Medical Student Represents SA at International Conference

BY: .

UKZN’s Mr Kapil Narain was the only South African Medical student selected to attend and form part of the organising committee at the recent Association of Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) Conference in Vienna, Austria.

The fifth-year student is passionate about ground-breaking research and the conference gave him the opportunity to listen to presentations on the latest research in medical education. The gathering focused on new and innovative methods of teaching, integration of dynamic technological solutions to boost and aid learning complex concepts, and more accurate methods of assessing students, among other topics.

Said Narain: ‘I was selected through an application process advertised online. The rigorous selection process consisted of a variety of short questions with word limits on experience in medical education, leadership ability, personal motivation, and how one would most benefit. It was highly competitive with over 1 200 applicants and only 40 accepted internationally. We were briefed on the importance of being chosen and informed that the acceptance rate is about 3% which is less than Harvard (5.6%). Many candidates apply, several times without being selected – I was fortunate and blessed to be selected on my first attempt.’

His duties at the conference included serving at the help desk, ensuring presentations were loaded meticulously, that projectors, computers and microphones were working, facilitating and timing of speakers and sessions, organising posters, directing participants, and assisting with general inquiries.

Narain - whose trip was fully funded including flights, conference registration and preconference workshops, accommodation, and food - had the opportunity of working closely with various prominent figures in medical education, including the AMEE executive and organising committee as well as continuous engagement with the conference company Worldspan. The robust programme comprised more than 40 simultaneous sessions with more than 4 000 delegates from over 90 countries.

Last year, Narain assisted in organising the SA Association of Health Educationalists conference in Durban where he also presented at the opening ceremony. An avid researcher, Narain’s own studies focus on depression and suicide in Medical students. His long term goals include further studying, and possibly venturing into internal medicine, genetics or infectious disease epidemiology.

One of the highlights of his trip was meeting Professor Ronald Harden, an endocrinologist, general secretary/treasurer of AMEE and a colossus in medical education, who pioneered the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) which has been universally adopted as a standard approach to assessment of clinical competence (including at UKZN’s Medical School). Harden was awarded the Karolinska Institutet Prize for Research in Medical Education (equivalent of the Nobel Prize for medical education) and awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his services to medical education.

‘I am involved in many initiatives and NGOs and at times it can be intense,’ said Narain. ‘To me, it all boils down to determination, passion and time management. Medicine is challenging but I yearn to learn beyond the curriculum and have such delved into academia. If you’re passionate about something you will make the time!’

Words: Melissa Mungroo

Photograph: Supplied