Can I Afford to Attend an Oncology Conference?

Beth Sandy, MSN, CRNP

With the end of the COVID-19 public health emergency, oncology conferences are back in full swing. Advanced practice providers (APPs) in oncology need medical education for many reasons including license renewals as well as keeping up with the rapidly changing and evolving options for oncology care. Oncology education is very important for APPs, and while reading articles or listening to podcasts may provide some updates, attending a conference in person offers so much more opportunity in my opinion. The option of attending conferences virtually is attractive, but only the most disciplined people can sit and focus on the computer screen for hours and not be distracted by everything around them.

However, attending a conference is fraught with issues such as cost and time management (see Table 1).

Cost is likely the most prohibitive factor when considering whether to attend a live conference. These conferences are usually held in a major city and at a nice hotel. So costs for food, beverage, and ground transportation may be a little higher than the APP is accustomed to (see Table 2).

What can we as APPs do? The obvious way to cut down cost would be to attend with another co-worker or friend and split the cost of the hotel and ground transportation, but you need to make sure you are willing to spend 3 nights in a hotel room with this person/people. I remember in my younger days as an oncology nurse attending conferences with 3 or 4 of us nurses sharing a room with 2 queen beds. While there was a lot of cost savings, it was a cramped environment lacking privacy. Consider using a budget airline and getting a ride to and from the airport. But should APPs be forced to make travel uncomfortable and cumbersome because of lack of reimbursement when other industries would not subject their employees to these same stipulations?

An option is to analyze your practice or organization’s reimbursement policy for conference travel. Many places will have an annual allotment for conference registration or tuition reimbursement and a separate set dollar amount for travel-related expenses. If this is not something that your practice offers, consider submitting a proposal. I did this once for an international conference that I wanted to attend in which the costs were significantly more than my annual travel allowance. I was meticulous in calculating the costs by researching the potential flight, hotel, and food costs. I also made an argument for why it was important for me to attend, adding that for many years I did not use my annual travel allowance. I also submitted a poster that was accepted, which strengthened my need for attendance; however, I do not think it should be mandatory for APPs to be presenting something at a conference to be able to attend. In the end, the conference budget was approved for me.

Additionally, business-related travel is considered tax deductible, so save your receipts and add up your costs to give to the accountant at tax time. Another approach for APPs is to negotiate annual conference reimbursements and time off from work (that does not count as vacation time during the conference days) when starting a new job or even building it into an existing contract. Remember, attending a conference is work—it is part of the job of being an oncology APP—and we should not be penalized by having to pay out of pocket and burn our own vacation time to receive the proper training to function at the high level needed for an oncology APP.

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