EAMSC 2011: Sights

Bangkok is a beautiful city, you gotta give’em that. There is barely a corner not adorned with Thai culture. Wondrous wats, small shrines, all a pleasure to see. It probably helps that the Thai language has its own script, making everything feel much more exotic *LOL*.

The EAMSC organizing committee treated us to selected essential Bangkok sights. Amazing sights + wild friends = we’re making scenes everywhere.

We all went for a dinner cruise on the Chao Praya river on the second night. Exceptional food followed by pounding music got the river rockin’! Thank goodness we were on an exclusive boat; can’t imagine how other tourists would have reacted to the riot we cooked up. For a night, there was Lady Gaga on the Phraya!

By the way, the title of this post obliges me to tell you that the cruise passed by the Grand Palace, Wat Arun, several bridges, and … some other buildings. They looked so elegant at night, but alas, my camera (or rather my photography skill) wasn’t enough to capture all the glory.

Wat Arun, Temple of Dawn

Somewhere along the river, we passed by another dinner cruise ship, which looked like a snoozefest compared to ours :D

The third day was spent in the Grand Palace complex, which includes Wat Phra Kaew or the Temple of Emerald Buddha. Everything inside does the word “Grand” justice; totally marvelous. The temple itself was closed for visitors because apparently there’s a mass prayer for the King of Thailand’s health that day. It was touching how hundreds of monks and laypeople come together to wish him well. I don’t even dare to imagine such thing happening here.

This guard’s gonna give Buckingham Palace a run for its money 

Another bit of info, all 30ish Indonesian delegates wore batik that day because we had a country exhibition session. Our booth, showcasing traditional customs, snacks, arts, and crafts, was a hit! A friend even brought a batik-making set.

After the exhibition, we batik-ed up the Grand Palace and … the ladyboy cabaret show later that night o_0 Let’s all come clean, everybody enjoyed the show (although I would prefer a beter word rather than “enjoy”. “Enjoy” simply doesn’t sound right in this context) because we knew they were ladyboys and we were ready to accept their shortcomings in the, let’s say, female anatomical proportions. Otherwise it would’ve been a cheesy batshit-crazy show.

Let me save you the trouble of shouting: “WTF!?”

 Wonder”Girls”, or perhaps QuestionableGirls

Our last sightseeing trip took place on the last day. After the closing ceremony, we went to the Bang Pa-In Palace in Ayutthaya, which is supposed to be the summer palace of the Thai royalty, if I’m not mistaken. Apparently, it is a sprawling complex full of various magnificent buildings of different styles. A Chinese palace (or a temple, really couldn’t tell) on one corner, a Thai building on another, and European houses here and there; complete with a lake, a lookout tower, and a bridge with Roman statues . Stunning place, but sadly not enough shade from the scorching sun.

A good thing about the heat was that we decided to rent golf carts to explore the vast area. I took a turn driving it, Jakarta style!! And I assure you, we didn’t have to do CPR on my passengers – or reconnect anyone’s limb, if you are wondering.

This is LJ from South Korea, who became an impromptu cart driving instructor

Thank you for putting up with my less-than-perfect economical photography ;p and here is another group picture, this one in the Grand Palace court.

EAMSC 2011: Academics

AMSA conferences, be it the AMSC or EAMSC, always have an interesting academic component. The topics chosen are very relevant and close to medical students. The theme for EAMSC 2011 was Adolescent Health with the tagline "Embrace the Future, Better the World”. The academic program included a lecture, group discussions + presentation, site visits, and competitions.

As a whole, the program was interesting and painless – we learned so many new stuffs without realizing. Well, mostly because we spent so much daytime in snooze mode; but trust me, we actually gained tons of knowledge to share.

The academic program was opened with the keynote lecture “Global Overview on Adolescent Health” by Dr. Maureen Birmingham, WHO representative to Thailand. (Now that I’ve just realized how important her lecture was, I feel so bad not taking a picture of her :( She’s in the photo below, on stage wearing the white jacket).

 She presented adolescent health problems by the numbers, putting them into perspective. The usual suspects are there: maternal death, infection, NCDs; but what caught my attention, despite forgetting the numbers, was how high the mortality rate of injuries is. Traffic crashes are taking the lives of so many teenagers, especially guys. Indonesian stats went on screen when she highlighted the results of Global School Health Survey regarding injuries, bullying, and smoking. For these, I wrote down the numbers but they are too depressing for this blog. This is a happy blog!

The group discussions were very informative since each member shared the perspective of his/her own country. The 20 groups were divided into 7 topics, ranging from the “traditional” issues (sex abuse, tobacco) to “modern” issues (eating disorders, obesity). My lovely group 15 discussed about alcohol addiction. It is an intriguing topic but I don’t know where Indonesia stands there. We seriously need to tickle more data out of this huge population.

The results of the discussion was presented in the last day. Groups were free to choose how they will share the results, and my group opted to perform a role play. My creative friends concocted an light-hearted alcoholic version of A Christmas Carol complete with the three Ghosts of Alcoholic Past, Present, and Future. Everybody had a good laugh during our performance. By the way, I starred as a drunk-driving grandma-hitting “Scrooge” of the future. Pretty violent and so much fun :D

 

In the scientific paper competition, my team and I represented Indonesia with our paper on sexual abuse victims in Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. Before the conference, we had been selected into the Top 10, which meant that our presentation would be judged. It was a nerve-wrecking experience, especially the Q&A session. We didn’t place in the Top 3; but scores aside, I think we did surprisingly well. The presentation went without a hitch and the questions were all answered, more or less. In fact, I was very proud of myself, I learned a lot from the experience, and I am looking forward to represent Indonesia again in the next conference. Insya Allah.

There was also a poster competition. My friends from Pelita Harapan University represented Indonesia with their poster on teenage pregnancy. Their scientific and public poster won them 2nd place, congratulations :) And again, I feel bad for not taking a picture with their poster T_T

My favorite public poster was Hong Kong’s, which brought the issue of gaming addiction. Another poster that left a good impression was Singapore’s poster about teenage depression.

The site visit took place in Rajavithi Hospital. There was a lecture on how bad the effects of alcoholism are on an individual and on the society as a whole. It was quite compelling if the professor didn’t try to cram a phonebook-load of statistics into a presentation right after lunch. So, instead of enlightening, the lecture was sleep-inducing. I would be very grateful if I can grab the handout, though. This is our group picture before the ordeal.

And once again, words will never suffice in sharing the wonderful experience of EAMSC 2011. Joining AMSA is definitely one of my best life decisions :))

EAMSC 2011

Happy New Year!

I can’t be happier that my 2011 started with a loud bang! I just got back home from attending the East Asian Medical Students’ Conference (EAMSC) 2011 in Bangkok, Thailand. EAMSC is one of AMSA International’s two conferences and it is held annually in the beginning of each year.

The theme of the 5-days conference was Adolescent Health: Embrace the Future, Better the World. Like previous AMSA conferences, there was the perfect mix of academic, social, and cultural activities – sleeping is so not in the agenda.

I was put into Group 15 with Ju and Peace from Thailand as our group moderators (GMs). There had been only 9 out of 18 group members in the opening ceremony, but everybody finally got together in the opening dinner. And that was the birth of our friendship :)

I, with my team from Indonesia, represented the country in the scientific paper competition. It was definitely a first for me, and as terrified as I was back then, I am looking forward to doing it again. We placed in the Top 10, but did not get into the Top 3. Congratulations to the Malaysian team, who won the paper competition.

Besides the competitions, the academic program also included PBL-style discussions, site visits, group presentations, and community service. The community service program took me by surprise. After learning many issues on adolescent health, delegates to the EAMSC paraded with banners and flyers around MBK Center and Siam Paragon to raise awareness. We certainly turned many heads that day, although some looked more confused than aware. Nevertheless, I think we did a pretty good job for an exhausted bunch of random Asians.

AMSA conferences end with a cultural night, in which each country performs their bits of traditional and modern culture. Indonesia certainly rocked the night with our noisy combination of acting, dancing, and singing. Do I have to say sorry for introducing the dreaded dangdut in EAMSC? LOL.

 

The last picture is the full member of Group 15, with only one person missing :(

Stay tuned to this blog because there will be more of EAMSC, and me!