Saswati Das

This year I had the wonderful opportunity of attending APSR 2021 Congress virtually as the J Patrick Barron Medical Education Young Investigator Awardee for my paper “Online team-based learning: A novel pedagogical approach for undergraduate MBBS students” on 20-21 November 2021.

The Congress was held in a hybrid format with international participants joining virtually. Although the Congress was held virtually, I enjoyed all the sessions especially the Expert view sessions. In the current scenario where the whole world is struggling in the midst of a pandemic, several sessions dedicated to COVID-19 were included in the programme.

These sessions, which included the patho-physiology and epidemiology of the disease as well as the latest diagnostic models and management, were insightful. One of the sessions that I thoroughly enjoyed was “COVID-19 and its impact on the SDGs” by Mari Kosaka.

Some other interesting sessions which were highlights of my APSR experience were the Gender Equality Symposium and the sessions on Personalized Medicine for Lung Cancer Patients. The lectures on Asthma, COPD and Tuberculosis were especially relevant for me as we cater to these patients on a daily basis. The conference programme was well designed with focus on sustainability, gender equality, academic challenges, work-life balance, challenges specific to the Asia-Pacific region, and future perspectives in respiratory medicine. As a pathologist, newer diagnostic modalities like the single cell analysis and discussion on proteomics and transcriptomics were intriguing. I also attended the sessions focused on public health aspects like “Community wide screening of tuberculosis” and “Emerging concerns about latent tuberculosis infection in the COVID-19 era”. My presentation was focused on medical education in which I discussed a novel teaching learning methodology for undergraduate medical students. During the conference, I could present my work with the help of my poster to all the attendees of the conference.

It was wonderful to have participated and to be awarded at such a prestigious platform. Although I missed the opportunity to personally visit Kyoto, Japan, the conference gave me a chance to interact with the local organizing team and many scholars from Japan during the various scientific sessions. The APSR Congress provided me with a platform to share my research with brilliant minds in medicine. Presenting my research to such an august audience was an honour. I am glad that I was selected to be a young investigator awardee and provided with a chance to present my work. The Congress ignited many ideas and inspired many scientific minds. I look forward to attending the future APSR scientific sessions and conferences, and collaborating with colleagues that I interacted with, during the conference.

Saswati Das