The BAPIO Scotland-RCPE Joint Annual Conference was held on Saturday 18 May, 2019; at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The meeting was also held in conjunction with the General Medical Council.
The majority of delegates were from Scotland, with a fair number from London, Manchester, and Bristol.
At this meeting, Mr Vipin Zamvar, Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon, took over as Chair of the Scottish Division from Dr Meena Virdi, who had led the Division since its launch in 2009.
Dr Ramesh Mehta spoke about the remarkable achievements of BAPIO over the last two decades, and Prof. Parag Singhal spoke about BAPIO’s ambitious plans with the MTI scheme.
Prof. Raj Bhopal explained the theories explaining the higher risk of Cardiovascular risk in South Asians. Prof Derek Bell, President of the RCPE spoke about the importance of analysing big data responsibly.
Claire Light, the Head of “Equality Diversity and Inclusion” in the GMC spoke about the various current initiatives of the GMC in this area, and Rebecca Clarke of the GMC highlighted the features of the “Welcome to UK” programme.
The free papers were marked by all delegates, and the prize winners were
1) First Prize : Chengyuan Zhang, Edinburgh (£200)
2) Second Prize: Anita Balaji, Edinburgh (£100)
3) Third Prize: Helen Porte, Manchester (£50)
Here are some highlights of the conference:
1) Chair Vipin Zamvar welcoming delegates.
2) Ramesh Mehta talking about BAPIO’s achievements over the last 20 years, and plans for the future
3) Parag Singhal talking about BAPIO’s ambitions with the MTI scheme
4) Derek Bell, President of the RCPE, talking about the pitfalls in the interpretation of Big Data.
5) Raj Bhopal, explaining his theories regarding the higher incidence of cardiovascular diseases in South Asians
6) Claire Light, Head of Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion at the General Medical Council.
7) Ramesh Mehta with some very enthusiastic medical students from Edinburgh
8) The Organising Committee of the Conference
9) Dr Zhang won the first prize (free papers)
10) A photo from after Dinner
