1. Lights! Camera! Graphs! Photos!
Research/Quality Poster Template
Authors
Institutions
Introduction/Significance
Using the literature, establish any previous work related to your research question. This section should describe the gaping hole in the literature and how your specific aims will attempt to address the gaping hole.
Study Procedures/Definitions
Experimental treatments/interventions (if any):
So, if you had a treatment to describe how you removed a patient’s spleen using two magnets and a bungee cord, that would go in here. If your are doing an animal study, describe the methods for using the animals to obtain your data.
Data Collected: describe the source of your data, as well as the important variables that were collected to meet your study objective(s). Provide information about your primary outcome variable, as well as all secondary outcome variables. At times it will be necessary to define these variables, so please be precise.
Results
Here’s where you provide some detail to all of the cool tables and figures that you have provided.
Make sure the reader is very aware of what you consider to be the major findings from your study. This is also a place to remark upon some
of the minor findings that did not make their way into any of your tables and figures.
Hint: Don’t just regurgitate the same information already present in your tables and figures. Pick out specific pieces of information on which you would like your reader to focus.
Discussion (continued)
At times you will need to continue a section from the bottom of one column to the top of the next. When you do this, be sure to rename the heading, with the word “continued” in parentheses, so that the reader can more easily follow the flow of the poster.
Research Objectives
Specify the objective(s) of your study
Conclusion
The big finish, where you get to blow your audience
away with your final, pithy comments. This should be brief, three sentences tops. If you’re at a loss for words, you can either do a combined Discussion/Conclusions section or just do a conclusions section that reiterates the importance of your study.
Design
What research design was used to address your specific aims?
Examples: Case series, case-control, retrospective cohort, cross-sectional, prospective cohort, randomized controlled trial
Remember: Not only is a retrospective chart review not a study design, it’s redundantly redundant. It’s probably really a case series or retrospective cohort study. When in doubt, please check with your co-authors, or contact the GRMEP Research Department.
Charts/Graphs/Pictures
Lights! Camera! Graphs! Photos!
Lurid Data! Yow!
You get the idea. Here is where you put your eyeball grabbing data, amazing graphs and stupendous radiology and photos. Just don’t get all carried away with the three-D stuff and the retina searing color combinations.
Provide your information in a clear, informative, and yes, entertaining fashion.
Remember to number all Tables and Figures, so that you can easily refer to them in the Results section.
Analyses
Use this section to provide a brief description of the statistical tests used, your sample size justification (if pertinent to your study) and your criterion for significance (e.g., p < 0.05).
References
While it is a nice thing to include references, if you’re crunched for space, these are the first things to go. If the choice is between including a really good looking graph or the references, ditch the references and show the graph.
Don’t Be Constrained By These Headings
Every study is different, so don’t feel like you have to mash your round pegs to fit into the template’s square holes. Add sections and headings as are dictated by your study.
Study Procedures/Definitions
Study Population: Describe your patient population, the timeframe for the study, and which specific inclusion and exclusion criteria were used. If this was a prospective study, you will need to state whether informed consent was obtained.
Sampling Techniques: Describe your methods for obtaining your sample.
Examples: convenience sample, random sampling, stratified random, sampling, purposeful sampling
Discussion
The discussion section is used to summarize the main findings from your study and to interpret your results relative to current findings in the literature.