Here I am, an oncology social worker standing in front of a room, asking you to learn from me. I’ve presented at AOSW and many other conferences multiple times. But the butterflies of excitement, nervousness, dread, fear and hope still rumble in my stomach every time I get up in front of you.
Presenting at AOSW has evolved over time for me. I first presented at AOSW in 2001. It was a poster and I seriously had no clue what I was doing. I was nervous, uncomfortable and out of my league. Sixteen years later, at the 2017 Annual Conference, I was presenting both a paper and a learning institute. My talks focus on ethics, which has become an area of clinical expertise for me. I’ve transformed over the years into a leader, a content expert and an educator. This is very much due to the mentorship I have received from other leaders in AOSW.
Something else is different too. These people in the audience aren’t just oncology social work colleagues—many of them are close friends. These are folks I call on when I need peer guidance and support.
Presenting at a conference is a leap of faith. It is one I wouldn’t make so willingly for other groups. But presenting to AOSW members inspires me. You are engaged. You are sponges. You want to soak in all the knowledge, take it back to your settings and make change immediately. You push me to elevate my presentations and employ new techniques to make you active participants in your learning. For all of this, I’m grateful to all of you. Thank you for listening, for questioning, for wondering, for challenging, for implementing and for being charged to influence your own practice and the delivery of care at your workplace.
I encourage each one of you to take a leap and submit an abstract to present a session at next year’s Annual Conference in Atlanta. Share your passion, your knowledge and your expertise with your peers. Get inspiration and motivation from your colleagues via SWON. What issues and challenges are you seeing? Turn these into a presentation! Most importantly, connect with others for mentorship and guidance. We “seasoned” presenters want to foster new presenters. I strongly encourage you to use the Abstract Mentorship program (aoswabstractmentor@gmail.com), or connect with another member via SWON and work together on a topic that is of interest to both of you. There is strength and growth in our numbers. We will continue to elevate the content of the conferences, the evidence base of our profession and the services we deliver every day to our patients.
