RESEARCH COMMITTEE 11TH ANNUAL RESEARCH DAY SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCE REPORT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The Research Committee of the University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research, would like to thank all of you for your support at Our Recent Eleventh Annual Research Day Scientific Conference under the theme “Weight Challenges in the Bahamas: Are We The Biggest Losers?.” We had a record number of speakers this year, which extended the conference to two full days. This year for the first time a writers’ workshop was conducted. It was geared towards “equipping” researchers with the tools necessary for completing their projects and submitting them for publication. This segment was riveting and all the participants found it beneficial. It was suggested that this type of workshop be held more frequently throughout the year.
We would especially like to thank the Minister of Health and the Minister of Education, and The Royal Bank of Canada. We would like to also thank the University of the Bahamas for hosting us year after year. Professor Fitzroy Henry, the invited speakers, keynote speakers, faculty, and students for the outstanding lectures, we thank all of you.
We would also like to thank The Bahamas Telecommunication Corporation (BTC) for the sponsorship of the T1 line which enabled us to stream the event live to the Family Islands, provide real-time CME feedback and electronic scoring for the judging of the residents’ competition. We would also like to thank The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Physicians Alliance Limited, Anesthesia Associates, The National Insurance Board and the Public Hospitals Authority for their timely contributions.
We thank the moderators and judges, Lauren Beneby and Ashton Goodman for their technical support. Gerard Smith and team, for recording the event and providing the video feed for the overflow room and live webcast, thank you. We would also like to thank CME Department and the Bahamas Medical Council for their assistance, this event was accredited with nine CME credits. We thank all the full-time staff of the University of the West Indies School of Clinical Medicine and Research for their tireless dedication. Without their support, this event would not have been possible. Above all, we thank God for all wisdom and knowledge.
We were again able to publish the conference proceedings The West Indian Medical Journal. This is available for download at https://www.mona.uwi.edu/fms/wimj/vol-66-suppl-3-school-clinical-medicine-and-research-11th-annual-research-day-weight-challenges. This would not have been possible without the herculean efforts of Dr. Frankson and The Research Unit and our Director Dr. Roberts.
ONLINE PORTAL AND WEBSITE
https://researchday2017.sunshinelearner.com
Our Eleventh Annual Research Day once more featured an abstract submission portal and CME portal. This enabled us to edit and submit the abstracts to the West Indian Medical Journal on time and received the supplement on time. For Conference highlights please visit the conference portal.
At the time of writing this report the conference website experienced 3,741 visits and 136,809 hits from 1,436 unique visitors.
ATTENDANCE
We are pleased that the attendance even surpassed that of last years with just over 300 daily attendees.
Thursday – 156 preregistered + 72 students + 79 walk in = 307
Friday – 180 preregistered + 67 students + 56 walk in = 303
CME ACCREDITATION
This event was accredited for fifteen CME credit hours. At the time of writing this report, 165 persons had registered with the Research Day CME portal. So far 105 persons have completed their evaluations and downloaded their certificates. An average CME point claimed on each certificate was 10.9±3.1 (range 2-15).
OVERALL CONFERENCE FEEDBACK
We have received high commendation for our 11th Annual Research Day. Please see the analyses below as of November 15, 2017.
Strengths and weaknesses
In the comments section of the feedback, the participants indicated that the program was well organized and that it was a good program to encourage the students and residents to showcase their research. The sessions were considered informative. It was noted that the speakers were well-organized. The idea that we were able to showcase local research was well received.
In terms of weaknesses, participants indicated that they were not able to attend as many sessions as they would like due to clinical commitments. It was felt that, if possible, we should move to a bigger venue. The audiovisuals were adequate in the overflow room. Others felt it was so much new information that it was difficult to digest all of it in such a small period of time and that there was not enough time for questions and answers.
Suggested topics for the next conference
Some of the suggestions for future topics at our next research day were along the flowing themes:
- New techniques in Imaging
- Plant-based nutrition as medicine
- Making health care more efficient, readily available and more cost-effective (improvements in healthcare service)
- Opiate epidemic
- Nutrition and CAM , NCD treatment guidelines across disciplines?
- The aging population and its health care needs
- The aging health care worker
- Standard of healthcare
- Using radiological technology to diagnose and treat STEMI
- Living with HIV – The social contract
- Hygiene and your Health
- PCOS – Guidelines for the Bahamas
- Drug addictions.
- Teenage pregnancy.
- Cancers in the Bahamian Society
- Nutritional healing
- Fluid management,
- Renal disorders
- long-term medication management
- Legal Medicine: Practicing Medicine in Litigious Society
- Mental Health inclusion.
- Patient and physician attitudes toward CNCD in The Bahamas – the importance of prevention, treatments, and research towards cures
- The role of patient empowerment in achieving health outcomes.
- Managing pain in the Bahamas
JUDGING OF RESIDENTS PAPERS
We would like to thank the judges for their wonderful contribution. The panel was mainly comprised of physician members from the community, guest speakers and persons who are not affiliated with the medical school. This was done to ensure that the process was as objective as possible.
The winners were very difficult to determine in this year’s competition. When the dust settled the participants were ranked as follows
Overall Winners
First place:Dr. Leigh-Ann Bartholomew
Second place:Dr. Robert Roper
Third place:Dr. Ianthe Cartwright- Bastian
Third place: Dr. Danielle Strachan -Bowleg
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
The theme for next Research Day will be centered on mental health. This was based on the suggestion from the prior Research Days. The other suggestions would be prioritized as themes for the next few years.
Dr.Darron Halliday
Research Committee