NEXT MONTH’S STUDENT CONFERENCE
Valuable session content, plenty of networking, and Graduation Ceremony are planned
Coming up next month is the 2019 OUM Student Conference in Melbourne, Australia the weekend of 9-10 March, with the Meet & Greet on Friday evening, 8 March. The conference will again be held at the Best Western Hotel & Convention Centre near Melbourne Airport. All students attending will be given a 72-hour exam extension.
This year’s key presenter will be Dr. Majid Gondal. Dr Majid is a very successful educator and GP in Melbourne, at the forefront of examinations at both the AMC and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). He came very highly recommended by Dr. Johannes Wenzel, keynote speaker covering AMC exam preparation at the last three Student Conferences. A member of the RACGP, Dr. Majid regularly conducts Continual Professional Development programs for the College and also conducts tutorials for IMGs. With the AMC 2 OSCE exam now a must-have to improve one’s chances of securing an internship in Australia, Dr. Majid will provide students with valuable insight into the AMC exams and how to best prepare for each of them.
Other sessions will include clinical skills, applying to practice in Australia and New Zealand, and rotation availability in Samoa and India. An OUM alum will also share with attendees strategies to achieve the best outcomes throughout one’s journey to medical practice. Conference planning has been done in conjunction with OUMSA.
A Graduation Ceremony will be held late on Saturday afternoon so that all conference attendees may celebrate the achievement of the more than ten students who will be graduating.
OUM’s first Research Symposium will be held at this year’s Student Conference. It will feature presentations from Dr. Randell Brown and Dr. Daria Camera on how to prepare research with maximum impact. Other topics will include forming collaborations, publishing in external peer-review journals, and highlighting research on one’s CV. Students are still invited to present their research projects at the conference. Those interested in making either an oral or a poster presentation are asked to email Dr. Camera (daria.camera@oum.edu.ws). The symposium is a great opportunity to showcase some of the excellent research projects OUM students have completed or currently have in progress.
Plenty of hands-on exercises
A session on patient/physician skills is planned with students split into two groups: Preclinical and Clinical. In the Preclinical group, Dr. Diamante and Dr. Ramesh will work with students on preparing for the hospital setting. There will also be a workshop on interviewing skills, obtaining a good patient history, and performing systemic physical exams. This will be followed by assessment and planning, assembling a patient problem list, the reasoning behind a logical differential diagnosis, and how to approach making a definitive diagnosis.
The Clinical group will have structured sessions focusing on specific disease processes with OSCE-type case presentations and physical exam techniques under the direction of Drs. Lameko, Meshach, Mantha, and Benjamin.
“I want the sessions to give students the most they can get for the time allotted. We are putting them in groups so that students with more clinical experience are able to really hone their skills, while students with less experience will be able to gain perspective on the clinical application of the basic sciences necessary for clinical reasoning,” says Dr. Diamante.
Dr. Lameko will cover everything clinical students need to know about living in and completing rotations in Samoa. Drs. Meshach and Benjamin will likewise cover everything about rotations in India.
There is no charge for the conference, but students need to cover the costs of travel, accommodations, and some meals. Students from all countries are invited and encouraged to attend.
One of the most important aspects of attending the annual conference is the chance to connect with classmates, graduates, faculty, and staff. Many new friendships have been formed as a result of the OUM conferences, and students should not underestimate how important these networking opportunities are to their future success. Anyone with questions about the event should contact Kerryn Graham.
