Novel Introduction

Team 1 - obviously ....Sorry about harping on with my recent trip to Damai Laut. But I promise that this will be the last installment. I wanted to touch a bit about the activity we had on the second day. We doctors have this often uneasy relationship with the Pharmaceutical companies. We depended on them for perks and in my case help for research. Over the years, I have been asked to attend their meetings, sponsored to travel to conferences and lately to be speakers in their medical meet-ups. I supposed, part of being an academician is to provide teaching talents, and I had made it known that it was something I loved to do. I went a step further a couple of years back when, during a chance meeting with an old friend - who studied in Sheffield with me, and was then working for a Pharmaceutical company - we discussed the possibility of organising sessions clearly targeted at up and coming doctors other support parties - Pharmacists an Dietitians. The doctors invited were mainly Medical Officers and the aim of the talks were to demystify come of the concepts that they see in their day to day practice, but may not have been thought well as they were having their training.

Desmond giving instructions at the beginningFirst task - make 9 nails stand on one!After 10 minutes of trying, the Pfizer rep took pity on us and showed how it was doneThe ‘Masterclass’ was born and in 2008, we had the first installment at Avilion Admiral Cove, Port Dickson. Last year it was held in Penang, and Damai Laut was the third. Obviously the program had evolve, and will continue to do so. I was proud to be involved at the planning stage, but due to my work commitment, the Pharmaceuticals provided the logistics and support. The target audience stayed the same. We managed to extend the invitation to almost 100 delegates. What the organiser cleverly did was outsourcing the event management to a third party. They also organised what I thought was a novel paperchase events, akin to the amazing race without the race - and some might say the amazing bit as well. What they did was organised the participants into groups, and they were given some tasks to do, similar to teambuilding exercise while having the chance to explore the resort. The exercises and tasks were centered around the products that the sponsor wanted to sell to the participants. We had the chance to mingle and network, while exploring the resort. The sponsors got the chance to introduce their products without essentially nailing it to the participants’ head. A win-win situation.

Heading to the first stationFlurry of activitiesPuzzle to be solved after the third stationThe fifth task - hit some targets with the bow and arrowYup! Our Dr Harre Haren is no Robin HoodThe Mohd Noor sisters doing some Charlie's Angel pose for the last taskYes! My team came last … and as the old adage said - it was not about the winning, but the taking part. Loser! And another thing. The event organiser I thought was very good. In the odd chance that you need an event sorted out, do give apxara a shout. The team leader for the event was a gentleman called Desmond. Do contact him through email here for more info.