Background 

The Ottawa Conferences are run by the AMEE organisation, an international body (a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation or SCIO), founded in 1972, and based in Dundee, Scotland. AMEE’s membership includes over 90 institutions from 20 countries in Europe and about half of AMEE’s individual members are from Europe. The conference was established in 1985 and originally alternated between North America and Europe. 

Ottawa 2024, co-hosted by AMEE and Deakin University, provided the opportunity for all involved in the assessment of competence of medical and healthcare personnel from around the world to come together to discuss the current status and future directions. The competence of healthcare professionals and the need to ensure that training programmes are fit for purpose has never been more important. 

With an expected forecast of 940 delegates, the conference program included two pre-conference workshop days followed by a comprehensive three-day schedule consisting of eight themes and over 40 sub-themes. 

Challenges 

• Gender Imbalance: Historically, the international scientific committee had no women, and there was a lack of gender equity in organising groups and speaker representation. 

• Resistance to Change: The traditional conference model – quite often reliant on white male speakers – was held up as the method for success and efforts to evolve this through gender equity and inclusivity was met with resistance and doubt. 

• Mentoring Needs: There was a growing chorus to support up-and-coming medical professionals, by encouraging them to attend the conference and increasing their participation in the program.  

Solutions 

Equal representation: The Conference Organising committee ensured that all organising groups had equal representation of men and women. New voices, including women and previously underrepresented speakers, such as younger colleagues, were actively promoted, as part of ensuring a diverse representation and engagement across professions, generations, LGBTQI+ identities and geographical locations. Three of the Conference objectives were dedicated to this. 

Mentoring Programs: Mentoring was embedded into every stage of the conference planning process, providing support and leadership opportunities for early stage career professionals. This was demonstrated via; 

• The inclusion of a junior chair alongside a senior chair for each session, to encourage collaboration and provide early career professionals invaluable chairperson experience. 
• The establishment of a student taskforce, to entice students to be involved in the conference planning with the offer of complimentary registration 

Speaker gifts: Framed artworks by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists were selected as the primary gifts for the speakers, weaving the Aboriginal culture throughout the Conference. 

Outcomes 

The conference surpassed the initial forecast for attendance, attracting over 1,100 delegates. Spanning 16 concurrent rooms, the conference saw 711 abstract submissions, and the final program consisted of a mix of presentation formats that included keynote, oral, workshops, symposia, PhD and Early Career Researchers Explore Your Ideas Pavilion (PREP) and ePoster sessions. 

The conference successfully achieved a significant increase in gender equity, with equal representation in organising working groups and a range of speakers from diverse backgrounds and experience. Ottawa 2024 also attracted great interest among early career professionals, with 49 applications for the 18 available positions on the student taskforce.  

Testimonial 

“Bringing an international conference to Melbourne was a huge undertaking, but it gave me the chance to set a new standard. I ensured that all organising groups had equal representation of men and women. More than that, I actively promoted new voices—not just women, but previously underrepresented groups, including younger colleagues. 

And yes, that meant some people had to make way. Not everyone welcomed the change. Some had grown comfortable in the old structure and didn’t see why things needed to shift. But equity isn’t about keeping things comfortable—it’s about ensuring fairness, fresh perspectives, and a stronger future for all. 

Equity isn’t just about who is in the room—it’s about who gets the opportunity to grow, contribute, and lead. Looking back, the work was demanding, and at times, uncomfortable. But seeing a more inclusive, dynamic, and forward-thinking conference emerge made it all worth it.”

– Mary Lawson, Conference Chair