Breast cancer awareness symposium was held at Dubai Medical College for Girls, on Monday, 7th of october 2019. The event was hosted and organized by Community Medicine Department headed by Dr. Sahar Abdelmaqsoud, Associate professor of community medicine in collaboration with community engagement team and Student Union.

Theme of the event:

• The theme of this years’ event was Hope for the future and it was aimed to increase awareness about the potential risk factors, available screening methods for the detection of Breast cancer and the up-to-date management modalities.

Students Participation:

• The event was hosted by Sadiyah Hashmath, Student Unions’ Head of Science and attended by the faculty of Dubai Medical College for Girls and was enriched by the presence of the pre-clinical and clinical students. The attendees were given Pink roses and pink ribbons to symbolise the month of awareness, along with message of hope cards that they wrote to the survivors and victims to empower them and encourage them to keep strong in the face of this disease.
• The event started with presentations by First year students, Adiba Valeed, Tasnima Tayb and Yusra Iqbal who spoke about the risk factors of breast cancer and the importance of breast cancer awareness, respectively. Third year students, Anjala Nizam and Arshiya Adhnon spoke about the National Cancer Registry.
• The preclinical students also participated in an intriguing debate on “Should women start Breast Cancer Screening at the age of 30?” and simultaneously took place the voting for the poster competition, featuring the many captivating infographic posters submitted by the talented students of DMCG. The first place was bagged by Fahima Mohammed, Fathima muneer and Rumaisa yoosuf.

Cancer Survivor Talk:

• An informative and moving talk was given by Ms. Sirine Fadoul, who shared her experience with breast cancer. She encouraged women to be screened, and gave a message to the survivors to stay strong and those suffering from breast cancer to be courageous and face it with a positive attitude, as well as advising the students.

Panel Discussion:

• The event was terminated by about half an hour discussion that give the chance for students to ask about topics they need to discuss with a group of Doctors who are consultant in cancer breast Diagnosis; Management and Prevention; Dr. Sama Zibdeh, Consultant breast surgeon at Mediclinic Parkview Hospital, Dr. Mohamed Al-Bashir, Consultant Surgeon and member of the American Society of Breast Surgeons, Dr Sahar AbdelMaqsoud; Associate Professor of Community Medicine and Epidemiology at DMCG; Prof Samia Farghaly, Professor of Family Medicine at DMCG, Prof Shefaa Moustafa, Professor of Anatomy at DMCG and Prof Mirza Baig, Professor of Pharmacoepidemiology at DPC.

The event proved to be a success and a great learning experience for the audience.

Reported by, Isra Abbas