Author : Flordeliz Lontok, MD
During its annual convention last October 2020, the Philippine Society of
Vascular Medicine held a research paper contest. The contest was
organized by the Research Committee under the leadership of Dr.
Jasmin Melissa Bernardo. This year’s contest was unique and special
since it was done under the new normal setting.
The contest was divided into 2 categories, namely the Oral Presentation contest and the Poster Presentation contest. A total of 8 entries were submitted for the first category, and 17 entries for the second category. Entries came from groups of medical residents, cardiology fellows and vascular medicine fellows (training in Manila or from the provinces).
The Oral presentation entries were prejudged by a well represented and balanced panel of judges composed of Dr. Maribeth Delos Santos, Dr. Maria Tarcela Gler, and Ma. Rosary Anne Sanchez Reyes, CCRA while the Poster presentation were prejudged by Dr. Raul Lapitan, Dr. Venus Oliva Cloma-Rosales, and Dr. Frederick Allen Fuentes, all of whom have extensive training in either research, vascular medicine and cardiology or both. The highlight of the contest was the virtual presentation (via Zoom) of the finalists to the judges including a question and answer portion which added excitement to the event to a very interactive event. It’s also worth mentioning that the event was a big success having 120 attendees on record. Announcement of winners took place on the 18th of October, during the Society’s business meeting. The following are the names of the successful winners of the contest:
Oral poster winners some with their training officers
Oral Presentation Category:
1st place - Dr. Ruth Divine Agustin (Philippine General
Hospital)
2nd place - Dr. Patrick Vera Cruz (West Visayas State University)
3rd place - Dr. Muriel Morilla (Philippine Heart Center)
Poster Presentation Category:
1st place - Dr. Gino Gomez (St. Luke’s Medical Center -
Global City)
2nd place - Dr. Marjan Heidari (Manila Doctors Hospital)
3rd place - Dr. Terence Cuezon (St. Luke’s Medical Center -
Global City)
The mechanics of the contest was modified due to the pandemic
situation this year and the word challenging was an understatement. Lots of effort and patience is needed to push through the research contest. It was really inspiring to see all the participants giving their best and eagerly sharing their research output. We also commend the mentors for their endless encouragement and guidance to the trainees. The Society congratulates all the winners, co-authors, and participants for your excellent research papers! Despite the
distance and technical challenges encountered in this “new
normal” environment, it turned out to be a fruitful and successful
research contest in the field of Vascular Medicine. Because of the
quality of the research out put, we have dedicated a corner
entitled "Mini Journal Club" to catalogue the papers in our website
which can be read by a wider audience. Truly this pandemic has
made us innovate ways to go around the road blocks to our
collective desire to learn and exchange ideas on vascular
medicine.