DRIVERS 2022

Themes and Streams

The theme for DRIVERS 2022 was open, but topics covered this year include:

  • Research
  • Quality improvement projects
  • Innovative service delivery/patient perspectives
  • Outcomes in rural and regional settings
  • Translating research into clinical practice
  • Digital health and technology
  • Gap analysis/improving equity (from any aspect) Indigenous, CALD, LGBTQIA+, Remoteness,  etc
  • Clinical supervision and mentoring
  • Future workforce

Presentation streams

DRIVERS 2022 presenters are grouped into the three streams:

Scientific Presentations (3 categories)

Dynamic Oral Scientific Presentations

This presentation stream allows for 6 minutes of talking, followed by 2 minutes of Q&A and an unlimited number of slides (be realistic in including slides you’ll actually speak to!)

Rapid Fire Scientific Poster Presentations

An A0 visual poster will anchor this short presentation (we will print your poster for you - please save as a PDF and set paper size as A0 - 841 x 1188 mm.) 3 minutes of talking and 1 minute of Q&A, with a maximum of 4 slides allowed including the title slide.

Scientific Poster Display

A further set of visual posters will be on display summarising abstracts that the Scientific Committee considered suitable for inclusion on the program.  (We will print your poster - please save as a PDF and set paper size as A0 - 841 x 1188 mm.)

Reflective Presentations: Vision, Innovation and Excellence

This category has two sections in the program, Stream A presenters have 6 minutes, Stream B has 4 minutes - all presenters must be ready for 2 minutes of Q&A . Presenters are able to submit an unlimited number of slides - but please be realistic in your slide deck inclusions!

Presenters can discuss prior insights or activities with a view to developing more effective approaches and improving quality in regional health care. If non-evidence-based, presentations must be based around practising medicine in a rural or regional setting.

Case Study Blitz presentations

This presentation stream blitzes through key clinical messages, with 3 minutes of talking, no Q&A and a maximum of 4 slides (including the title slide - but we’re cool if some additional, image-only slides are snuck in!) Presenters give a brief snapshot of an interesting case study which has lessons for rural and regional healthcare.

The scientific committee allocated presentations to the most appropriate stream.

Peer Review

2022 built off the success of the inaugural DRIVERS conference. This year we received over 70 submissions to DRIVERS 2022, from Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania. All abstracts were peer reviewed by the DRIVERS 2022 Scientific Committee. The overall program for the conference was designed in collaboration with the DRIVERS 2022 Steering Committee.

Presenters were selected in a competitive manner, in response to abstracts submitted, based on the following criteria:

  • Research or quality improvement project undertaken in a regional or rural setting
  • Presenter currently working, living or studying in rural or regional Australia. Rurality defined as per Monash Modified Model as >/= MM2, and consideration of prior rural exposure / future rural intent.
  • Projects specifically looking at healthcare for rural, regional or Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identification of presenters.

Each eligible application was assessed on a template using a scoring matrix. The assessment template and matrix together are a tool which enables the comparison of applications according to an agreed set of program priorities/outcomes and principles to be considered when determining who can present at the DRIVERS conference. The individual scores assigned by members of the Scientific Committee are tallied and an average created (so as to allow for people to step out if a conflict of interest is identified). In general, studies are not assigned to reviewers with conflicts of interest.

Reviewers will give equal weight to abstracts relating to work-in-progress and completed work.  The main focus of our peer review process is the extent to which submissions meet the criteria for quality, relevance and importance.

Within each stream the presentations are ranked and an oversight of the thematic spread of presentations, overall geographic representation, background of presenters institutions / disciplines / career levels.

Conference organisers have the right to also make selection based on delivering a well balanced conference, including number of contributions per presenting author, variation in themes, variation in institutions, and variation in disciplines

A selection will be made to create an interesting and engaging program of content to be presented at DRIVERS 2022.

Other Points to Note

Conflict of interest

Scientific Committee members remained unbiased throughout the review process in regards to nationality, religious or political beliefs, gender, and other personal characteristics of the authors, origins of a manuscript and/or their professional affiliation, and score as directed with relation to the assessment matrix. Scientific Committee members declared and manage all potential competing, or conflicting interests.

Confidentiality

Scientific Committee members will respect the confidentiality of the process and will refrain from using information obtained during the review process for their own or another’s advantage, or to disadvantage or discredit others.

Accountability

Scientific Committee members did not delegate the authority to any other person in regards to reviewing the presenters submission, however all submissions will be made available to the Scientific and Steering Committee for viewing.