Cultural event closes academic year

A cultural evening was held on Tuesday 2 June 2015 in the Gait Laboratory of the Institute of Motion Analysis and Research (IMAR) at the TORT Centre to celebrate the successful completion of this year’s Master of Orthopaedic Surgery (MCh Orth), Intercalated BMSc courses, and Science Without Borders Initiative.

Professor Rami Abboud, Head of the Department and Course Director, welcomed students, invited teaching faculty, staff members, and other students enrolled on a variety of courses within the Department (MSc, MD, MPhil, PhD).

All guests were asked to bring along a traditional hand-made dish from their countries of origin so an eclectic menu was available and vigorously devoured; where else would you see haggis neeps and tatties sitting so comfortably beside Boston bean stew? Professor Abboud made his ‘world-famous’ chicken dish, and Mr Neil Valentine brought his annual whole boiled salmon - which are both now obligatory to the evening! Traditional music accompanied the evening with diverse genres from all student countries of origin - Brazil, China, Egypt, Iceland, India, Lebanon, Northern Ireland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sultanate of Oman, Thailand, UK - and of course some Scottish dance music supplied by our resident TORT DJ, Tony Mochan.

Once appetites were satisfied Professor Abboud then came to the most important part of the evening with the presentation of certificates and the handing out of this year’s awards. Professor Abboud also presented each MCh (Orth) student with a specially designed lapel button commemorating the course.

For the MCh (Orth) course the recipients were:

• The Ian Smillie Award, given to the outstanding student of the year, went this year to Calvin Mathias.

• The David Rowley Award, given for outstanding presentation skills, also went to Calvin Mathias.

• The Ian Kelly Award, given for excellence in scientific communication, was this year shared as the two candidates could not be split, and went to Mihir Thanvi and Vinod Vaishnav.

• The Clinical Assistance Proficiency Award, given on the recommendation of the Lead Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon for excellence in assisting and observing in operating theatre, went to Pradyumna Raval.

Award winners for the Intercalated BMSc Course in Applied Orthopaedic Technology were:

• Presentation Skills Award went to Janie Giraudon.

• Scientific Paper Award went jointly to Luke Dornan and Conor Aldworth.

For the Science without Borders Initiative:

• Presentation Skills and Scientific Paper Award went to Rogerio Filho.

All winners were worthy recipients and should be rightly proud of their achievements but huge credit should go to all successful students who made the awarding of certificates this year so very difficult for the board of examiners. Professor Abboud took a moment to also highlight the excellent work done by our small number of staff in the department, our colleagues in NHS Tayside, the invaluable and immense external faculty, and especially that of the course administrator, Mrs Sheila MacDonald, whome he presented with a token of appreciation on behalf of the Department and students.

Left: Professor Abboud with MCh (Orth) candidates; Right: Professor Abboud and Sheila MacDonald

Professor Abboud added: “I’d like to take this opportunity to personally say that you have been super intakes of candidates this year; dedication to research, your receptiveness to your Supervisors and your eagerness to learn and integrate into a different culture should be applauded. May I take this opportunity to wish you all every success in the future and please do try to stay in touch with the Department as myself and the entire team here at the TORT Centre value our Alumni and take great interest in what you go on to achieve in your future careers. You should all be proud of what you have achieved. Our best wishes go with you all”

A fond farewell to a super bunch of students from across all courses