional organization, you’ve probably received at least one call for abstracts. Arriving well in advance of the conference date, this is an invitation to submit an abstract for presentation at the conference. You may have the choice of submitting an abstract for either an oral (podium) presentation or a poster presentation. Poster presentations can be a good way to get started presenting your work—and they’re a great opportunity to get feedback and suggestions from colleagues.

Congrats! Now get started.

It’s exciting to get a letter or e-mail telling you that your poster proposal has been accepted for a conference. But don’t waste timing resting on your laurels. When asked what they’ve learned about doing posters, many experienced presenters say they wish they’d begun their poster design earlier because the process took much longer than they anticipated. So to avoid a time crunch, start designing your poster shortly after your abstract is accepted.

Creating a compelling poster

Avoiding copyright violations in educational presentations

Four steps to preparing irresistible presentations

Plan the size, content, and layout

Unlike an oral presentation, the poster itself should do most of the talking about your project. Good design matters. It allows you to tell the “story” of your work more effectively.

Begin by carefully reviewing the poster guidelines for the conference. These guidelines specify what size the poster should be and how it will be displayed—tabletop, corkboard, or easel. Poster size affects how much information you can put on the poster. Allowable poster sizes for conferences vary widely.

Poster content should closely follow the format of the abstract you submitted. But keep in mind that a poster is not an abstract. With a poster, your goal is to tell a clear, simple story of your work. If your poster topic is a project or an organizational innovation, see Sample conference poster for ideas on what content to put where by clicking on the PDF icon above.

In contrast, a poster that presents research findings should include:

• background and significance of the study
• aims of the study
• discussion and implications.

Many healthcare organizations and universities have graphic design resources available to assist with poster design. Some organizations even ask presenters to use a specific template. Today many posters are designed with Microsoft PowerPoint templates, but you can also lay out the sections of your poster on a large piece of poster board (available at art supply or office supply stores) before finalizing it. Or you might consider using an Internet vendor (such as www.makesigns.com ). Many vendors not only guide you through poster design but also can print and ship your poster.

Use a “less is more” design

The maxim “less is more” is good advice to follow for a poster. Although you may be tempted to include every detail of your project or research, you won’t have enough space to do this. What’s more, you shouldn’t do this; it would make your poster too busy. Here are some design tips to follow:

• Leave adequate white space . Some empty space is critical to readability and legibility. Without it, the reader has no visual pauses.
• Convey your message clearly. The poster should capture the attention of attendees and convey at least one significant idea they’ll remember. Most people spend 3 to 5 minutes viewing a poster, so use plain, descriptive language that leaves no doubt what your poster is about. Generally, posters are read from left to right; organize the content with this in mind. When possible, lead the viewer through the logical flow using bold take-home points or arrows.
• Use a visual image . People retain visual images longer than the written word, so aim for at least one visual image—a photograph, an illustration, a graph.
• Make it readable . Design the poster so it can be read from a distance of 4′ to 6′. To accomplish this, lettering has to be at least 1″ high. The title should be readable from 15′ to 20′ away, with letters 2″ to 3″ high. Try to have high contrast between the background and text. Generally, a lighter background with darker text is easier to read.
• Pick fonts carefully . Arial and Tahoma are examples of nonserif fonts that work well for poster titles. Serif fonts, such as Times New Roman and Courier, are easier to read at smaller sizes and work well for body text. Having too many font types on a poster can be distracting, so use at most two to three fonts, with bold or italics for emphasis only. Avoid all uppercase letters (capitals) in your poster, as this makes material harder to read.
• Use color sparingly. Although most presenters want colorful posters, color must be incorporated carefully. Blue and green are popular because they’re considered calming.
• Ask colleagues for help . If this is your first time designing a poster, ask an experienced colleague for help. Before the poster is printed, have colleagues familiar with your subject area review it for clarity and possible errors. Proofread the poster carefully before you transport it to the conference.

Transporting and setting up your poster

Posters can be delivered to the conference site by overnight services, such as FedEx or UPS, but many presenters prefer to hand-carry them in poster canisters or portfolios. Normally, posters are set up just before the conference begins. You should receive advance guidelines from conference organizers telling you how to set up your poster. If the poster will be attached to corkboard, find out if you’re expected to bring the required materials (usually pushpins or Velcro strips) to adhere it.

Most professional meeting agendas set aside specific times for poster presentations. Many organizations offer continuing education credit for poster session attendance. Be aware that if your poster is accepted at a conference, a presenter familiar with the project or research is expected to be available during poster sessions to answer questions.

A networking opportunity

Poster presentations are excellent opportunities not just to showcase your work but also to network with colleagues who have similar interests. Effective presenters introduce themselves to attendees and “walk” them through their poster, often adding information that they think will interest them. Some attendees may want to take the information back to their organizations, so consider having handouts available to distribute at the conference. Also, bring your business cards or written contact information to give to participants.

From poster to article?

Interest in your poster by conference attendees may inspire you to take the next step—turning it into an article. Often, journal editors attend specialty conferences and visit poster exhibits. This can be a good opportunity to query them about their journals’ potential interest in your topic.

Presenting a poster is a chance to learn from attendees about aspects of your work that particularly resonate with your audience. This can give you a better idea of how to present your work in a journal article to ensure it’s informative and interesting and provides clear implications for the nursing profession.

Poster sessions have become an important part of most professional conferences and are an excellent way for presenters to share their work. Enjoy the experience of proudly standing next to your poster and discussing your work with interested colleagues.

Selected references

Blakesley D, Brizee A. Designing research posters. Purdue University Writing Lab. 2008. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/media/pdf/20080626013023_727.pdf . Accessed July 20, 2010.

Briggs DJ. A practical guide to designing posters for presentation. Nurs Stand . 2009;23(34):35-39.

Halligan P. Poster presentations: valuing all forms of evidence. Nurse Educ Pract . 2008;8:41-45.

Keely BR. Planning and creating effective scientific posters. J Contin Educ Nurs . 2004;35(4):182-185.

Moore LW, Augspurger P, King MO, Proffitt C. Insights on the poster presentation and presentation process. Appl Nurs Res . 2001;14(2):100-104.

Sherman RO. Writing abstracts for podium and poster presentations. In: Saver C. ed. Anatomy of Writing for Publication for Nurses . Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International; 2011.

University of Buffalo Libraries. Poster presentations: designing effective posters. http://library.buffalo.edu/asl/guides/bio/posters.html . Accessed July 20, 2010.

Rose O. Sherman is director of the Nursing Leadership Institute and associate professor of nursing at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. She can be reached at [email protected].

2 Comments .

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How to make an academic poster

Buket gundogan.

a University College London Medical School, London, UK

Kiron Koshy

Langhit kurar.

b Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, UK

Katharine Whitehurst

Academic posters are an excellent way to showcase your work at conferences and meetings. They can be used in poster presentations and serve as a summary of your project. In this how to article, we demonstrate how trainees can make and deliver a successful academic poster.

• • Academic posters are an excellent way for trainees to showcase their work at conferences and meetings.
• • When done effectively they provide a succinct and attractive summary of your project.
• • This guide aims to provide trainees with a practical and concise method to prepare their academic poster.

Academic posters, when done effectively, are a succinct and attractive way to showcase your work at conferences and meetings. Unlike oral presentations, your audience may not be static so clear design and distilled content are all the more important. Similarly to oral presentations, successful posters can generate discussion amongst the audience members therefore its important to have a clear plan of what to say when stood alongside your poster. In this article, we highlight the important aspects to creating an effective academic poster.

1. Why make an academic poster?

A poster presentation allows you to summarise your project into a concise and aesthetically pleasing format. It is one of the main ways you will present your work when at conferences [1] , [2] . For this reason, you need to make sure your poster is of good quality. This guide will serve to help you with this.

2. How to prepare a poster

There are many computer programs you can use to create your poster. Many use Microsoft Publisher or PowerPoint. It is important that you are comfortable using these programs as you will likely be doing a lot of editing. If you are not familiar with these programs, librarians that are present in most universities will be able and usually willing to help you out.

2.2. Design

It is useful to attend a variety of scientific meetings to collate ideas on how to create an informative and aesthetically pleasing poster. The most important concept for the overall design is not to overly embellish the poster with formatting and pictures, as this may distract from the content. The information should be minimal, as in a slide presentation, stating only key points rather than complete sentences.

The colour system should have effective contrasting backgrounds (e.g. blue and yellow, black and white) to ensure the text is easy to read. The flow of the poster should also be logical and ideally follow a longitudinal algorithm. This should begin with aims and objectives and flow downwards in columns to methods, results, conclusions and finally references. The same format is also adopted when writing scientific abstracts. Once the poster is drafted, it is important to adhere to the instructions provided by the congress you are attempting to submit to. Failure to comply to guidelines may result in your poster not being considered for a poster award, or perhaps even result in expulsion from the meeting altogether.

Prior to submission it is also important ask as many senior colleagues for feedback on your poster as possible. They will be able to provide feedback on the overall readability of the poster, including formatting. Start preparing your poster early – one month is sufficient time to allow for revisions to be made [3] .

3. Information to include in the format – our top tips

3.1. headings.

This should be clear in bold and grab the reader's attention. It is recommended you use a short, sharp heading relevant to your study. Long scientific titles can often bore the reader and distract from the main body of text. The heading should also include the centre at which the study was conducted and the main contributory authors (as per the authorship critera of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)). Logos for the trust you are working at, as well as the conference/congress you are attending can be placed on either side of the title.

• • Title: this needs to have the largest font size of your entire poster to be eye catching. Keep the title as short as possible – it doesn't need to be a paragraph long [1] , [3] .
• • Type of manuscript: whether systematic review, research article or another manuscript type.
• • Authors: include everyone who has contributed [4] .
• • Affiliations: should come directly under authors. This should show which organisations are represented by the authors and/or where the research took place and also contact details.

3.2. Main body

This should follow a logical structure guiding the reader through the poster. The more concise your poster, the better – approximately 100 words per section is ideal [5] , [6] . It is very important that your poster is not wordy. Too much text can be off-putting for the audience. The structure should follow a simple abstract outline.

These are the following sections we recommend as a rough guide, but do check the requirements at your specific conference:

• • Introduction

This should include a short background of the topic to set the context and state the main aims and objectives of your piece of work. What differentiates your work from your competition? Why is your work novel in the field?

• • Methods

The methods section (poster space permitting) should include basic parameters including target sample, setting, duration of study, inclusion/exclusion criteria, statistical techniques, key interventions assessed and primary outcome measures.

• • Results

The results section should include data analysis and stratification and should only include the results which answer the stated hypothesis. Moreover, essential to the results section is the inclusion of pertinent and key graphs, graphics, images and tables. These need to be large enough for the audience members to see and be as attractive and clutter-free as possible.

• • Conclusion

The conclusions must derive directly from the results section and answer solely what has been proposed at the start of the paper. Obvious confounders and limitations should also be acknowledged. Key improvements as well as potential for project expansion should also be considered.

• • References

Only cite key references integral to your study, as references are wordy and space consuming. Use a smaller font to the main body text to reduce this.

3.3. Templates

Your host institution or the conference may require you to use a specific template for the poster. This may include a logo, colour scheme or a certain layout. You should check this before you start designing your poster.

Numerous templates for designing poster exist online and within your local trust library. Computer software may also have inbuilt templates to assist with the design process.

3.4. Tables and figures

It is a good idea to include graphs/images/tables as this will make your poster look more aesthetically pleasing [1] , [6] , [7] . They can also provide more information without crowding the poster with text. Make them colourful, though avoid colours that clash with the text colour [8] . Tables and figures can add new information or graphically present what has already been said in the poster. The arrangement of figures and tables varies and there is no universal rule, however figures interspersed within text is popular and looks attractive. Furthermore, ensure that the figures and images chosen are of a good resolution to avoid blurring when printed and presented.

3.5. Font size

The conference may specify this, however, generally for the main body, size 24 is used for text and size 32 for titles. The introduction section at the top of the poster should have a larger font than this [2] .

3.6. Colour

It is a good idea to stick to one or two colours for main text; anymore and your poster may look too busy. It is also important to check colours in advance at the place you wish to print your poster, as certain colours may come out in a different way to that expected [9] .

3.7. Printing

Make sure to factor in the time (and cost) of printing the poster if this is required. Some companies will print the same day, while others may take longer. Check with your host institution/conference if they use a specific company, as they may be able to provide a discount.

3.8. Electronic posters

A growing number of conferences are using electronic posters (e-posters), which are screens that display an electronic copy of your poster, rather than a paper version. These can either be static images which are laid out similarly to a paper poster, or they can be slide shows of your work, which are displayed like a PowerPoint presentation which then go on rotation at the conference. They may also include videos and animations, so bear this in mind when you are selecting content for your poster [7] , [8] .

4. On the day

Poster presentations are generally more relaxed than oral presentations. You will need to arrive on time to put your poster up – bring extra pins or Velcro tabs as these aren't always in supply. Many presenters also place a plastic pocket to the bottom or side of their poster on the day which provides a small version of their poster for readers to take away – this can be useful.

Delegates of the conference will usually be able to look at the posters throughout the day or during tea/lunch breaks. However, there will usually be a set time when judges will inspect the posters. During this time, you will need to stay with your poster, perhaps present it and answer the questions which the judges or audience members will have.

4.1. Presentation

While presenting, the intention is to guide the reader through your poster which if organised in a logical order, should not be read off but simply used to illustrate your point. What you say can then be substantiated by pictures which you can refer to for emphasis. Do keep your presentation succinct and highlight the salient points of your study. Moreover, its good practice to provide some background to your work at the start – it may sound obvious, but the audience may not necessarily know why this work is important and it is up to you to set the scene on the relevance of the project.

It's a good idea to refresh your memory on your project and be familiar with it before the presentation as the audience will likely have questions and there are often prizes for the best posters. Examples of common questions to prepare for include: how your work may be relevant to current clinical practice, how can it be developed further and what the limitations of your study were.

Attire is also often overlooked. You must maintain a professional appearance throughout and this can often add hidden points to your poster score under presentation. Be friendly and approachable and if there are any questions left unanswered, acknowledge this and offer to develop your study further.

• • Academic posters are a good way to showcase your work.
• • Preparing posters in advance is vital.
• • Stick to a clear format which is easy to read from 1 m away.
• • Practice your presentation in advance and think about questions you may be asked after your presentation.

Sources of funding

No funding received.

Author contribution

BG, KK, LK, KW contributed to writing the paper.

Conflicts of interest

Buket Gundogan.

Home Blog Design How to Design a Winning Poster Presentation: Quick Guide with Examples & Templates

How to Design a Winning Poster Presentation: Quick Guide with Examples & Templates

How are research posters like High School science fair projects? Quite similar, in fact.

Both are visual representations of a research project shared with peers, colleagues and academic faculty. But there’s a big difference: it’s all in professionalism and attention to detail. You can be sure that the students that thrived in science fairs are now creating fantastic research posters, but what is that extra element most people miss when designing a poster presentation?

This guide will teach tips and tricks for creating poster presentations for conferences, symposia, and more. Learn in-depth poster structure and design techniques to help create academic posters that have a lasting impact.

Let’s get started.

Table of Contents

• What is a Research Poster?

Why are Poster Presentations important?

Overall dimensions and orientation, separation into columns and sections, scientific, academic, or something else, a handout with supplemental and contact information, cohesiveness, design and readability, storytelling.

• Font Characteristics
• Color Pairing
• Data Visualization Dimensions
• Alignment, Margins, and White Space

Scientific/Academic Conference Poster Presentation

Digital research poster presentations, slidemodel poster presentation templates, how to make a research poster presentation step-by-step, considerations for printing poster presentations, how to present a research poster presentation, final words, what is a research poster .

Research posters are visual overviews of the most relevant information extracted from a research paper or analysis.   They are essential communication formats for sharing findings with peers and interested people in the field. Research posters can also effectively present material for other areas besides the sciences and STEM—for example, business and law.

You’ll be creating research posters regularly as an academic researcher, scientist, or grad student. You’ll have to present them at numerous functions and events. For example:

• Conference presentations
• Informational events
• Community centers

The research poster presentation is a comprehensive way to share data, information, and research results. Before the pandemic, the majority of research events were in person. During lockdown and beyond, virtual conferences and summits became the norm. Many researchers now create poster presentations that work in printed and digital formats.

Let’s look at why it’s crucial to spend time creating poster presentations for your research projects, research, analysis, and study papers.

Research posters represent you and your sponsor’s research 

Research papers and accompanying poster presentations are potent tools for representation and communication in your field of study. Well-performing poster presentations help scientists, researchers, and analysts grow their careers through grants and sponsorships.

When presenting a poster presentation for a sponsored research project, you’re representing the company that sponsored you. Your professionalism, demeanor, and capacity for creating impactful poster presentations call attention to other interested sponsors, spreading your impact in the field.

Research posters demonstrate expertise and growth

Presenting research posters at conferences, summits, and graduate grading events shows your expertise and knowledge in your field of study. The way your poster presentation looks and delivers, plus your performance while presenting the work, is judged by your viewers regardless of whether it’s an officially judged panel.

Recurring visitors to research conferences and symposia will see you and your poster presentations evolve. Improve your impact by creating a great poster presentation every time by paying attention to detail in the poster design and in your oral presentation. Practice your public speaking skills alongside the design techniques for even more impact.

Poster presentations create and maintain collaborations

Every time you participate in a research poster conference, you create meaningful connections with people in your field, industry or community. Not only do research posters showcase information about current data in different areas, but they also bring people together with similar interests. Countless collaboration projects between different research teams started after discussing poster details during coffee breaks.

An effective research poster template deepens your peer’s understanding of a topic by highlighting research, data, and conclusions. This information can help other researchers and analysts with their work. As a research poster presenter, you’re given the opportunity for both teaching and learning while sharing ideas with peers and colleagues.

Anatomy of a Winning Poster Presentation

Do you want your research poster to perform well?  Following the standard layout and adding a few personal touches will help attendees know how to read your poster and get the most out of your information. 

The overall size of your research poster ultimately depends on the dimensions of the provided space at the conference or research poster gallery. The poster orientation can be horizontal or vertical, with horizontal being the most common.  In general, research posters measure 48 x 36 inches or are an A0 paper size.

A virtual poster can be the same proportions as the printed research poster, but you have more leeway regarding the dimensions. Virtual research posters should fit on a screen with no need to scroll, with 1080p resolution as a standard these days. A horizontal presentation size is ideal for that.

A research poster presentation has a standard layout of 2–5 columns with 2–3 sections each. Typical structures say to separate the content into four sections; 1. A horizontal header 2. Introduction column, 3. Research/Work/Data column, and 4. Conclusion column. Each unit includes topics that relate to your poster’s objective.  Here’s a generalized outline for a poster presentation:

• Condensed Abstract 
• Objectives/Purpose
• Methodology
• Recommendations
• Implications
• Acknowledgments
• Contact Information 

The overview content you include in the units depends on your poster presentations’ theme, topic, industry, or field of research. A scientific or academic poster will include sections like hypothesis, methodology, and materials. A marketing analysis poster will include performance metrics and competitor analysis results.

There’s no way a poster can hold all the information included in your research paper or analysis report. The poster is an overview that invites the audience to want to find out more. That’s where supplement material comes in. Create a printed PDF handout or card with a QR code (created using a QR code generator ). Send the audience to the best online location for reading or downloading the complete paper.

What Makes a Poster Presentation Good and Effective? 

For your poster presentation to be effective and well-received, it needs to cover all the bases and be inviting to find out more. Stick to the standard layout suggestions and give it a unique look and feel. We’ve put together some of the most critical research poster-creation tips in the list below. Your poster presentation will perform as long as you check all the boxes.

The information you choose to include in the sections of your poster presentation needs to be cohesive. Train your editing eye and do a few revisions before presenting. The best way to look at it is to think of The Big Picture. Don’t get stuck on the details; your attendees won’t always know the background behind your research topic or why it’s important.

Be cohesive in how you word the titles, the length of the sections, the highlighting of the most important data, and how your oral presentation complements the printed—or virtual—poster.

The most important characteristic of your poster presentation is its readability and clarity. You need a poster presentation with a balanced design that’s easy to read at a distance of 1.5 meters or 4 feet. The font size and spacing must be clear and neat. All the content must suggest a visual flow for the viewer to follow.

That said, you don’t need to be a designer to add something special to your poster presentation. Once you have the standard—and recognized—columns and sections, add your special touch. These can be anything from colorful boxes for the section titles to an interesting but subtle background, images that catch the eye, and charts that inspire a more extended look. 

Storytelling is a presenting technique involving writing techniques to make information flow. Firstly, storytelling helps give your poster presentation a great introduction and an impactful conclusion. 

Think of storytelling as the invitation to listen or read more, as the glue that connects sections, making them flow from one to another. Storytelling is using stories in the oral presentation, for example, what your lab partner said when you discovered something interesting. If it makes your audience smile and nod, you’ve hit the mark. Storytelling is like giving a research presentation a dose of your personality, and it can help turning your data into opening stories .

Design Tips For Creating an Effective Research Poster Presentation

The section above briefly mentioned how important design is to your poster presentation’s effectiveness. We’ll look deeper into what you need to know when designing a poster presentation.

1. Font Characteristics

The typeface and size you choose are of great importance. Not only does the text need to be readable from two meters away, but it also needs to look and sit well on the poster. Stay away from calligraphic script typefaces, novelty typefaces, or typefaces with uniquely shaped letters.

Stick to the classics like a sans serif Helvetica, Lato, Open Sans, or Verdana. Avoid serif typefaces as they can be difficult to read from far away. Here are some standard text sizes to have on hand.

• Title: 85 pt
• Authors: 65 pt
• Headings: 36 pt
• Body Text: 24 pt
• Captions: 18 pt

If you feel too prone to use serif typefaces, work with a font pairing tool that helps you find a suitable solution – and intend those serif fonts for heading sections only. As a rule, never use more than 3 different typefaces in your design. To make it more dynamic, you can work with the same font using light, bold, and italic weights to put emphasis on the required areas.

2. Color Pairing

Using colors in your poster presentation design is a great way to grab the viewer’s attention. A color’s purpose is to help the viewer follow the data flow in your presentation, not distract. Don’t let the color take more importance than the information on your poster.

Choose one main color for the title and headlines and a similar color for the data visualizations. If you want to use more than one color, don’t create too much contrast between them. Try different tonalities of the same color and keep things balanced visually. Your color palette should have at most one main color and two accent colors.

Black text over a white background is standard practice for printed poster presentations, but for virtual presentations, try a very light gray instead of white and a very dark gray instead of black. Additionally, use variations of light color backgrounds and dark color text. Make sure it’s easy to read from two meters away or on a screen, depending on the context. We recommend ditching full white or full black tone usage as it hurts eyesight in the long term due to its intense contrast difference with the light ambiance.

3. Data Visualization Dimensions

Just like the text, your charts, graphs, and data visualizations must be easy to read and understand. Generally, if a person is interested in your research and has already read some of the text from two meters away, they’ll come closer to look at the charts and graphs. 

Fit data visualizations inside columns or let them span over two columns. Remove any unnecessary borders, lines, or labels to make them easier to read at a glance. Use a flat design without shadows or 3D characteristics. The text in legends and captions should stay within the chart size and not overflow into the margins. Use a unified text size of 18px for all your data visualizations.

4. Alignment, Margins, and White Space

Finally, the last design tip for creating an impressive and memorable poster presentation is to be mindful of the layout’s alignment, margins, and white space. Create text boxes to help keep everything aligned. They allow you to resize, adapt, and align the content along a margin or grid.

Take advantage of the white space created by borders and margins between sections. Don’t crowd them with a busy background or unattractive color.

Calculate margins considering a print format. It is a good practice in case the poster presentation ends up becoming in physical format, as you won’t need to downscale your entire design (affecting text readability in the process) to preserve information.

There are different tools that you can use to make a poster presentation. Presenters who are familiar with Microsoft Office prefer to use PowerPoint. You can learn how to make a poster in PowerPoint here.

Poster Presentation Examples

Before you start creating a poster presentation, look at some examples of real research posters. Get inspired and get creative.

Research poster presentations printed and mounted on a board look like the one in the image below. The presenter stands to the side, ready to share the information with visitors as they walk up to the panels.

With more and more conferences staying virtual or hybrid, the digital poster presentation is here to stay. Take a look at examples from a poster session at the OHSU School of Medicine .

Use SlideModel templates to help you create a winning poster presentation with PowerPoint and Google Slides. These poster PPT templates will get you off on the right foot. Mix and match tables and data visualizations from other poster slide templates to create your ideal layout according to the standard guidelines.

If you need a quick method to create a presentation deck to talk about your research poster at conferences, check out our Slides AI presentation maker. A tool in which you add the topic, curate the outline, select a design, and let AI do the work for you.

1. One-pager Scientific Poster Template for PowerPoint

A PowerPoint template tailored to make your poster presentations an easy-to-craft process. Meet our One-Pager Scientific Poster Slide Template, entirely editable to your preferences and with ample room to accommodate graphs, data charts, and much more.

Use This Template

2. Eisenhower Matrix Slides Template for PowerPoint

An Eisenhower Matrix is a powerful tool to represent priorities, classifying work according to urgency and importance. Presenters can use this 2×2 matrix in poster presentations to expose the effort required for the research process, as it also helps to communicate strategy planning.

3. OSMG Framework PowerPoint Template

Finally, we recommend presenters check our OSMG Framework PowerPoint template, as it is an ideal tool for representing a business plan: its goals, strategies, and measures for success. Expose complex processes in a simplified manner by adding this template to your poster presentation.

Remember these three words when making your research poster presentation: develop, design, and present. These are the three main actions toward a successful poster presentation. 

The section below will take you on a step-by-step journey to create your next poster presentation.

Step 1: Define the purpose and audience of your poster presentation

Before making a poster presentation design, you’ll need to plan first. Here are some questions to answer at this point:

• Are they in your field? 
• Do they know about your research topic? 
• What can they get from your research?
• Will you print it?
• Is it for a virtual conference?

Step 2: Make an outline

With a clear purpose and strategy, it’s time to collect the most important information from your research paper, analysis, or documentation. Make a content dump and then select the most interesting information. Use the content to draft an outline.

Outlines help formulate the overall structure better than going straight into designing the poster. Mimic the standard poster structure in your outline using section headlines as separators. Go further and separate the content into the columns they’ll be placed in.

Step 3: Write the content

Write or rewrite the content for the sections in your poster presentation. Use the text in your research paper as a base, but summarize it to be more succinct in what you share. 

Don’t forget to write a catchy title that presents the problem and your findings in a clear way. Likewise, craft the headlines for the sections in a similar tone as the title, creating consistency in the message. Include subtle transitions between sections to help follow the flow of information in order.

Avoid copying/pasting entire sections of the research paper on which the poster is based. Opt for the storytelling approach, so the delivered message results are interesting for your audience. 

Step 4: Put it all together visually

This entire guide on how to design a research poster presentation is the perfect resource to help you with this step. Follow all the tips and guidelines and have an unforgettable poster presentation.

Moving on, here’s how to design a research poster presentation with PowerPoint Templates . Open a new project and size it to the standard 48 x 36 inches. Using the outline, map out the sections on the empty canvas. Add a text box for each title, headline, and body text. Piece by piece, add the content into their corresponding text box.

Transform the text information visually, make bullet points, and place the content in tables and timelines. Make your text visual to avoid chunky text blocks that no one will have time to read. Make sure all text sizes are coherent for all headings, body texts, image captions, etc. Double-check for spacing and text box formatting.

Next, add or create data visualizations, images, or diagrams. Align everything into columns and sections, making sure there’s no overflow. Add captions and legends to the visualizations, and check the color contrast with colleagues and friends. Ask for feedback and progress to the last step.

Step 5: Last touches

Time to check the final touches on your poster presentation design. Here’s a checklist to help finalize your research poster before sending it to printers or the virtual summit rep.

• Check the resolution of all visual elements in your poster design. Zoom to 100 or 200% to see if the images pixelate. Avoid this problem by using vector design elements and high-resolution images.
• Ensure that charts and graphs are easy to read and don’t look crowded.
• Analyze the visual hierarchy. Is there a visual flow through the title, introduction, data, and conclusion?
• Take a step back and check if it’s legible from a distance. Is there enough white space for the content to breathe?
• Does the design look inviting and interesting?

An often neglected topic arises when we need to print our designs for any exhibition purpose. Since A0 is a hard-to-manage format for most printers, these poster presentations result in heftier charges for the user. Instead, you can opt to work your design in two A1 sheets, which also becomes more manageable for transportation. Create seamless borders for the section on which the poster sheets should meet, or work with a white background.

Paper weight options should be over 200 gsm to avoid unwanted damage during the printing process due to heavy ink usage. If possible, laminate your print or stick it to photographic paper – this shall protect your work from spills.

Finally, always run a test print. Gray tints may not be printed as clearly as you see them on screen (this is due to the RGB to CMYK conversion process). Other differences can be appreciated when working with ink jet plotters vs. laser printers. Give yourself enough room to maneuver last-minute design changes.

Presenting a research poster is a big step in the poster presentation cycle. Your poster presentation might or might not be judged by faculty or peers. But knowing what judges look for will help you prepare for the design and oral presentation, regardless of whether you receive a grade for your work or if it’s business related. Likewise, the same principles apply when presenting at an in-person or virtual summit.

The opening statement

Part of presenting a research poster is welcoming the viewer to your small personal area in the sea of poster presentations. You’ll need an opening statement to pitch your research poster and get the viewers’ attention.

Draft a 2 to 3-sentence pitch that covers the most important points:

• What the research is
• Why was it conducted
• What the results say

From that opening statement, you’re ready to continue with the oral presentation for the benefit of your attendees.

The oral presentation

During the oral presentation, share the information on the poster while conversing with the interested public. Practice many times before the event. Structure the oral presentation as conversation points, and use the poster’s visual flow as support. Make eye contact with your audience as you speak, but don’t make them uncomfortable.

Pro Tip: In a conference or summit, if people show up to your poster area after you’ve started presenting it to another group, finish and then address the new visitors.

QA Sessions 

When you’ve finished the oral presentation, offer the audience a chance to ask questions. You can tell them before starting the presentation that you’ll be holding a QA session at the end. Doing so will prevent interruptions as you’re speaking.

If presenting to one or two people, be flexible and answer questions as you review all the sections on your poster.

Supplemental Material

If your audience is interested in learning more, you can offer another content type, further imprinting the information in their minds. Some ideas include; printed copies of your research paper, links to a website, a digital experience of your poster, a thesis PDF, or data spreadsheets.

Your audience will want to contact you for further conversations; include contact details in your supplemental material. If you don’t offer anything else, at least have business cards.

Even though conferences have changed, the research poster’s importance hasn’t diminished. Now, instead of simply creating a printed poster presentation, you can also make it for digital platforms. The final output will depend on the conference and its requirements.

This guide covered all the essential information you need to know for creating impactful poster presentations, from design, structure and layout tips to oral presentation techniques to engage your audience better . 

Before your next poster session, bookmark and review this guide to help you design a winning poster presentation every time. 

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15 Medical Poster Examples for Patient Education

By Daleska Pedriquez , May 23, 2023

Effective communication is the key to better understanding people, particularly in the healthcare industry.

This is why creating a poster is always a great idea.

Haven’t made a poster before? Improve your healthcare communications by using a poster template to ensure the safety of patients both in the hospital and at home.

What is a medical poster ?

A medical poster is an informative tool used to visually communicate complex information in a clear, concise manner. Medical posters can be designed for various needs, from patients to healthcare professionals.

In the next section, I’ll share some editable medical poster templates you can customize and display in hospitals, clinics, waiting rooms, and other public spaces. These templates cover various health topics and can be easily adapted to your specific needs.

Medical poster examples

• Mental health awareness poster examples
• Global health issues [pandemic] poster examples
• Healthy lifestyle poster examples
• Dental hygiene poster examples
• Meditation and yoga event poster examples

3 Mental health awareness poster examples

Mental health is an essential part of an individual’s overall health and well-being.

The general perception about mental health has significantly improved over the years, but mental illness stigma still remains.

We share poster design ideas and tips that will make it easier to break the stigma and reach patients.

End stigma mental health poster example

Stigma has adversely affected people seeking professional help for their mental health issues. It’s also led to a decline in resources used to treat mental illness.

This creative poster template shows how medical practitioners can end the stigma.

Keep the poster production timeline in mind when creating a campaign like this so that your rollout reaches the audience that most needs help.

Just so you know, some of our poster templates are free to use and some require a small monthly fee. Sign up is always free, as is access to Venngage’s online drag-and-drop editor.

Dark mental health poster example

Use a poster layout like the one above to share research findings on mental health and advocate to end the stigma around it, while giving patients adequate resources to search for the help they need.

When you want to promote a healthy lifestyle, use images of healthy food and people doing various activities, so patients can see themselves in the poster.

Look for the perfect photo to use among Venngage’s gallery of  free stock photos  or upload your own to add a more personalized touch.

Cartoon mental health event poster example

This is a simple event poster that is both calming and neutral. It catches the eye and makes people feel comfortable about signing up for the event.

You can improve the reach of your poster by posting it on your clinic walls or sharing it online. Other websites where your patients may search for help could also be a good place to distribute the poster.

Need help designing your poster? With Venngage for Business , you can access priority support any time of the day from our customer success team.

Related: Effective Patient Education Strategies and How Using Visuals Helps Change Patient Behavior

Design tips:

Colors can be used in many different ways, like providing therapy. Color therapy is an alternative medicine that uses colors as an aid for treating diseases and is even recognized as a treatment for mental illness. Before designing your poster relevant to mental health, learn which colors are appropriate and suited to your concept. Explore Venngage’s wide selection of ready-to-use  color palettes  or create your own.

3 Global health issues [pandemic] poster examples

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world.

The challenge for healthcare workers hasn’t just been mitigating transmission and treating patients, but also influencing preventive efforts on a global scale.

Without an effective poster or infographics, people wouldn’t be well-informed about the virus and how to protect themselves against it.

COVID-19 healthcare study poster example

A poster like the one below could be shared to engage practitioners and patients in conversation about the pandemic.

Add more details to it such as research from a peer-reviewed journal or medical experts to make the poster and study session more impactful.

You can change the icon to reflect a variety of medical professionals. Double-click the icon you want to change and choose from our icon library.

Related: 5 Steps To Create a Healthcare Marketing Plan [+Templates]

Reopening guide poster example

The  World Health Organization  regularly uses posters and other graphics to spread awareness about COVID-19.

This simple poster uses icons and arrows to explain physical distancing and hygiene protocols.

This type of poster can be used in numerous places, including elevators, medical sites, and other websites that are sharing social distancing information.

Related: Vaccine Education: How to Responsibly Inform About COVID-19 Vaccination

Pandemic safety pet clinic poster example

This colorful template shows people exactly how to bring their pets to a vet during the pandemic.

Note the use of colors and icons to draw the eye and make the information easy to understand at a glance. Review the process before you create the poster so the details are correct.

Venngage’s library includes over 40,000 icons, including diverse people icons , that you can add to your poster.

When designing a poster presentation, it is important to be informative without losing your creativity. Find the perfect balance between being serious in imparting knowledge and being visually engaging by using icons and other illustrations.

3 Healthy lifestyle poster examples

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is synonymous with having a rejuvenated body and mind, and improved well-being.

It is the key to boosting an individual’s energy that ultimately leads to a better performance in their everyday life.

Cooking lesson poster example

When you live a healthy lifestyle, you feel better and more comfortable. This helps people live a happy and healthy life to its full extent.

But there’s also a lot of anxiety around food and cooking. That’s why this simple and elegant poster to promote a cooking lesson will help people feel more engaged.

Orange nutritional value flyer example

In the field of health, healthcare practitioners and professionals have a huge influence on people trying to adopt different eating habits.

Doctors, nurses, dieticians, and nutritionists can get their point across better with a bright flyer , like the one below.

Vegan lifestyle event poster example

Medical practitioners can recommend key lifestyle changes and provide essential ongoing support to patients.

Word of mouth and educational materials such as posters, flyers, and other infographics are great tools to bridge the gap between medical professionals and patients.

Nobody has the time and energy to read dull and boring posters. To spice up your design, include graphic elements such as photos, charts, and diagrams in your infographics and posters. Make sure to include only those that reinforce the idea you want to convey so you keep your readers’ attention focused on the real point.

3 Dental hygiene poster examples

A beautiful smile and a healthy mouth are undeniably two of the greatest assets that a person can have.

Our teeth play a huge part in our everyday activities such as chewing, digesting food, and talking.

The need to establish a good oral care routine is very important.

Dental education poster example

However, visits to the dentist can be challenging. The best way to circumvent this anxiety is to create a poster that shares the health benefits of a good dental routine.

To amplify awareness and knowledge about proper oral hygiene, posters could be utilized as educational material.

Dental medical pamphlet example

Educational posters have significantly improved the level of literacy of people about health-related matters, including dental health.

Dentists can use this research to advertise their services and attract a larger clientele using a poster like the one below.

Research has shown that healthcare personnel’s communication skills help patients better follow through with the medical recommendations provided.

Oral hygiene dental tips poster example

Relying solely on your body’s natural defenses, and daily brushing and flossing of teeth aren’t enough to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

This poster helps break down the various ways patients can keep their teeth healthy so they don’t need to visit the dentist too often.

Every element that is incorporated in a template’s design, even the font used for the brief text in your output, has an impact on the impression that a poster makes. Just like the templates above, you can play with the  font styles  and size to create a more impactful and engaging poster. Apply bold headings so as to break the content up into smaller sections. The Venngage editor has a plethora of font styles to choose from to make the poster uniquely your own.

3 Meditation and yoga event poster examples

Deep breath in. Deep breath out. Relax and feel the fresh air as you immerse in mental clarity and calmness with the help of yoga and meditation.

Most of us have heard these words. But how do yoga practitioners share the importance of yoga with patients? A well-designed poster can help.

Yoga class poster example

Yoga, an ancient practice that brings mind and body together, is said to have numerous benefits for both an individual’s mental and physical health.

This class poster explains how yoga can improve skills and health. And it does so without cluttering up the visual.

Meditation corporate facts poster example

Yoga and meditation help decrease stress and relieve anxiety. They can also improve heart health, reduce chronic pain, and improve flexibility, balance, and breathing.

This poster shares research around corporate wellness and can be used to stress the need for more meditation in an employee’s life.

Colorful infographic poster example

As many novel diseases come to challenge the human race, threats brought about by poor habits impact people’s health.

Healthcare workers and HR teams can promote yoga and meditation as a way to reduce stress using this type of infographic poster.

Invoke the same calming feeling one gets from doing yoga with a template that’s relaxing to the eyes. Use an appropriate color scheme and photo set that relates to the yoga event. Add smaller photo insets to the template to accentuate the full-size photo for the poster background .

What are the benefits of medical posters?

Here’s an overview of the benefits of medical posters by category:

• Healthcare : In healthcare, medical posters drive effective patient-doctor communication and help promote preventative care and adherence to treatment.
• Patients : For patients, medical posters provide clear, accessible information about health conditions and treatments that help them to make informed decisions about their health.
• Medical professionals: Medical posters allow healthcare professionals to communicate information more effectively during consultations to ensure compliance.
• Communication: Overall, medical posters facilitate clear and effective dialogue between healthcare professionals and patients, enhancing understanding and engagement

Now that you have an idea of why medical posters are helpful, it’s time you start designing your own medical poster to educate patients.

Create a medical poster that educates patients about their health practices

Ensuring the safety of patients and equipping them with knowledge on proper healthcare are the top reasons for creating effective healthcare communication structures.

Healthcare facilities and organizations should have a medical poster for each of their primary areas of concern. This will guide patients and the general public toward a healthier life.

With a professionally designed poster template and infographics, medical professionals can create compelling and effective visual aids for all their communication needs.

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Poster presentation resources.

Poster presentations are widely used to communicate research findings. A good poster presentation can be an effective way to share the results of your research with your peers in a collegial and nonthreatening atmosphere. Feedback received during a poster session can be invaluable in refining your research and preparing for publication in a peer reviewed journal.

If your abstract has been selected for a poster presentation at a local, regional or national meeting, the research chief resident and program director can offer you guidance to create your poster and prepare for your presentation.  You should use our residency poster template for your color scheme and  GW logo  (you may change the size as you like), and you can use the  GW Biomedical Printing office  in Ross Hall to create your poster.  

Please see our  policy on conference reimbursement  for information.

• ACP abstract instructions
• SGIM scientific abstract instructions
• SGIM clinical vignette instructions  
• Residency Poster Template (you may change size/font, however color and logo should be consistent). Use a sans serif font and be sure to include images, tables or figures and plenty of blank space for easy readability.  

Preparing a Poster Presentation - ACP's Guidelines

Poster examples from gw, poster resources.

• The  GW SMHS Office of Communications & Marketing  offer a complete line of services to assist you with all of your graphic design and photography needs. Newsletters, brochures, posters, the perfect photo, and more! They do it all.
• Download the  Official GW Logos  to insert in your poster. Choose the format that best suits your software, download, copy and paste.
• Download your copy of  "The Face of GW: Graphics Standard Manual"  to learn about the approved ways to include GW's institutional brand in printed publications and media.
• The  GW Image Bank  features photos of GWU and Washington to feed your creative genius.

The following links will take you to banks of Powerpoint scientific poster templates located on other websites. Fill-in the contents, change the layout, fonts and colors according to your design, and submit for printing!. Overall there are over 50 different templates. Please notify the website administrator of any broken links.

• PosterSessions.com
• PosterPresentations.com
• MakeSigns.com
• PostersforResearch.com
• StudentsPosters.com
• Creating Effective Poster Presentations . By George Hess, Kathryn Tosney and Leon Liegel from North Carolina State University.
• Chapter 9: Posters . Briscoe, MH. Preparing Scientific Illustration, Second Edition. (pdf) Excellent resource on the nuts and bolts of preparing a poster, from planning to production.
• How to create a poster that graphically communicates your message . By George R. Hess and Leon H. Liegel. From the department of Biology at The University of Miami.

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Since 1997, thousands of medical professionals, nurses, researchers, students, and conferences, have been trusting PosterPresentations.com with producing their printed and virtual poster presentations.  

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Printing research posters is our specialty We are very efficient and very thorough. We know how much time you have invested in your research. We understand how important your poster presentation is to you and that there is no room for error. We understand that you also want to have a great-looking poster! We got you covered.

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Research posters is our specialty

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Best pricing without hidden charges Providing our customers with quality poster presentation printing options is a top priority, but we’re also dedicated to affordability. Regardless of the type of printing option you select, or the size of your poster presentation, we offer competitive prices suited to fit your printing budget.

Simple ordering process Our poster printing service process is simple. Click the “Order your poster” button, provide us with your contact and delivery information and upload your PowerPoint poster presentation. You can upload a custom design, or use one of our poster presentation templates. Then, select the type of printing option you want to use and provide us with your desired poster size. Since we’re a same day poster printing service, we get started immediately.

Printing assurance proofs To ensure accuracy, our standard services include assurance proofs that show exactly what we’re printing. This gives you the chance to glance over your presentation, one last time, before it goes to production. Once you approve the proof, your poster presentation is printed and shipped!

Same-Day printing without rush charges Our same day poster printing service is fast and easy and you never have to worry about us adding rush charges to printing. Just give us your deadline, and we’ll meet it! If, by chance, a shipping issue occurs with our shipping services provider, we’ll do the ground work to make sure you get your poster presentation on-time.

Innovative presentation products Through constant feedback from our customers, and our hunger for the latest poster presentation trends and news, we bring you new poster presentation techniques first. In fact, we were the first to offer research poster printing on crease-resistant foldable fabric.

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We are here to help You can contact our customer care experts at 1-866-649-3004 today to learn how PosterPresentations.com can help make your next presentation a success.

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2024 Poster Design and Presentation: Medical Student Research Symposium

VoiceThread Recording Submission Deadline: Thursday, Feb. 15, 2024

Symposium Day: Thursday, March 7, 2024

Poster Design:

Upon abstract acceptance, all posters must be uploaded and recorded on VoiceThread by Feb. 15, 2024. All posters that are narrated on VoiceThread by the deadline will be officially listed in the Symposium Compendium and can be included in your CV. Posters that are not uploaded on VoiceThread cannot be listed on your CV.

Recordings on VoiceThread will undergo a first round of scoring by judges. The top posters in each category (final number depends on the total amount of posters per category) will be invited to present their work in-person in Rayzor Lounge on Thursday, March 7, 2024.

During the in-person presentations on Symposium Day, there will be a second round of judging (independent of the prior scoring of the recording on VoiceThread). The top scoring posters of the in-person presentations on Symposium Day will be awarded the Henry J.N. Taub Young Investigator Awards.

In addition, all symposium participants will have the opportunity to select their favorite poster via live voting on Symposium Day and the winner (the poster with the highest number of votes) will be awarded the “Most Popular Poster Award”.

• Divide your poster presentation clearly into introduction, goal/hypothesis, methods, results, conclusion/discussion, and acknowledgement sections
• Do not include your abstract on the poster
• Make sure your goal/hypothesis is clearly stated
• Either on the poster or verbally in your presentation, clearly define what role you had in the research and how much you contributed to the presented data  
• Prepare your cover slide (1 page) using appropriate software (e.g., Power Point): State the name and add a professional photo of the first author (if equal authorship: photos of all equally contributing authors), yet not of any co-authors or mentors. State your class year next to your name. State the title of your poster, yet no affiliations or names of co-authors.
• Once the cover slide is ready for publication, upload the slide to VoiceThread as page 1 of your presentation
• Once your poster slide (1 page) is ready for publication, upload the slide to VoiceThread as page 2 of your presentation
• Optional: upload your abstract as page 3 of your presentation
• In VoiceThread, the first author will record a 5-10 minute summary of the project. If equal authorship, all “equally contributing authors” (but not other co-authors) must contribute verbally to the recorded VoiceThread presentation to qualify for selection into the next round
• Detailed instructions of how to upload pages and record in VoiceThread, as well as how to submit your VoiceThread link to the symposium website will be provided by email once your poster has been accepted for presentation.

Poster Presentation:

All VoiceThread recordings will be scored and the top posters in each category will be invited to present in-person at the Symposium on Thursday, March 7, 2024. To qualify for the Henry J.N. Taub Young Investigator Award, all equally contributing authors must verbally present their work on Symposium Day. Medical students who fail to present their poster on Symposium Day without prior notification will not be considered for poster presentation at future symposiums.

Students will be notified by Monday, February 26, 2024, if their poster has been selected for an in-person presentation. Students will then have 10 days to print their poster on paper. Printing costs for all accepted posters may be covered by the organizers, provided ALL of the following criteria are met:

• The abstract was accepted by the organizers
• The poster is printed by the Curriculum Office
• The poster e-file (in pdf format) is submitted directly to the Curriculum Office by Thursday Feb. 29, 2024 at 5 p.m . (any posters submitted after this date and time will NOT be covered and printing will be the medical student's sole responsibility). More information about how to submit your poster will be provided upon abstract acceptance.
• The poster needs to be formatted in size 5ft width x 3ft height (i.e. 60in. x 18in.) 
• Posters printed anywhere else will NOT be covered at all
• Medical student AND poster have to be present in person on Symposium Day, at minimum during the designated judging time (if either student or poster or both are missing, the student will be required to repay the poster printing and presentation board fee).

On Symposium Day (March 7, 2024)

• Posters need to be hung up by 8:30 a.m. and stay until 2 p.m. If you would like to hang your poster early, the presentation boards will be available in Rayzor Lounge the night before the symposium.
• Each presentation board will be labeled with a number and a category that matches your abstract number (abstract number will be given upon abstract acceptance); please use the board with your designated number.
• Dress professionally (suit and tie are not required, but no scrubs or shorts)
• Presentations will take place from 9 - 11 a.m.
• A small breakfast and lunch will be provided

Judging Criteria (Virtual and in-person Poster Presentations):

Judges will be scoring your poster presentation and will look for the following criteria:

• Medical student’s appearance: Well-prepared, engaged, confident, professional, on time
• Quality of oral presentation: Clear and concise project overview and able to answer questions adequately
• Quality of poster: Appropriate, understandable, and informative overview of your project
• clear goal/hypothesis
• appropriate methods to address the goal/hypothesis
• conclusion(s) are supported by presented data and directly relate to the goal/hypothesis
• Impact of research project: novelty (new concepts, new knowledge, new technology), validity of data
• Medical student's involvement in the research (please clearly define what role you had in the research project)
• Each poster will be rated on a scale of 1-10 (1=worst, 10=best)

Henry J.N. Taub Young Investigator Awards:

On Symposium Day, judges will score each in-person poster presentation and points from all judges will be added together. In each category (clinical, basic science, health system science, and educational research), the highest scoring posters will be awarded. The number of awards given for each category will be based on the number of abstract submissions per category.

• First Place: $300
• Second Place: $200
• Third Place: $100
• Fourth Place: $50

Award winners will be announced during the award ceremony, right after the Keynote Speaker.

Most Popular Poster Award:

This award will be given to the poster receiving the most votes by the audience/visitors on the Symposium Day. Voting will be electronic (QR code provided in Rayzor Lounge) and is non-criteria based. Each individual may only vote once. ($100)

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Register for the oss 25th anniversary event, intermittent fasting and the perils of fast facts.

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This article was first published in The Montreal Gazette .

Recent headlines proclaimed that  intermittent fasting  can double your chances of dying from a heart attack. It’s not true though. Understanding why forces us to examine a fundamental feature of statistical randomness.

We also need to remember another important medical truth: Your zodiac sign doesn’t affect the effectiveness of Aspirin.

If you missed the story, a report from the recent  American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention / Lifestyle conference  suggested that intermittent fasting, otherwise known as time-restricted eating, was associated with an increase in cardiovascular mortality. The story dominated the news cycle for about two days before some pushback.

In brief, researchers analyzed two separate data sets to study the long-term implications of this increasingly popular dietary strategy. Information about eating patterns was collected from the  National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey . As part of the survey, participants completed two separate food questionnaires about what they ate over the previous 24 hours. Deaths were recorded in the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Death Index database , and researchers had on average eight years worth of follow-up data on just over 20,000 participants.

Researchers examined how much time-restricted eating affected mortality risk. Those who ate their daily meals within an eight-hour window (that is, they fasted for more than 16 hours a day) had a higher risk than the control group, which ate during a 12- to 16-hour window (that is, they ate fairly consistently throughout the day). Comparing these two groups, the 16:8 dieters had a 91 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular death.

But here the problems started. Much of the early reporting was based on a  press  release  put out by the American Heart Association. There were minor discrepancies between the submitted  abstract  and the actual  poster  presentation that was eventually put online.

For those unfamiliar with the mechanics of medical research, poster presentations at conferences are deliberately brief snapshots of one’s research. They are more akin to the trailer of a movie rather than the final theatrical release. Since the data was not published in a medical journal, details were sparse and one should expect more edits and revisions before we see the final version.

Despite these surface-level objections to the preliminary and non-peer reviewed nature of the results, there is a more fundamental problem with the research. Although the 16:8 dieters did show a 91 per cent increased risk of cardiovascular death, the poster actually contained a multitude of analyses. Notably, there was no association between intermittent fasting and cancer mortality or with mortality overall.

Researchers also divided patients into several groups, and it was only those doing more than a 16-hour fast who had the increased risk. Of the 36 analyses in the poster, only one showed an increased risk. Paradoxically, those who did not fast at all (that is, they ate continuously for more than 16 hours a day and stopped seemingly only to sleep) had a lower risk of cancer mortality.

When examined objectively, the analyses in this poster showed no link between intermittent fasting and any of the outcomes. There were two outliers, one suggesting higher risk and another showing a lower risk for different outcomes in different groups. My interpretation is that this is random statistical noise.

A famous 1988 study, the  ISIS-2 trial , demonstrated that taking Aspirin during a heart attack provided a cardiovascular benefit. But there was one group of patients who did not benefit: Geminis and Libras. The researchers included this spurious if humorous analysis to make a point. Perform enough statistical tests and you will eventually get a positive but completely random and meaningless result.

Many critiques can be levelled against this conference poster. It is not peer reviewed, did not adjust for the quality of participants’ diet, and relied on only two days of self-reported diet history. But more importantly, the lone positive association is not really groundbreaking. It’s likely an outlier. In research, as in life, some things are just random.

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Department and University Information

Office for science and society.

Neurosyphilis in the modern era: Literature review and case series

Affiliations.

• 1 Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Fundamental Medicine, Moscow, Russia; Bujanov Moscow City Clinical Hospital, Moscow, Russia.
• 2 Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Moscow, Russia; Bujanov Moscow City Clinical Hospital, Moscow, Russia. Electronic address: [email protected].
• 3 Bujanov Moscow City Clinical Hospital, Moscow, Russia.
• 4 Moscow Scientific and Practical Center for Dermatology, Venerology and Cosmetology, Moscow Healthcare Department, Russia.
• 5 Institute of Higher Nervous Activity and Neurophysiology, Moscow, Russia; Bujanov Moscow City Clinical Hospital, Moscow, Russia; Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry, Moscow Healthcare Department, Russia.
• 6 Moscow Research and Clinical Center for Neuropsychiatry, Moscow Healthcare Department, Russia; Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, Russia.
• PMID: 31427238
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jocn.2019.08.033

The term of neurosyphilis (NS) refers to infection of central nervous system by Treponema pallidum. Classically, it has been divided into early (meningitis, meningovascular) and late forms (general paresis and tabes dorsalis). The availability of penicillin and high sensitivity of Treponema pallidum to this antibiotic has led to a widely held perception about rarity of syphilitic forms with central nervous system involvement. However, patient can exhibit atypical clinical presentation. Recently different clinical cases with autoimmune encephalitis-mimicking presentation or atypical movement disorders were described. In this article we presented clinical case series with different clinical and MRI presentation and discuss diagnostic and treatment challenges. During our screening period at neurological department we revealed 6 NS cases. Three of them have an atypical presentation. The first patient was misdiagnosed as acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, the second patient had hippocampal sclerosis and epileptic seizures. Another patient had cognitive decline and autoimmune encephalitis-like MRI lesions. We put an emphasis on widening of indication for lumbar puncture and NS tests in patients with syphilitic anamnesis and neurological manifestations.

Keywords: Atypical cases; CSF tests; MRI; Neurosyphilis.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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• Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
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• Neurosyphilis / diagnosis*
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• Treponema pallidum
• Anti-Bacterial Agents

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MAE student Olivia Fulkerson won 3rd place for poster presentation at Research Day at the Capitol

Monday, March 25, 2024

Olivia Fulkerson, a junior in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, was recently selected as one of only four students to represent Oklahoma State University at the Research Day at the Capitol. Her research, titled Accelerating Design and Additive Manufacturing of Polymer Composites for Aerospace Applications , focuses on developing data-driven strategies to expedite the design of additive manufactured components across the automotive, aerospace, and medical sectors. She participated in the Research-intensive Institutions category, where she won third place for her poster presentation.

Fulkerson is part of a research team that works in the Advanced Materials and Additive Manufacturing (AM 2 ) Laboratory that engages in interdisciplinary research at the intersection of materials science, physical phenomena, and advanced manufacturing. Their goal is to investigate and comprehend the essential triad of process, phenomenon, and property within the context of additive manufacturing. Toward this objective, they develop experimental tools, characterization methods, functional materials, and process models aimed at advancing the science and technology of manufacturing fully functional products.

Fulkerson’s research is a collaborative effort involving three research faculty members: Drs. Srikanthan Ramesh and Akash Deep, assistant professors in industrial engineering and management, and Dr. Hadi Noori, assistant professor in mechanical and aerospace engineering. 

Research Day at the Capitol was established 29 years ago to showcase the outstanding undergraduate research being conducted at Oklahoma’s colleges and universities in the areas of science (including social science), technology, engineering, and mathematics. The prestigious event is sponsored by the Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education, Oklahoma Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (OK EPSCoR), and the National Science Foundation.

The 2024 Research Day at the Capitol event encompassed multiple activities. On March 18, 2024, students’ posters and oral presentations were individually judged.  On March 19, 2024, students met with legislators at the State Capitol Building and shared their research during a poster exhibit and poster competition winners were announced during an awards ceremony.

2024 Enhancing Lives Showcase: Meet the Makers

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UCF’s researchers don’t just produce research papers, posters, and conference presentations: they also write poetry and stories, draw, paint, build, film, design, code, sew, shape, and more! The first annual Creative Scholarship Showcase will highlight some of the creative scholarship, artistic pieces, and new production of UCF students from a variety of disciplines.  

Meet the Makers and Mentors  

Come and meet the artists at the Morgridge International Reading Center! This event will feature a brief introduction. Then each student will stand by their piece and discuss their creation with the members of the audience as they come by.  Event Details below