Medfest

Medfest was held for the first time in September 2009 at the University of Notre Dame’s Sydney Medical School in Darlinghurst. With less than two months to go till exams, the stress was starting to show i.e. bags and dark circles under eyes, wrinkles on forehead (you get the idea). Since we have the reputation of the best looking medical school in the country, we simply couldn’t allow this to happen. So, what better way to freshen up our minds (and faces) than to have a whole day filled with contests, costumes and challenges.

The day started with a BBQ and some interesting costumes. Each PBL (Problem based learning) group had to dress up as something starting with the letter of their group. So we had the A group do Aerobics Instructors, the B group do bubbles, and so on.

We had some interesting ideas and since we are a medical school, you got extra marks for doing something med related. So kudos to the D group who came as dermatomes (and in the anatomical position), the I group for ice addicts and the C group for contraceptives... but there could only be one winner and that was the L group for coming as the Labour Ward. They clearly demonstrated their understanding of anatomical variation (the boys came as pregnant ladies), patient needs (they were tended to by nurses), physiology of birth (demonstrated by the patients’ water bursting) and the need for a whole health team. Not only that, but they also produced a little healthy baby boy at the end of it.

We then moved on to do some tricky challenges and trivia set out by the university and found that all that studying actually proved to be useful, although it might not always seem to be the case. Turns out we know something - resuscitation (which we almost needed later on in the evening), IV lines, intubation etc.

Next step: alcohol of course!! We moved to our local pub on Oxford Street and stimulated our minds with trivia and relaxed with some beer, wine and food. But wait, the night did not end there. After some serious thinking and drinking we got right into karaoke (some more than others).

Please note: That any harm done through the duration of this event was not intentional, but purely coincidental.

All in all, it turned out to be a rather enjoyable day and a much needed break. It was really nice to see both our first and second year students get involved as well as staff who were extremely supportive.

Lastly, this day would not have been made possible without a generous donation from MDA National and for this we are truly grateful. It is good to know that organisations such as MDA National care about the wellbeing of students and are willing to support such events. We do encourage all other universities to think about doing something similar because it did boost everyone’s morale especially in the last few days before exams!

A special thanks to all the students who helped put together this day!!

Deanne Soares
University of Notre Dame Sydney