On April 24, the four-day undergraduates' annual conference and the intramural contest for the 8th National Medical Student Forum on Innovative Research and Experimental Design came to an end in the No. 2 Building of Tongji Medical College.
This event was hosted by School of Basic Medicine and National Demonstration Center for Experimental Basic Medical Education. It consists of preliminary rounds and finals, with two groups focusing on different subjects participated, that is, Basic and Clinical Medicine Group, and Traditional Chinese Medicine Group. 94 College Students' Innovative Entrepreneurial Training Plan Programs competed with one another in the preliminary rounds of the contest which were held from April 20 to April 22. 11 out of 94 went through to the grand final where they competed with 16 programs that qualify straight away for the final. This intramural contest ended up with 6 grand prizes, 11 first prizes, 22 second prizes and 33 third prizes. In addition, three categories of special prizes were awarded to 24 programs, including Academic Excellence Award, Outstanding Presentation Award, and Outstanding Teamwork Award.
The annual conference and intramural contest received widespread support from students and teachers. 120 programs participated in this event, 110 out of which were registered for the intramural contest for the 8th National Medical Student Forum on Innovative Research and Experimental Design. 108 programs provided posters. 550 undergraduate participants are from 5 grades (grade 2016 to grade 2020) and 9 majors including Clinical Medicine, Basic Medicine, Medical Experimental Technique, Imaging, Pediatrics, Clinical Chinese and Western Medicine, Testing, Forensic Medicine and Dentistry. Instructors are outstanding teachers from School of Basic Medicine, Institute of Reproductive Health, School of Pharmacy, School of Stomatology, Department of Forensic Medicine and School of Computer Science and Technology.
The intramural contest followed all regulations and rules of the national contest and was run under the principle of fairness and transparency. It set up a working committee headed by Xuanbin QIN, Party Secretary of School of Basic Medicine, a review committee headed by vice dean Fang WANG, and a supervisory committee headed by Fang ZHENG, vice dean and Secretary of the Committee for Discipline Inspection of SBM. 24 professors from the School of Basic Medicine served as judges for the on-site oral defense. All information that may indicate candidates’ identity was deleted so as to guarantee that the whole process was equitable.
The oral defense was made up by two parts: students' presentation and judges' questions, each of which must be no more than 5 minutes. All teams need to demonstrate their solid theoretical foundation, scientific and innovative thinking, and positive attitude within limited time. Judges gave suggestions and made comments based on the presentation content, PPT, performance and teamwork. Six Grand Prize programs will be qualified for Central South Region Contest on behalf of Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Programs winning first prizes at Central South Region Contest will get access to the national contest which is organized by Basic Medical Group of National Experimental Teaching Demonstrating Center Association and has been successfully held for seven years. HUST is at the top of the prize-winning list as it has been awarded with 16 first prizes and two gold prizes in the past 7 national contests.
The annual conference and intramural contest ended up with an awards ceremony. Vice Dean Fang WANG concluded that science and technology underlies national strength while innovation spurs national progress. Innovation in medical technology will benefit the well-being of the general public. Health China 2030 Strategy urges us to cultivate more innovative medical talents with virtues and abilities. By doing so, our country may make major breakthroughs in areas that are left unknown. Therefore, School of Basic Medicine gives first priority to the innovation ability of undergraduate students which has been included in its goals of "double first-class construction". The undergraduates' annual conference is designed to improve students' scientific thinking and ability to make innovation. In the future, School of Basic Medicine and National Demonstration Center for Experimental Basic Medical Education will further reform experimental teaching, integrate high-quality teaching resources and combine in-class teaching with extra-curricular practical training so as to improve the quality of innovative talents training.
This event cannot be so successful without the concerted efforts made by administrative staff from the Office of Teaching Affairs, the Experimental Teaching Center and Modern Education Technology Center. Going forward, School of Basic Medicine will make the undergraduates' annual conference a special event for its students and a platform for academic exchanges. It is hoped that such events can broaden undergraduates' vision and improve their ability of scientific research.
