Asterion 2021

The Fifth edition of Asterion, a fest born from the collaboration of three academic clubs, Justitia, Cutting Edge, and Tempus Pretioso, kicked off on the 15th of October with an online Inauguration Ceremony. The Guest of Honor, the Dean of Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, Dr. Sharath Rao, gave an inspiring speech to the participants as well as the Organizing Committee members, and the fest’s events were outlined by the heads of the three collaborating clubs.

DAY 1

The first event, interestingly titled Branch Point, was hosted by the Emergency Medicine Club, Tempus Pretioso. The participants were presented with a medical emergency and had to make quick decisions to save the patient in the simulation. The event was held both online and offline and was executed in the style of a visual novel.

The second event of the day was Enigma, an online mystery room, was organized by the Surgery Club, Cutting Edge. The event comprised of a series of “escape rooms” that required each participant to think critically and unravel medical scenarios rapidly.

DAY 2

The iCOP Project, a murder mystery event, was conducted by Justitia, Forensic Medicine Club of KMC. After an introductory call over Google Meet, the online event commenced at 6:30 P.M. and saw the participation of 50+ participants from various health sciences colleges across India. The event took place over Google Drive wherein the participants had to solve a series of clues using their knowledge of forensic science, spread across various drives, to solve a murder mystery. At the end of the event, the participants joined in an explanatory session over a Google Meet call. 

One of the most anticipated offline events this year, the Treasure Hunt organized by Cutting Edge, kickstarted off at 4 P.M. on the second day of Asterion. It saw a participation of around 28 teams, taking into account all the necessary measures regarding social distancing. The first clue for the event was given at the Interact Lecture hall. During the event, participants were supposed to use their medical knowledge to crack the clinical cases to figure out the rest ten of the clues spread across the health sciences campus. In the end, final year students Sabin Srivastava and Saransh Sharma emerged as the winners after a thrilling sprint against time and wit. The winning team won a couple of stethoscopes. The runner-up team, final year students, Nithin Davuluri and Deepak Shaji, were rewarded with cash prizes.

DAY 3 

The last day of Asterion was kicked off by ElectroChirurgia— a workshop organized by Cutting Edge. Dr. Manjunath Kamath had the audience listening in rapt attention, as he spoke about the advancements in electrosurgery. Starting with the basics of physics, Dr. Kamath detailed both monopolar and bipolar techniques. The pros and cons, the extensive uses and perils of improper training were all wonderfully explained. Dr. Kamath supplemented his presentation with personal anecdotes and replied to all queries enthusiastically. The attendees praised the workshop and thanked Dr. Kamath for sharing his invaluable knowledge with everyone.

Diagknows was an online quiz conducted by all three academic student clubs of KMC Manipal. The preliminary round was conducted on the platform Quizizz where participants answered 30 MCQ questions on the disciplines of surgery, forensics, and emergency medicine. The top 15 moved to the semifinals, titled “Password Please”. Along with solving 13 medical cases in true hangman fashion, the participants were required to assemble letters from each diagnosis to form one final password. The six finalists were then given separate sets of three cases to solve and to identify the link connecting them. They were offered the aid of medical investigations, at the cost of losing a few points. After three enthralling rounds, three champions were finally declared. Conducted via WhatsApp groups and Google forms, the quiz embodies the true spirit of Asterion 2021 by being unique, exciting, and educational.

Feuding Emergency was an online event organized by the emergency medicine club of KMC Manipal: Tempus Pretioso. The structure of the game was unique; family feud integrated with medical emergency questions. The team which answered or guessed the most options proceeded to the next round. In round 2 there were 4 teams out of which the top 2 advanced to the final round. The final round was the most challenging one, with each team giving stiff competition to the other. Although the event was online due to logistical challenges, the participants couldn’t have asked for a better quizzing experience. The event concluded with the hosts thanking the teams for attending, and the attendees showing their appreciation for the great effort put in by Tempus Pretioso for making Asterion 2021 a grand success.

MURDER MYSTERY DINNER

Justitia, the novel forensic medicine club of KMC Manipal organized a Murder Mystery dinner on 17th October 2021 as an event of the academic fest – Asterion. The event commenced with the participants being briefed about the rules of the game, followed by a hint slide which was shown, as a background to the murder mystery. The participants were instructed to look out for clues so as to decipher the culprit and prepare their respective alibis and defense, for the next round- the interrogation round. This round, deemed the most thrilling one, included objections and interjections by the judge (a member of the organizing committee) while the participants proceeded with their justifications as to who the ‘murderer’ could be. The event concluded with the declaration of the culprit and recognition of the lively attendees, culminating as a great success for Justitia.

Written by Saher Kalra, Namratha Gupta, Ishita Sharma, and Oishik Roy for MTTN

Featured Image and Pictures by MTTN