NorDocs, the Northern Rivers group of doctors that discusses local medical matters on its FaceBook page, is holding its first forum on 30 June at UCRH, Lismore, opposite Lismore Base Hospital. The forum will run from midday to 6 pm and will be followed by an informal dinner at a local watering hole.
The conference is based on the Unconference format where many of the delegates are also the presenters. This format provides the flexibility for participants to present and discuss matters that are of interest to them. These may be small items or short lived issues that would not normally attract the attention of larger medical organisations like Primary Health Networks or Local Hospital Districts.
The format for the afternoon is three concurrent streams with each stream comprised of 8 individual slots lasting 30 minutes. Presentations can vary from a TED Talk style presentation lasting 15 to 20 minutes followed by a discussion for 10 to 5 minutes, to the opposite where a brief outline of a problem can be followed by a 20 minute group discussion. However, all talks finish after 25 minutes to allow the next presenter to set up and for participants to change rooms.
If you have an itch to scratch the unconference format is your venue. NorDocs aims to encourage communication and collaboration and while no topic is off limits the event is the ideal platform for discussion of local medical issues.
As Kaliya Young notes in her Unconferencing - how to prepare to attend an unconference, "it's OK if only two people turn up to your talk since you have found the two people who are interested in your topic".
The final session of the day is reserved for lightning talks. Presenters have just four minutes to get their message across and session facilitators are traditionally ruthless. It can be a fun one to finish a conference.
The event is open to all staff in medicine including nursing, allied health, medical administrators and practice managers.
Registration is now open through Eventbrite and the $30 fee covers a catered afternoon tea.
The program will be in evolution until just before the conference starts but the current version can be found on line. Those wishing to be added to the line up should email
See you there!
