NAPCON 2019 – Kochi, Kerala
Dr C Ravindran
Organizing Chairman,
Napcon 2019
“I too would like to add my thanks and
congratulations. It was a great programme, lovely venue, superb entertainment,
very tasty food and so nice to catch up with wonderful colleagues. I very much
enjoyed the workshops I did –interested and interacting attendees and all ran
perfectly”.
Mark Elliot, President, ERS
The above words reflect the general feeling of all the
faculties and delegates who attended the national conference- Napcon 2019-
conducted at Kochi, Kerala. It is indeed a matter of immense pride and prestige
that NAPCON 2019 was hosted in a manner that was appreciated by faculty,
delegates, national officials and organising team members alike. Reviews and
responses from various corners have been immensely encouraging and gratifying
to the organisers. We place upon record our sincere gratitude to the President,
Secretary, Executive committee members of both Indian Chest Society and
National College of chest physicians – India for giving us the opportunity to
host the biggest academic event of the country in the field of pulmonary
medicine.
I
have nothing more to add, except profusely thanking all who were part of this
programme organized jointly by the Kerala chapter of Indian Chest Society and
Academy of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine.
NAPCON 2019 was organized in Hotel Grand Hyatt and Lulu
Convention Centre, Kochi Bolgatty from the 21st to 24th
of November, 2019. The workshops were held at various venues (including leading
hospitals in Kochi as well as Lulu convention centre) on the 21st of
November. The inaugural ceremony was conducted from 5.30 PM to 6.30 PM on the
21st of November. Honorable Governor of Kerala, Sri Arif Mohammed
Khan officially inaugurated the conference in the presence of guest of honour, Justice Devan Ramachandran and leaders of
Indian Chest Society and National College of Chest Physicians (India). This was
followed by performance of traditional art forms of Kerala.
14 workshops were conducted across various venues. The
important workshop themes included pulmonary function testing, bronchoscopy,
pulmonary imaging, pulmonary rehabilitation, ILD, research methodology etc. All
the workshop sessions were well attended, and faculty of experience and repute
guided the delegates through brief theory sessions and practical hands on
training. The workshops were of immense benefit to the delegates.
The scientific sessions were conducted in 5 conference halls.
A total of 350 faculties, including 25 international faculties addressed the
delegates in various sessions. The scientific sessions touched upon various sub
specialties in pulmonary medicine and included didactic lectures, panel
discussions, pro-con debates and guideline presentations. A total of 2865
delegates registered for the conference. The sessions were well appreciated
with regard to the academic content, relevance, interaction and punctuality. Time
management of the conference is the one appreciated by everybody and we are
proud that such a decision was well taken by faculty and delegates. Another
attraction was the ambience of the venue. The Convention center was perceived
as unique and majestic by the delegates with regards to its location, the
mammoth space, hall arrangements, food and refreshment.
There were 830 abstracts submitted for presentation and it is
a record in the history of Napcons till today. It was a herculean task to
review the abstracts and to categorize for award presentation, oral
presentation and poster presentations. All the abstracts were accepted and
postgraduates and consultants were given the opportunity to present their work
before the august audience.
NAPCON 2019 witnessed banquet on all three days and the
cultural events were a blend of different art forms, both traditional and
innovative, which suited the tastes of delegates hailing from different
geographic territories. We had the “Keraleeyam” which summed up traditional art
forms of Kerala, we had live music night by Ms Ambili Menon and we had fusion
dance form “Jnanappana” by Ms Lakshmi Gopalaswamy and Mr Vineeth. Delegates
were seen immersed in the cultural programmes on all three evenings.
Radiating
Uniqueness
NAPCON
2019 had a lot of unique features which serve as highlights of the conference.
1.
An awareness programme on respiratory diseases
for the general public (“Healthy lung for all”) was a unique highlight. The
programme took us a long way forward towards bridging the gap between
pulmonologists, patients and media personnel. 500 delegates from various
aspects of life attended the programme. Utilisation of local language as the
mode of communications ensured deeper community level penetration.
2.
An update book on recent advanced in pulmonary
medicine was released during the conference. Going through the articles, we
feel that the book will definitely serve as an immediate reference guide for
the postgraduates and practicing clinicians.
3.
The registration desk was made up of 5 kiosks
where the registered delegate was requested to quote his unique 6 digit
registration number. The process was hassle free and took on an average only
30-40 seconds
4.
Free paper sessions for consultants were
arranged separately and were divided into different subcategories. This move
ensured that practicing young consultants are also provided opportunity to
conduct research and exhibit their work at a national forum. The sessions were
well appreciated by the participants.
5.
The scientific schedule and the cultural
programmes also radiated uniqueness which all the delegates appreciated across
different age groups.
6.
The conference had the largest number of
abstracts presented in the till date history of NAPCON.
Summary
NAPCON 2019, when viewed through
the eyes of organizers, has brought many positives to the Pulmonology
fraternity of Kerala and Kochi in particular. The success of the conference is
the whole hearted support and unparalleled dedication from all the
pulmonologist of Kerala. This was well supplemented by the senior members of
the national organizations.
In a nutshell, hosting a
successful national conference gives us lots of happiness. Almost all aspects
of the conference were well appreciated and criticisms were far and few. Apt
choice of the venue, formidable leadership and co-ordinated efforts of the
entire Kerala state held the key to success.
No comments:
Post a Comment