Manipal: The Indo-German Convention of Lindau Alumni, IGCLA, organized by Kasturba Medical College, Manipal was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of Manipal University, Dr H Vinod Bhat at the Dr TMA Pai Hall here on Saturday. The pre-conference sessions were held on Friday.
Dr. Poornima Baliga, Dean of KMC, Manipal in her welcome address said; “Research engages intellect, satisfies thirst for learning, and provides an outlet for creativity.” She then explained a few benefits of research such as gaining experiences not available in a classroom setting and having interactions with the experienced mentors KMC, Manipal has to offer.
Dr Bhat expressed happiness that a conference of this magnitude was organized and conducted by medical students. He mentioned Dr. Partha Dabke’s contributions to the KMC campus and beyond as he was instrumental in setting up the research forums and the medicine club in KMC. Dr. Bhat spoke of engineering and medical students working together to solve problems to better the community. He commented on the sparse knowledge base among medical students with regards to bioethics, communication skills and data analysis in the past, but recently noticed a sense of curiosity amongst students which is a “welcome change”.
The keynote speaker for the Convention was Prof. Dr. Med. Anibh M. Das Head Department of Pediatric Metabolic Medicine, Hannover Medical School, Germany. He gave an informative presentation on Inborn Errors of Metabolism (IEM) –General Aspects and Clinical Vignettes. He started with the brief history of IEM which dates back to 1857. He stressed that IEM are distinct from endocrine disorders and they are often overlooked in the clinical setting due to lack of early diagnosis.
The IEM disorder he spoke of was Tyrosinemia Type I which is roughly ten times more common in India when compared to Central Europe. He elaborated on this inheritable disorder, explaining the biochemical defect, clinical symptoms, diagnostic modalities, and the therapeutic measures.
Few real-life case scenarios from his hospital were displayed to ensure better understanding of the topic. He expressed how the cost of treatment may be a hindering block in reaching affected infants in developing nations. Particular emphasis was made on the importance of neonatal screening as the prognosis is better with early detection.
