The Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. Yarl Med Ex 2018 is the first of a series of events that will commemorate the Faculty’s 40th year. While the Faculty has the tradition of organizing medical exhibitions every five years or so, the last public exhibition was carried out in 2012.
As a foremost academic institution of the University of Jaffna, the Faculty of Medicine has the social responsibility to provide leadership for health and education initiatives. Organizing periodical exhibitions is one way of educating the people on certain aspects of life. Public awareness on health issues is very important for the prevention, early detection and control of disease. The exhibition provides an opportunity for the faculty to accomplish this social responsibility.
Not only the community, but the Faculty also benefits in many ways by organizing a medical exhibition. Undergraduate students at the faculty gain leadership skills and a range of other professional development skills by organizing the exhibition. In other words, the exhibition is a useful learning opportunity for students, particularly those from the academic years 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 who will lead exhibition-related activities.
By displaying the potential of medical and health education, the Faculty hopes to encourage A/L students and early school leavers to explore career opportunities in the health sector, thus improving the human resource situation in the health care sector.
The exhibition is to be conducted on four consecutive days from April 4th to April 7th 2018 at the premises of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna.
Objectives of Yarl Med Ex 2018
- To create awareness about the best practices, latest developments and research findings in the health sector;
- To promote health and deliver key messages in healthcare regarding diet, lifestyle modification, medicines and other interventions to the general public;
- To provide health education on major non communicable diseases such as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases and cancers, to the public;
- To educate the people of the Northern Province about health services available in the Northern Province and Sri Lanka;
- To improve health sciences related knowledge and skills among school-goers in the Northern Province;
- To encourage and guide youth in the Northern Province toward selecting career pathways in the health sector; and
- To develop personal and professional development skills among students of the Faculty of Medicine
Expected outcomes
- Dissemination of health-promoting knowledge among people of the Northern Province in view of achieving improvements in health status and quality of life
- Improved knowledge related to health conditions and preventive measures among people of the Northern Province
- Decreased incidence of non-communicable disease in the Northern Province
- Better performance of students in national examinations in science-related subjects.
- Improved capacity of the health care workforce in the Northern Province
- Enhanced personal and professional development skills among students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Jaffna
- The exhibition will be conducted under five cross-cutting themes
Basic Sciences:
The ‘basics’ in all medical and health sciences disciplines: anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, immunology, pathology, microbiology and parasitology. This section will cover the topics needed for A/L and other science/health science students and teachers
Current challenges in health:
This theme will concentrate on the following areas
RTA and domestic injuries
Life style modification
Substance use and abuse
Environmental health
Career (guidance) attractions:
This section will inform the public, particularly school-goers and early school leavers, about the various career options available in the health sector. Among others, it will include nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, massage therapy, podiatry, clinical psychology, radiography, ultrasonography, MLT, medical information technology, and molecular gene technology.
Recent advances and future directions
This area will focus on creating awareness on the latest developments and research findings in the healthcare sector. These will include, advanced surgical techniques, advanced investigation (imaging) techniques, nanotechnology in medicine, robotic technology in medicine, e-medicine with smart phones, future directions in service delivery
Health in different stages of life:
The sections will address health status and disease conditions of following age groups: children, adolescents, adults, and older adults. They will impart key health messages to school children and the public.