RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Poster presentations at medical conferences: an effective way of disseminating research? JF Clinical Medicine JO Clin Med FD Royal College of Physicians SP 138 OP 141 DO 10.7861/clinmedicine.11-2-138 VO 11 IS 2 A1 JR Goodhand A1 CL Giles A1 M Wahed A1 PM Irving A1 L Langmead A1 DS Rampton YR 2011 UL http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/11/2/138.abstract AB This study aimed to ascertain the value of posters at medical meetings to presenters and delegates. The usefulness of posters to presenters at national and international meetings was evaluated by assessing the numbers of delegates visiting them and the reasons why they visited. Memorability of selected posters was assessed and factors influencing their appeal to expert delegates identified. At both the national and international meetings, very few delegates (<5%) visited posters. Only a minority read them and fewer asked useful questions. Recall of content was so poor that it prevented identification of factors improving their memorability. Factors increasing posters' visual appeal included their scientific content, pictures/graphs and limited use of words. Few delegates visit posters and those doing so recall little of their content. To engage their audience, researchers should design visually appealing posters by presenting high quality data in pictures or graphs without an excess of words.