01 December 2020
BSR's priority is always to support its members and deliver education that's accessible for everyone. As we round off 2020 – a challenging time for us all – we wanted to share with you some of our highlights from the year and a reminder of the exciting new online activities we delivered.
It was a disappointment for all that we had to cancel Annual Conference due to COVID-19, but we didn't want your hard work and programme contributions to go to waste. We published 370 Annual Conference abstracts and 278 ePosters, and launched our exciting new Twitter Poster Clubs, which continue to this day, focusing now on case reports from our Adult and Paediatric Case-based Conference.
Conferences, courses and webinars
We hosted our first online conference (#CBC20), which attracted more than 500 participants. The event was a huge success and a whopping 100% of attendees said they would attend an online BSR conference again.
We quickly adapted our education programme to online, launching a number of successful webinar series including COVID-19 guidance, StR training, Improving patient care and BSR updates, which included a showcase of our fantastic Best Practice Award-winning projects.
One of our webinars secured over 450 attendees, which is incredible. We love that we've been able to continue to engage with so many of you through all of these changes. As we were unable to host our Rheumatology Taster Days in-person, we ran our first webinar aimed at medical students, looking at training in rheumatology. This was really well received with 100% of attendees saying they would recommend the session to a friend.
We delivered five education courses this year, all of which were fully booked. Attendee satisfaction is higher than it's ever been, and this is something to be proud of, having had to adapt so quickly to online delivery.
eLearning
We also launched our new eLearning platform in September. This new and improved member benefit offers plenty of education and training opportunities, all in one easily accessible place. This year’s membership survey highlighted the importance of eLearning to the profession, so we've ensured this learning hub provides content to support the professional development of the entire multidisciplinary team. Go take a look!
It's been a busy year for us all, and the events and education team thanks you all for continuing to engage with and support what we do. We look forward to bringing you more exciting online activities in 2021.
Victoria, Toni, Daisy, Steph, Isabelle and Grace