JIPMER ALUMNI MEET 2024​
6th of July 2024
Caledonian Club, London
Approximately when the Big Ben chimed 12 noon on a rain-soaked 6th of July, a motley group of JIPMERites and their families wound their way through the streets of posh Belgravia near Hyde Park, to enter the exclusive ‘Caledonian Club’, pre-booked as the venue for the JAAUK Annual day, all brimming with enthusiasm and excitement.
There were the expected shrieks of joy, the embraces of long-lost friends and back-slapping among roommates, batchmates, hostel-mates and finally, the link that bound all attendees - all were essentially JIPMER-mates!
As the dust settled with sandwiches and welcome drinks, the events of the Day unfolded, starting with the impeccable invoking of the ‘Dhanvantari’ prayer by Prabha (Bo86) and the welcome address by Dr. S. J. Iyer (Bo71) & current Chair of Trustees. The academic (CME) activities followed, very ably conducted by Nikhil (Bo14), with Kim Tolley (Regional Liaison Advisor, GMC) presenting on updates to Good Medical Practice and discrimination in the NHS. Prof. B. Dasgupta (Bo74) next gave a scholarly talk on ‘the spectrum of Giant cell arteritis-Polymyalgia Rheumatica disease’ that was very well received. This was followed by a very interesting talk on Test result errors in the NHS needing sleuth-like skills and resources to fix them, by none other than Dr. M. Sudhanva (Bo94 - MD Microbiology), who achieved recognition with an OBE for his stellar contributions during the Covid pandemic.
With coffee to keep awake, JIPMERites then assembled for the Annual General Body meeting. After the ‘Shantimantra’ rendered by Prabha, Dr. J. Iyer traced the history and recent growth of the organisation, followed by Dr. Prasad’s (Bo92) presentation of the annual accounts. There is currently an account balance of £12,188 (reducing to £8,188 after returning a previously donated amount of £4000) and after meeting the current Caledonian Club Annual Day event expenses of 4623.90 (in addition to the initial deposit of £2500), would leave us with a small, expected surplus.
Suman (Bo81) elaborated on the multifarious educational activities over the past year, in keeping the charter of the organisation as stated in the constitution. There were two very successful courses conducted under the aegis of JAAUK in collaboration with the GMC for aspiring medicos in India who wish to pursue higher training/ career in the UK (Dec 22, JIPMER, Pondicherry and August 23 at MGR medical college, Chennai). Virtual Interview skills courses are in the planning stage. JAAUK also donated INR 50000 for ‘Connaissance academic conference’ of medical students in JIPMER as well as sponsored travel expense for a young researcher to present her work at a conference in Cambridge.
Prabha (Bo86) highlighted the importance of each JIPMERITE to think of giving back to our Alma Mater in various ways - as part of the charitable remit of our organisation. Membership and wider participation in activities had always been the bane, and there were interesting discussions, with suggestion from Vinidh Paleri (Bo86) about creation of ‘batch ambassadors’ to enlist new members as well as to disseminate information in respective batches.
The following agreements were reached in the AGBM after a healthy debate:
Every JIPMERite coming to live/work in the UK has the inalienable right to membership of JAAUK and is eligible to vote, irrespective of paid subscription status.
All existing paid members are granted ‘Foundation member’ status. Subscription would be purely voluntary, with the following suggested tiers and concomitant privileges:
‘Silver Patron’ - £5 per month, will entitle donors to free CME attendance as well as gala dinner at the Annual Day for 1 attendee.
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Click here to be Silver Patron: https://pay.gocardless.com/BRT00039N110DXD
‘Gold Patron’ - £10 per month, will entitle donors to free CME attendance and gala dinner at the Annual Day for 2 attendees.
Click here to be Gold Patron: https://pay.gocardless.com/BRT00039N122K3Q
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‘Platinum Patron’ - £15 per month, will entitle donors to free CME attendance and gala dinner at the Annual Day for 3 attendees. (Extra dinner guests can be paid for by the members)
Click here to be Platinum Patron: https://pay.gocardless.com/BRT00039N14C0V1
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To attract donations from friends and well-wishers (there are several such ‘Friends of JAAUK’) who are not JIPMERites, there would be a parallel tiered donation with concomitant privileges, except for attending AGB and voting rights.
Of course, the above guide is the minimum suggested amount for the tiers- patrons are free to donate higher amounts. Any donation attracts tax relief for the individual, as well as enabling gift aid claim from HMRC for JAAUK. Subscription is paid preferably by monthly direct debit.
It is desirable to reduce the administrative workload for subscription collection with any suitable suggestion regarding software or secretarial support being most welcome.
We need to make a database of all existing JIPMERites in the UK. One pragmatic way of doing this would be for everyone present at the meeting to prepare a list of batchmates they know who are in the UK and forward the names/ contact details to the Trustees.
Regular newsletter emails that inform members of various activities would be emailed and posted on the JAAUK website.
After all the deliberations and decisions, it was time to ‘let the hair down’ in the library, with canapés and a glass of wine. This was followed by a grand seated dinner in the hall, during which we were ‘edutained’ by Vinidh (Bo86) about handling ‘media exposure’ for doctors, singing by Hema (Bo94) and her daughters, Bhaskar (Bo74) with his inimitable ghazals and Karthik’s (Bo17) stellar performance on the flute rendering the Raga Hamsa Dhwani, all very ably compered by Suresh (Bo06), who himself is a very accomplished singer and songwriter.
Special thanks are due to Nikhil (Bo14), Gopika (Bo15) and Azhar (Bo15) for their efforts and contributions towards organising the meet.
All in all, a very memorable day full of nostalgia, camaraderie and joie de vivre - everyone bade adieu determined for an encore, come the next year!
Your support is invaluable and helps us continue in providing welcome CME activities and educational opportunities for Junior Doctors aspiring for a career in the UK, especially from India. Thank you for all the support you have given JAAUK this far. We hope to continue this relationship for a very long time.
