This was my second visit to the Christian Medical College, Vellore (https://www.cmch-vellore.edu/). I was a guest of Professor Sumita Danda, Professor and Head, Department of Genetics. We had decided to conduct a research methodology workshop.
I arrived in Vellore from Chennai the previous day. I was put up at the Alumni Guest House. This is situated in the beautiful Bagayam campus, which is the residential campus and is situated 6 km south of the main hospital in Vellore.
In the afternoon I was taken on a tour of the main hospital, including of course the department of genetics, by Dr Mrinalini Peters, Assistant Professor in Medical Genetics, and Sanjana Daniels, a final year MD (Paediatrics) doing a peripheral posting in Medical Genetics. Vellore is renowned for delivering high levels of care despite immense pressure on beds and staff. The main hospital accommodates all the core specialities. In June this year a new 1,500-bed hospital was opened in Ranipet district by Kannigapuram village. Most of the super specialties eg neurology, cardiology, bone marrow transplant have all moved there. This has considerably reduced the overcrowding in the main hospital.
The workshop was held the next day at the Aavana Inn, just across the road from the hospital, which facilitated easy access from the hospital. The workshop was divided into two sessions. The morning session focused on case presentation skills, while the afternoon session was devoted to manuscript writing and critiquing. At the end of each session, I gave a short talk relevant to that session. Prizes were then given for the best presentation and paper.
The workshop was well attended and feedback was good, although ideally we could have done with an extra day. Still, it was a good start, particularly bearing in mind that it was the first time for me!!
Below are some pictures from the workshop.
