Asterion 2019: Part One

 

“Learning gives creativity. Creativity leads to thinking. Thinking provides knowledge. Knowledge makes you great” A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Kasturba Medical College, Manipal has a bustling and active student community which is always experimenting with new approaches to make medical education fun and exciting. In this spirit, three clubs, Justitia, Tempus Pretioso and Cutting Edge decided to unitedly host an intercollegiate academic festival named Asterion. This year, the second edition of the event was marked with more participation and all the more excitement. Here’s part one, a report on the first two days of the event.

Inauguration Ceremony
Asterion 2019 was inaugurated in the presence of Dr. Poornima Baliga, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, MAHE, Health Sciences, Dr. Sharath Rao, Dean KMC, Dr. Alfred Augustine, Dean KMC, Mangalore and Mr. Kumar, Additional Superintendent of Police. The event was attended by all the faculty advisors of the respective clubs, student’s heads, organizing committees and the participants. Marked by the traditional lighting of the lamp, invocation song and address by all the dignitaries on the road, the inaugural was quite a formal affair. The Deans and the Pro Vice-Chancellor commended the hard work and artistic talents that have gone behind creating and hosting the event. The organizers spoke with gratitude, for being given the opportunity and responsibility of such a huge event. This was followed by a presentation by Dr. Augustine who tried to connect the three subjects, forensic medicine, surgery, and emergency medicine through some historical cases. The audience listened intently as he demonstrated the transition between departments and the intertwined nature of their functioning.

Fastest Brains First
Fastest Brains First is a multi-tiered quiz competition hosted by Temps Pretioso. As the name of the event suggests, it focuses on the speed with which the participants can solve a problem and crack the question. The event was a stimulating experience where thirty-two teams battled in groups of three. the quiz had six preliminary rounds and one grand finale. The finale had an array of interesting rounds like Betting, rapid-fire and the relay race. Dr. Vinayak, the quizmaster and his elite team of Tempus members, organized the quiz with utmost coordination and efficiency. The participants and the faculty who attended the event were all in praises. The quiz served as the perfect appetizer for the 4-day extravaganza that was ahead.

Enigma
Organized by Cutting Edge, the surgery club, Enigma is inspired by the concept of an ‘escape room’. The theme this year was that of an Indian village where a deadly outbreak of diseases has occurred. The Sarpanch requested a medical team to help them out. Participants had to solve various puzzles in a short span of 20 minutes with regard to this outbreak and its management. The team to crack all the clues and get out of the room first was the victor. The participants were in awe of the concept which uses a unique and innovative concept to sharpen one’s medical aptitude.

Murder Mystery Dinner
The event was organized by Justitia, the Forensic Medicine club. The event was inspired by the movie Murder on the Orient Express. All participants were to be attendees of a gala dinner and they were all assigned roles with a brief description. The rest of what unfolds at the event needs to be kept a mystery for obvious purposes. (Spoiler alert: there’s a murder.) The participants were curious to find out how the whole game of blood would unfold. The participants, using their forensic science knowledge, had to study the clues left for them at the scene of the crime. Donning their virtual Sherlock berets, the participants worked with deep attention to every detail in the room. The event helped the participants to interact with students from various colleges and thus served as the perfect ice breaker. It also marked the end of the activities of Day 1 on a high note.

Emergency Medicine Workshop
Organized by Tempus Pretioso, the event was aimed at giving the delegates hands-on experience in basic medical practices commonly used in casualty that are critical for the resuscitation of a patient. The procedures taught were spinal stabilization, catheterization and Ryles tube insertion, interosseous line, thoracocentesis, defibrillation, and ABG estimation. The participants were divided into small groups of 8. The procedures and theory were explained first by a club member followed by a demonstration. The delegates were given the opportunity to perform the procedures on mannequins followed by an interactive doubt clearing session. The event was hosted at KMC’s state of the art Simulation Center and was of a duration of 3 hours.

4-O-Prolene
Conducted by Cutting Edge Manipal, this workshop began at 9:00 am and took almost 3 hours to finish, and every second was well spent. The first event was an illuminating talk about sutures and their importance in surgery by a representative of Johnson and Johnson. This was followed by a practical demonstration of 4 key skills required in any hospital setting, namely- I.V and I.M injections, intubation, lumbar puncture and basic suturing. These skills were set up at separate stations, which ensured that every participant successfully mastered the procedure they were being taught. The workshop was interactive, entertaining and a wonderful way to learn new things.

Jigsaw
Inspired by the movie of the same name, Jigsaw was a life-sized puzzle spanning eight rooms. Each team had to answer solve the puzzle posed to them by the Jigsaw team members to move onto the next room. The event saw life-sized recreation of real-life crime scenes with detail. The participants were taken aback by the precision and artistic skills of the organizers. It was an exciting mental exercise that pumped them up as they headed to the most-awaited finale.

Treasure Hunt
With the participation of a whopping 80+ teams, the treasure hunt organized by Cutting Edge saw participants all geared up to explore the vastness of the health sciences campus. The first clue was given at the Interact Lecture hall and the participants were supposed to figure out the location of the remaining 9 and crack them. The clues were all based on clinical case scenarios and each one led the team to a new location. KMC’s very own team emerged as victors, adding extra cheer to the hosts. Participants were left gasping for breath, in some cases, literally! The treasure hunt marked the end of the activities of Day 2.

Written by
– Vinay Reddy, Elaine Fernandes, Nitya T, Sanjana Shastri, Aparna B, Mihika Antonia Dean, and Rupa Neelakantan

Leave a Reply

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑