Fifty-eight research papers were presented in two days. Reema Saffarini spoke to participants.

The event: The first annual Medical Students Conference. The two-day event was organised and hosted by the Dubai Medical College for Girls (DMCG) student union.

Who took part: More than 200 medical students from medical colleges across the UAE. Deans and professors from DMCG, UAE University, Sharjah University, Gulf Medical College and Universal Empire Institute for Medical Sciences also attended.

What happened: Students presented 58 research papers and posters on subjects as diverse as breast cancer, obesity, Down's Syndrome, sex education, stem cell and gene therapy reviews and avian flu. Medecins Sans Frontieres or MSF was also represented to provide an overview about their work and missions.

WINNERS
Best oral presentation

Ajmandiab, a community medicine project by eight Gulf Medical College students, was judged the best oral presentation at the first Medical Students Conference.

A report of the project, which assessed the percentage of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus cases in a cross-section of Ajman's population, was first published in Notes (12/2/2005).

Jameel Ahmad Mohammad Idris, Mujtaba Ali Mirza, Mohammad Ali Abbasi, Shaikh Faisal Saeed, Sulaima Mohammad Al Sulaiman, Imran Elyas Manjara, Mouhanad Yasin Mohammad Ganem and Yasir Nawaz Khan conducted the project.

THE PARTICIPANTS

"The level of research presented is really good for students. This gathering has provided a chance for students from various colleges to interact with each other and share their experiences."
- Mohammad Jalal Al Deen, Dean of Dubai Medical College for Girls

"I attended the two days. There were some interesting case studies. Overall the conference was really good."
- Rasangi Suraweera, medicine, fourth year, Gulf Medical College

"Both days were good. Actually coming here made me make up my mind and go for medicine. I got to know about interesting stuff like the MSF and what they do."
- Ahmad Malik, medicine, first year, Gulf Medical College

"The research presented was not bad and the conference was a chance to meet other students from different colleges. It was good overall."
- Hunaid Zaki, medicine, first year, Gulf Medial College

"I just attended the second day. It's pretty good. Some of the topics have been repeated at other conferences I've attended before. But there were some current issues discussed such as the avian flu and obesity. These were interesting."
- Tamim Ibane, medicine, fourth year, Gulf Medical College

"The idea of the conference is great. The issues discussed included cardiovascular diseases. Of course some research papers were simple as they were presented by first-year students."
- Fatima Chandra, medicine, fourth year, Gulf Medical College

"I attended both days. The quality of work presented was good. I also got to know students from other universities."
- Prashob Sunash, medicine, second year, Universal Empire Institute for Medical Sciences