Medical conferences

Please refer to the January 2003 issue of IME. The letter from Sevagram was positive. There has been a palpable change in medical conferences over the years. The number has increased manifold, the venue has shifted from medical colleges to five-star hotels. The quality of food offered has improved while that of the papers proffered has declined. The ultimate success of the conference is judged more by the banquet, where there is a free flow of alcohol. There are gifts galore at the exhibition stalls with prizes for lucky dips.

Smaller continuing medical education (CME) programmes can be organized without sponsors as participants do not mind making a contribution if the organ-izer is sincere and the lecture is of common interest. The local chapter of the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists (IAPM) is funded entirely by its members numbering about fifty. We are able to get good speakers from neighbouring places. Recently, Professor RK Gupta from Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute (SGPGI), Lucknow, who is the national president of the IAPM, gave an excellent talk on interpretation of kidney biopsy. The talk was much appreciated, especially by younger pathologists and trainees.

At the Allahabad branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), a team of young doctors has started Sunday breakfast meetings. These meetings are well attended, the speakers are usually good, but the sumptuous breakfast is a guaranteed attraction, and is sponsored by one or the other drug company. Things will change only with the active involvement of institutions and organizers.