The Third Biennial 2018 OMERACT First-time Participant Program: A Qualitative and Quantitative Study.

Objective: To assess the expanded/refined first-time participant training program.

Methods: We conducted a refined new participant program at OMERACT 2018 on days 1-4, in which first-time participants provided feedback with online surveys and a nominal group on Day 4.

Results: Twenty first-time participants attended the introductory session and 8-12 attended followup sessions. A high proportion valued the newbie session (100%), rating it overall (91%), content-wise (62%), for presentation quality (82%), and value for the money (82%) as outstanding or good. The nominal group technique identified opportunities for further improvement of breakouts/voting.

Conclusion: The expanded new participant training program is valued by attendees.