On Saturday 16th March, Cambridge University Paediatrics Society (CUPS) held our 6th Annual Conference ‘The Holistic Paediatrician’ at the School of Clinical Medicine at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. Over 80 medical students attended from all over East Anglia (and beyond!) and were treated to a day of talks and workshops from leading paediatricians and paediatric trainees.
We began the day by hearing from Dr Anna Spathis, a consultant in palliative medicine, about the challenges and rewards of caring for young people at the end of life. Next we were delighted to hear from Dr Kate Bull, a recently retired consultant cardiologist at GOSH, and author of the book ‘Open Hearts’, who spoke to us about the history of congenital heart disease treatment and her mission to understand patients’ experiences and the long-term effects of childhood treatment.
After a quick coffee break to refresh we heard from Professor Mary Fewtrell, the Clinical Lead for Nutrition at RCPCH, about the importance of nutrition in children, and some of the main challenges in the field, such as how babies who suffer from intrauterine growth restriction should be best-supported nutritionally.
We then moved on to our student research presentations, and we were completely blown away by both the number and quality of research submissions this year. Eighteen students submitted their own original research to our poster competition, covering a diverse range of paediatric sub-specialities. A huge congratulations to the three students who were chosen to give oral presentations about their work.
Rama Lakshman presented her research into the differences in quality of care between children and adult patients presenting to Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Caroline Daniel spoke about predicting parental nutrition use in neonates treated with therapeutic hypothermia, and Jenny Whitby presented her work on psychological support for parents whose children are in PICU. The remaining 15 students were invited to present their research posters to our attendees during the lunch break and it was wonderful to see everyone discussing their work.
After lunch, everyone rotated around a series of workshops covering a wide range of paediatric topics and scenarios. In a simulation session, we ran through the emergency management of a child with supraventricular tachycardia and how to approach challenging discussions with parents.
Dr Rana Moharam, who specialises in child and adolescent mental health, led an engaging session on how you might manage various complex child mental health scenarios. Professor Caroline Fertleman discussed the ethical challenges of working abroad with children during medical electives, and what the role of medical students should be in these environments.
Finally, we were delighted to host ‘Quads Against the Odds’ – quadruplets Melina, Mia, Peppe and Gionni – and their parents. The quadruplets were born at 27 weeks gestation in 2016, and spent several weeks on NICU. Now two, they are thriving, and we were lucky to hear from their mother about the pregnancy and their stay on NICU. Needless to say, with all four of them there captivating the audience, it was a lively session!
We wrapped up the day by presenting the student prizes. Congratulations to all our presenters – our judges remarked on the high quality of all the posters and presentations and spent a long time deliberating!
Caroline Daniel won the award for best oral presentation. Wafaa Hajee-Adam and Chloe Legard were runners up in the poster competition for their poster on ‘Detection of Congenital Heart Defects – Timing and Methods’, and Harriet Wright won the poster competition with her poster ‘Use of volatile organic compounds as a diagnostic tool in preterm infants: a systematic review’. Finally, Surina Fordington won the ‘people’s choice’ award, as voted for by the attendees, for her poster on ‘Evaluating the use of the ‘Hear Glue Ear’ software application during the ‘watchful waiting’ period for children aged 2-8 years old with chronic otitis media with effusion’.
Thank you to all our presenters, attendees and speakers for a wonderful day – we hope you all came away feeling inspired and we look forward to seeing you next year!
Maria Seago, Cambridge University Paediatrics Society, reports on the 6th Annual Cambridge University Paediatrics Society (CUPS) Conference ‘The Holistic Paediatrician’