21 Jan 2024 ALL Winners of the 2023 LAMS (4th Regional and 3rd National): Read Top Essays and Watch Video Recording of Virtual Award Ceremony held on 19/1/24
PAGE CONTENTS:
(1) The Event Scheduling and Essay Topics.
(2) List of NATIONAL Winners, their Prizes, Institutions of Study and Links to the Top 3 Essays.
(3) List of REGIONAL Winners, their Prizes and Institutions of Study.
(4) Video: Full Recording (and Screenshots) of the Virtual Award Presentation Ceremony (19/1/24)
(5) LAMS History and Background
(6) Certificates: Top 10 National Winners
(7) Certificates: Top 10 Regional Winners
(8) Event Flyer
The 2023 Edition of the OCI Foundation’s Literary Award for Medical Students (LAMS) was held as a virtual ceremony on Friday, January 19, 2024. To give a feedback on LAMS, click HERE.
LAMS is being delivered annually by the OCI Foundation in conjunction with the Nigerian Medical Students Association (NiMSA), and, for the first time in its 4-year history (details below), the National (OCI Foundation-Auwal Shanano Competition) and Regional (South-east LAMS) versions were held on the same day. This joint pattern will become the new normal. This 2023 Edition marks National LAMS’ third iteration, while the Regional one is in its fourth. Details of the Ceremony are in the flyer at the bottom. The essay topics, submission dates, and guidelines for the National and Regional contests are available HERE and HERE, respectively.
NiMSA is the national body that represents all the medical students in Nigeria, and is made up of medical schools from all six geo-political zones in Nigeria. The Southeast body is one of the six regions under the national association.
Screenshots . . .
It should be recalled the, in August 2020, the OCI Foundation sponsored the first-ever Literary Award for Medical Students (LAMS). At the time, it was staged only for the medical schools South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, who initiated the idea. In 2021, a national contest, involving medical schools in Nigeria’s six geo-political zones, was also introduced, in what will also be an annual event. These are all in line with Dr Ifediora’s firm commitment to inspiring youths and medical undergraduates across the Nigerian nation.
LAMS is designed to identify, inspire, and reward medical students who show literary dexterity.
The OCI Foundation’s decision to support the Nigerian medical students via the LAMS Initiative was an easy one, given that the Foundation’s Founder, Assoc Prof Chris Ifediora, was very active in NiMSA activities in his undergraduate days. He was also an alumnus of the SE Zone of NiMSA, having been a prominent member of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical Students Association (NAUMSA).
As a medical undergraduate, Dr Ifediora, who was nicknamed “the Scribe” due to his literary prowess, served as the Secretary-General of the Federation of African Medical Students’ Associations, FAMSA (the body of all African medical students) in 2001. Before then, at the NiMSA General Assembly hosted by the College of Medicine, University of Lagos (Nigeria), he contested for, and lost narrowly in a very keenly contest election for the Director of the NiMSA Standing Committee on Medical Education (SCOME). He remained active in NiMSA, featuring prominently in the associations national activities across all regions of Nigeria between 1999 and 2002. He was also an invited delegate to the General Assembly of the International Federation of Medical Students’ Associations (IFMSA) in Taipei, Taiwan (2001), but, for reasons beyond his control, he failed to attend, despite obtaining the required visa.
Dr Ifediora also served as the Secretary Generals of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical Students Association (NAUMSA) and the ROTARACT Club of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital (ROTA-NAUTH), among other positions. He was a recipient of the inaugural “Most Academically Outstanding Medical Student Award”, offered by the Nnamdi Azikiwe University Medical Student’s Association (NAUMSA).
His exposure to a balanced mix of academics and politics helped him hone his literary skills, which has guided him to achieve excellence in his careers to date as a medical practitioner, researcher and academic. Those skills were also vital in his sojourn through institutions in the United Kingdom (University of Liverpool), the United States of America (Harvard Medical School) and Australia (Griffith University).
These underlie his firm convictions that developing literary skills among doctors can unlock huge potentials that significantly complement medical practice, and the LAMS Initiative is his way of inspiring our upcoming doctors in this regard.
For the records, the OCI (Onyebuchi Chris Ifediora) Foundation is an international (Nigerian-Australian) non-profit, charity organisation established with the aim of breaking down barriers to the attainment of excellence among Nigerians through Education, Health and Empowerment/Charity Activities. The LAMS Initiative is a component of the Foundation’s Educational project, which has 5 other scholarship schemes under it. These scholarships can be found HERE.
Event Flyer . . . .
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