Support by Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, Ras Al Khaimah Medical and Health Sciences University (RAKMHSU) organized the 5th Students Scientific Conference under the title "infectious diseases in the United Arab Emirates".

 

At the RAKMHSU’s auditorium, 35 scientific papers conducted by students from the faculties of medicine, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy participated in the conference. 12 papers were presented as lectures and 23 as posters, in the presence of the faculties’ deans, faculty members as well as the students and their families.

 

During the Opening Ceremony, Dr. Shereen Hamada, Senior Scientific Coordinator of Hamdan Medical Award, delivered the Award’s speech in which she said: ”Supporting the conference goes in line with the Award’s keenness on boosting the means of developing the healthcare sector in the UAE at the hands of a new generation of researchers able to continue what the elders aspired to accomplish”.

 

”The Award played, and continues to play its role as an inspiring and supportive institution for the healthcare providers, whether in the practical or research fields. The Award is always striving to provide opportunities for enthusiastic, hard working aspirants to direct the medical sector to further development. Today represents a golden opportunity for distinguished students (as part of honoring them) to publish their award-winning research papers in the Hamdan Medical Journal in order to open a window for future prospects of research and scientific publications”, she added.

 

The opening ceremony of the 5th Students Scientific Conference was commenced with the National anthem, followed by a recitation of the Holy Quran. Later, Dr. Manal M. Sami, Deputy Dean, Student Affairs of RAKMHSU, delivered the opening speech of the conference in which she expressed gratitude to the university’s administration, for their encouragement and support, and the participating students which culminated to the success of the conference.

 

”The purpose of the conference is to encourage the students to develop their research skills, share their knowledge and experiences as well as highlight the current health problems in the United Arab Emirates and suggest the appropriate solutions”, she added

 

Dr. Gurumadhva Rao, the Vice Chancellor, RAKMHSU, delivered a welcoming speech in which he expressed his appreciation to the conference sponsors namely; Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences and Gulf Pharmaceutical Industries (Julphar). Then, he honored the sponsors, Keynote Speakers and the participants of the conference and the accompanying exhibitions.

 

Then, the first session of the conference began with a lecture presented by Dr. Tibor Pal, Professor of Microbiology at the UAE University & Consultant Clinical Microbiologist, Tawam Hospital, on ’Past, Current and Emerging Challenges in Infectious Disease’. Then, Dr. Kamal Khazanehdari, Director of Molecular Biology and Genetics Laboratory Dubai, delivered a lecture on the current trends in infectious diseases. At the end of the session, 6 videos on the infectious diseases were screened, for two minutes and half for each.

 

After the break, two more sessions were held during which the students’ research papers were presented as lectures or posters and evaluated by esteemed judges with the membership of Dr. Abdul Rezzak Hamzeh, Senior Scientific Coordinator of the Award’s Center for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS).

 

At the end of the conference, the wining research papers were announced, and then Dr. Gurumadhva Rao and Dr. Shereen Hamada delivered the winners the financial prizes presented from Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences.

 

With regard to the category of the oral presentation - medical sciences, the first place went to the study entitled ”Parents Knowledge, attitude and practice of antibiotic use for Upper respiratory Tract Infections in Children in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE”. The second place went for the study on Prevalence, clinic-bacteriological profile and maternal risk factor analysis of early onset sepsis (EOS) in neonatal unit of a tertiary care hospital in Ras Al Khaimah. The third place went to a pilot study on ”Screening of Helicobacter Pylori infection among university students and staff of RAKMHSU”.

 

As for the second category, the oral presentations - Health Sciences, the first place went to a study assessed the effectiveness of an awareness program on knowledge and attitude regarding HIV/AIDS of high school adolescents studying in selected schools of Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. The second place went to a study on ”effectiveness of structured teaching on the knowledge of prevention of respiratory tract infection (RTI) among caregivers of under-five aged children in Saqr Hospital, RAK.

 

In the third category, Poster Presentation- Research, the first place went to a study about Health care associated infections in the ICU of Saqr Hospital in 2013. As for the second place, it went to a research entitled Characterization of Plasmid versus Non Plasmid mediated bacterial antibiotic resistance in Escherichia Coli Isolate. The third place went to a study on the infectious diarrhea.

 

Regarding the Poster Presentation - Literature Review, the first prize went to a study on ”Identification of off target effect of aminoglycosides on human genes”. The second prize was for a study on ”Antimicrobial Stewardship and its impact in prevention of antimicrobial resistance”. As for the third place, it was won by a study about ”The obesity conundrum: Obesity then infection or infection then obesity”.

 

Regarding the video competition, the first place went to a film about hand washing, the second prize won by a film entitled ”A Vicious Cycle” and the third place went to a video about the Infections in Hospital.