Awards Ceremony ends another academic year at TORT

The annual MCh (Orth) & BMSc Awards Ceremony, which also incorporates a cultural evening, was held on Tuesday 31 May 2016 in the Gait Laboratory of the Institute of Motion Analysis and Research (IMAR) at the TORT Centre.

Professor Rami Abboud, Head of the Department and Associate Dean for Learning & Teaching, welcomed invited students, teaching faculty, staff members, and other students enrolled on a variety of courses within the Department (MSc, MD, MPhil, PhD) to celebrate the successful completion of this year’s courses in Master of Orthopaedic Surgery and Intercalated BMSc in Applied Orthopaedic Technology.

As is now traditional at this annual event all guests were asked to bring along a home-made dish from their countries of origin so a diverse buffet was available and energetically and enthusiastically devoured. Professor Abboud made his ‘world-famous’ chicken dish (the recipe of which is more closely guarded than that of Coca-Cola!). Traditional music accompanied the event with diverse genres from all student countries of origin - Brazil, China, Canada, Egypt, 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 and rewarding part of the evening with the presentation of certificates and the handing out of this year’s prize awards. Professor Abboud also presented each MCh (Orth) student with a specially designed lapel button commemorating the course.

For the MCh (Orth) course awards the recipients were:

• The Ian Smillie Award, given to the outstanding student of the year, went this year to Dr Chinmaya Sharma

• The David Rowley Award, given for outstanding presentation skills, was awarded to Dr Archit Agarwal

• The Ian Kelly Award, given for excellence in scientific communication, was this year won by Dr Chinmaya Sharma

• The Clinical Assistance Award, given on the recommendation of the Lead Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon for excellence in assisting and observing in operating theatre, went to Dr Harshvardhan Premaleela

Professor Abboud presenting the MCh (Orth) awards to (left to right) Dr Chinmaya Sharma; Dr Archit Agarwal; Dr Harshavardhan Preemaleela.

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

• The Presentation Skills Award was jointly awarded to Eilidh Gillen and Maria Tereza Guedes

• The Scientific Paper Award was awarded to Fernando Bueno Neves

Professor Abboud presenting the BMSc awards to (left to right) Maria Tereza Guedes; Eilidh Gillen; Fernando Bueno Neves.

All prize winners thoroughly deserved their awards and should be rightly proud of their success but praise should go to all students who made the awarding of certificates once again this year so very difficult for the board of examiners. Professor Abboud took a moment to also highlight the excellent work done by the small number of dedicated staff in the department, our NHS Tayside colleagues, the invaluable and immense external faculty, and especially that of the course administrator, Mrs Sheila MacDonald, without whom the courses would not be as nearly successful and enjoyable for students.

Professor Abboud added: “I would like to take this opportunity to personally say what super intakes of candidates you have been this year. Your enthusiasm towards your research, your receptiveness to your Supervisors and your willingness to learn and integrate into a different culture should be roundly 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 my entire team here at TORT value our Alumni and take great interest in what you go on to achieve in your future careers. You should all be very proud of what you have achieved. I told you on the first day of your courses that “The more you put in … the more you get out”, and this year more than any other goes to prove my point. Our sincerest wishes go with you all”.

The MCh (Orth) students then surprised Professor Abboud by presenting him with a special designed framed print entitled “The Seven staRs of MCh (Orth) Dundee”. This was the brain-child of Dr Harshavardhan who also wrote the content which describes why other orthopaedic surgeons should pursue this particular course. The BMSc students then thanked Prof for all his support throughout the year by presenting him with a bottle of 12-year old Highland Park malt whisky and a lovely card declaring themselves as “Abboud’s Ortho Army”.

Dr Harshavardhan stated: "It’s common everywhere that outgoing students receive awards for best performances during their study. This year we, MCh (Orth) class for 2016 thought why awards only for the students ... why not for the professors who strive to educate us? Hence we presented an award in the form of a memento to Professor Abboud, a pioneer who is responsible for the supremacy of this course. We all appreciate Prof's enthusiasm to educate and train orthopaedic surgeons from all over the world through this MCh (Orth) Dundee course. We hope he will remember this batch very fondly for a long time".

MCh (Orth) candidates presenting Professor Abboud's surprise 'award'.

“I was left totally speechless for once” added Professor Abboud. “I had no idea that the students were planning this. All the difficulties experienced throughout the year have suddenly disappeared when I realised how much I meant to the students. We are here to give them the best experience we can and it is nice to know that we have succeeded. They are now part of a big and diverse family at TORT and we hope to hear from them as they progress in their careers”.

Iona Robertson and Eilidh Gillen thanking Professor Abboud on behalf of all the BMSc students, or should that be 'Abboud's Ortho Army'?