From Boomers to Zoomers: Bridging the Generational Gap in Medical Conferences

Background: Emergency medicine conferences play a pivotal role in advancing clinical knowledge, fostering professional networks, and improving patient outcomes. However, traditional large-scale formats face challenges in ensuring diversity, inclusivity, and participant engagement. This study investigates the effect of different medical conference experiences - traditional versus interactive - on the overall experience ratings of 143 healthcare professionals. The research also examines how professional role, experience level, and primary motivation for attendance influence these ratings. Objective: This study aims to assess the impact of alternative conference formats on engagement, inclusivity, and knowledge dissemination, with the goal of informing strategies to design more equitable and impactful emergency medicine conferences. Methods: Data were analyzed using a two-way mixed-design analysis of variance (ANOVA) and a paired-samples t-test. The findings indicate a statistically significant preference for interactive sessions over traditional ones across the entire sample (M=4.06 vs. M=3.75, p<.001). This preference was particularly strong among participants motivated by networking. Results: However, the study also revealed a nuanced relationship between professional experience and satisfaction, with late-career professionals (20+ years) rating their overall experience significantly lower than their less-experienced counterparts. The consistently high ratings for hands-on workshops across all groups highlight their universal value. These results suggest that tailoring conference content to meet the diverse needs of attendees, especially by incorporating more interactive and applied learning opportunities, can significantly enhance engagement and satisfaction. Conclusion: The results revealed generational differences in satisfaction between “Millennials” and “ Generation X” suggesting that future conferences should be tailored to diverse audience needs. Ultimately, the findings provide strong evidence that prioritizing interactive, applied learning can significantly boost engagement and knowledge retention.