Medical Electives Evening
Thursday, 25 May 2017
Suttie Lecture Theatre
Joint Event with Aberdeen MedSoc
Suttie Lecture Theatre, Foresterhill, 7pm
The University of Aberdeen 2017 MBChB Graduates who were awarded Elective Bursaries by the Society to facilitate their final year studies have been invited to compete for the Adam Quaich by presenting their elective findings to the meeting with the audience selecting the winner. Presenting this year are:
- Mr Patrick Baker - An audit of timing to skin coverage of open fractures in Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand
- Mr Ahmad Izzuddin Mohamad Nor - Investigating postnatal care and recovery among mothers delivering by Caesarian Section in The Gambia
- Miss Rachel Smith - The management of acute asthma in children in a rural New Zealand hospital
- Mr Douglas Oates - An audit assessing the uptake of childhood immunisations in paediatric patients registered at Zithulele Hospital, South Africa
- Mr Samuel Tweed - Investigating the burden of Staphylococcus aureus infection in The Gambia
Suttie Cafe will remain open until 7pm for the purchase of refreshments.
Notes
Note of Electives Meeting 25th May 2017
In a change from recent custom, the 2017 Electives Evening and Adam Quaich Competition were held prior to Graduation for two main reasons. Firstly, in recent years, a high proportion of graduates have moved away from the North-East to undertake their pre-registration (Foundation year 1) posts. Secondly, since working time restrictions have limited hours of work for junior doctors there has been an increasing tendency to cover junior rotas by prescribing several months of work, off duty and leave thus greatly reducing flexibility to accommodate attendance at meetings, especially when considerable travelling time is needed. As a consequence, it has been impossible for all of those who should compete for the Adam Quaich (i.e. the 6 named travel bursary winners) to attend the Electives event and, in some years, to make the event of sufficient substance, highly achieving students who did not receive a Society Bursary have been invited to compete.
After due consideration, it was considered reasonable to bring the event back into late May before graduation, shortly after the final examinations and during a final Professional Practice block that requires all final year students to be in Aberdeen. Clearly the invited competitors should all be in town. It would also be possible for the students in 4th Year (electives arranged but not yet undertaken) and 3rd Year (elective proposals to be developed in the next 6 or so months) to attend and learn more about electives and potential electives. The meeting was principally organised for the Society by Dr Donald Thomas, Council Member, and Undergraduate Electives Convener for the University of Aberdeen. In the light of a potentially high turnout, the meeting was held in the Suttie Lecture Theatre with catering via the Tiki Café; the Society had paid £60 in order to extend the café’s opening hours from 5 to 7pm. (The poor selection of stock available at that time of day was noted by some attendees and will require to be discussed with the relevant management team.)
In the event, although 6 Society travel bursaries had been awarded in 2016, one student changed elective planned from overseas to UK, and returned the bursary. The remaining 5 all agreed to present and compete but on the day, one student [Samuel Tweed; Prof John Mallard Award] called to say his travel to Aberdeen had been delayed and he had to withdraw. Four students therefore gave presentations.
The attendance at the meeting was extremely disappointing. Other than the 4 presenters there were almost no students present. The number of Society members and non-members in the audience was also very limited – with the result that only 19 individuals participated in the eventual voting to determine the winner of the Quaich. There was no external group viewing from Inverness on this occasion as there are no students there at this time.
The President welcomed attendees and Dr Thomas then chaired the meeting. The standard of the 4 presentations was uniformly excellent and each student made an excellent job of fielding ensuing questions from the audience. The presentations, delivered in alphabetical order of presenter’s surname, were as follows:
1. MR PATRICK BAKER (DR MARY ESSLEMONT AWARD)
“An audit of timing to skin coverage of open fractures in Waikato Hospital, Hamilton, New Zealand”
2. MR AHMAD IZZUDDIN MOHAMAD NOR (PROF HANS KOSTERLITZ AWARD)
“An audit on immediate postnatal care for mothers and neonates in Felege Hiwot Specialised Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia”
3. MR DOUGLAS OATES (SIR JAMES MCGRIGOR AWARD)
“An audit assessing the uptake of childhood immunisations in paediatric patients registered at Zithulele Hospital, South Africa”
4. MISS RACHEL SMITH (SIR ASHLEY MACINTOSH AWARD)
“The management of acute asthma in children in a rural New Zealand (Whakatane) Hospital”
While the votes were being counted, Dr Thomas, gave a brief presentation of some data relating to recent elective practices and study destinations.
The voting returns for the Adam Quaich competition showed that Mr Douglas Oates won by a narrow margin. A Medical Illustration photographer was in attendance to capture the presentation of the Quaich by Dr Foster to Mr Oates; he was advised that he will receive an engraved, smaller replica to keep, in due course.
The President congratulated all four participants on their excellent efforts, reminded the company about the Society’s Annual General meeting on 1st June, and closed the meeting.