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The OMERACT First-time Participant (“Newbie”) Program: Initial Assessment and Lessons Learned

Objective. To describe the experience of a first-time participant (“newbie”) training program at the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology 12 meeting in 2014. Methods. We conducted newbie sessions at OMERACT 12, including a 2-hour introductory session on Day 1, followed by 1-h evening followup sessions on days 1–4 of OMERACT 12. Pre- and postmeeting surveys assessed participants’ level of comfort with the principles of the OMERACT Filters 1.0 (truth, discrimination, feasibility), and Filter 2.0 (the essential tools for OMERACT methodology), the different types of OMERACT sessions, and whether participants felt welcome. Results. In all, 25 new attendees participated in the introductory session and 10–16 attended followup sessions. Fewer participants reported being somewhat or extremely uncomfortable with the meeting, comparing Day 1 (preintroductory session) to days 1–4 (post): (1) with different OMERACT sessions: 56% (pre) versus 6%, 0%, 8%, and 6% (post days 1–4, respectively); and (2) with principles of the OMERACT filter, 64% (pre) versus 7%, 0%, 8%, and 0% (post), respectively. Most reported feeling welcome (100%) and that they were able to contribute substantively to breakout sessions (87%) on Day 1 evening; results were sustained on days 2–4. Conclusion. First-time participant training sessions increased the comfort level of the participants with the OMERACT meeting structure and filter, and increased the ability of the new attendees to feel they could contribute to the OMERACT process.