Feeling supported provides peace of mind

Akua P. Sarfo, MD, PhD, was able to attend her first AAD Annual Meeting without it being financially stressful.

Dr. Sarfo's story

What the meeting was not, though, was financially stressful, which is due in large part to the supplemental funding offered by the AAD. My residency program thankfully does provide some funding to support meeting attendance; however, the full cost of attendance to a meeting such as AAD often exceeds the level of funding. With the supplemental stipend I was able to fully fund my attendance to the Annual Meeting.

Additionally, the resident funding provided by the AAD is a strong show of support to trainees that I hope continues into the future. I feel like providing the funding support shows that the AAD wants to support trainees and make it easier/possible for us to travel to the meeting, stay, and enjoy it without having too much financial worry. I personally felt supported because I deposited the check right away with mobile deposit (as did many of my co-residents) so I had the funds available while at the meeting. This allowed me to spend on incidentals associated with an out-of-town stay and then put the rest toward my hotel and travel costs that exceeded the reimbursement from my program.

The resident education grant really did allow me to attend the Annual Meeting without any out-of-pocket costs, which was so nice! I know that when I am in a position to do so I plan to give back and support those up-and-coming in the same ways that I have been supported.