At the start of this year-my Final MBBS year, little did I know that I would get any free holidays to attend to any extracurricular happenings as our circular for this year clearly stated, “NO holidays after 8th semester”. Nevertheless, that hope for the much needed break before the final semester was not meant to die out that easily. Months passed and with it the strenuous 45 days postings too. One fine day, while surfing through the newsfeed, I came across the INFORMER forum where the interesting ‘DNA in the brain’ figure captured my attention. Undergraduate medical conference.? In July end? In Nagpur? Perhaps my 8th sem exams would be over by then. Perhaps I can present my original research this year itself. Perhaps I could visit my Dad’s favorite city during the supposed holidays? Perhaps? I submitted my abstract- It got selected. Ultimately, there was this travel urge; holiday mood; the adventure mood; need for change in final year mood; urge to ‘learn something new’ mood; all of it contributed and finally, MEDICON 2015 happened.
29th July: The start of the conference with the Pre-Conference Workshops- ‘Fast-aid‘-Basic Life Support, ‘Human First‘, ‘Suture up‘- Basic Surgical Skills, Essential Obs & Gynae, ‘ScanX’– Radiodiagnosis and ‘Inquisitive‘-Research Methodology Workshop. These were conducted such efficiently and received a tremendous amount of applause and appreciation. When I arrived at the registration counter, I was greeted by the warm hospitality of the fellow members of the team who left no stone unturned in making me comfortable in the new surroundings.
Day 1. Started with the brainstorming session of the world renowned Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty’s live video conferencing from Bangalore on ‘Innovations in Cardiology’ where he stressed the need for insurance and the ‘e-technology’ equipment that can be an alternative in this modern medicine. This ignited a stream of fire and doubts among the medicos from all around the globe with the diligent man patiently and tactfully clearing all those doubts. Such an awe-inspiring personality! Following this were other plenary sessions held by eminent personalities in the medical field like Dr. Ved Prakash Mishra, Dr. Raman Kumar. Each inculcating some new found ideas and . Not to forget the post lunch session of Dr. Vinay Kumar‘s live video conferencing lecture all the way from Chicago where the standard time was 3AM during the session. Such was his passion that in-spite of being in ill-health, he didn’t think twice to address us at the set time even if that time is 3 in the morning.
Day 2 marked its beginning by the Cerebruzz sessions starting first-Music: The Healing Touch by Dr. Sudhar Bhave’s insight into the importance of music therapy. It was my favorite part of the day as sometimes when I am deep down buried under loads of stress, music comes as a rescue to me too. The Matoshree hall echoed with the music of old as well as the new generation which was totally refreshing in the morning hours. Next up was the Cerebruzz 2 by Dr. Lokendra Singh following which were the post lunch sessions about “Tribal Health and Research” by Dr. M.G. Deo and Cerebruzz 3 by Dr Anand Viswanathan were equally informative and revealed new horizons that talent has no boundaries. Most impressive was that 10 minute talk by Dr. Deo’s granddaughter- Meera who shared her experience of transition from a high school graduate to a basic researcher. The Debate competition focused on today’s burning question of migrating abroad for better opportunities which grabbed everyone attention causing a wholesome interaction.
After three days of serious conference hustle, it was the time for some fun and entertainment night at Rani Kothi, Nagpur. The casual night with delicious dinner, peppy songs and an interaction with other medicos was one hell of a night.
Day 3 started with Cerebruzz 4 by Dr. Madan Kapre and Environment Calling”by Dr. Satish Wate and the quiz prelims. The valedictory function was addressed by the chief guest who also distributed the prizes for the winners of the platform presentation. The student panel discussion about the existence of the “god factor” in modern medicine made my belief in god even stronger. Not that arguments in its disagreement were weak but the points in favor were so strong that it influenced me as a person; sure the rest of the audience too would have had some message to take home from it too.
Well, no doubt the Platform Presentations on all the 3 days showcased a total of 150 finely researched undergraduate works, each of them being noteworthy in their fields. Well organised and conducted conference is what best describes the proper scheduling of all the above plenary sessions, Cerebruzz, presentations along with all the competitions and events and all in just 3 days time. Splendid!
The last competition of the event embarked by the quiz finals was thoroughly enjoyed by all we medicos trying to conjure up the quiz answers in our minds. The last ceremony of the prize distribution of the competitions and the felicitation of the team itself was well attended by all the delegates. The matoshree hall auditorium echoed with the applause for the grand success of the conference. The team was enthused over having there hard word paid off and we, the delegates were thrilled to have a 4-day learning extravaganza spent well. Moreover, my peers won the first prize in the quiz competition- Keshav Pawan and Shodhan Aithal and also winner of one of the sessions of platform presentation- Neha Garg which in itself is a proud moment for our college. In the end, all of us have a memory to take home and of course, the new friendships. Kudos to the organising commitee of NKPSIMS headed by the ‘brain child’ himself, a final year medico- Shardul Khade to have conducted a successful undergraduate conference. The much awaited break that I needed in final year, though was short lived but was crazy and amazing. Time to return back to the reality of final undergraduate semester but the hangover will remain. Nagpur, you will be missed.
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