Three medical students from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) won an international microbiology competition in Thailand from 24-27 February. During the Siriaj International Microbiology, Parasitology, and Immunology Competition (SIMPIC) 2017, the UGM team won the second and fourth places for individuals.
UGM sent two teams to the competition, the first one consisting of Maria Fransisca Pudjohartono, Jessica, Audric Kenny Tedja, and Marcellus, who finished second. The other team consisted of Widyan Putra Anantawikrama, Danny Agus Pramana Wahyudi, I Putu Aditio Artayasa and Wynne Wijaya, who had to settle for being semifinalists.
Individually, among the UGM delegates, Maria Fransisca Pudjohartono earned one gold medal. Audric Kenny Tedja, Marcellus, and Wynne Wijaya won three bronze medals.
Maria Fransisca said SIMPIC was held annually by Mahidol University’s Faculty of Medicine. This year, 53 teams from universities in 9 states were participating.
“The competition was joined by strong teams from Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Cambodia,Thailand, Malaysia, and Taiwan,” she said on Thursday (2/3) at the Faculty of Medicine, UGM.
In this competition, all teams showed their best performance in microbiology, parasitology, and immunology through four stages of competition. During elimination, all participants had to complete 60 multiple choice questions and a timed laboratory examination. Scores were accumulated individually in each team. The best 28 teams were selected to go through to the semifinals and they did nine essays. The next best 10 teams had to do a quizz to get through. The best four, UGM, UI, and two teams from Khon Kaen University, Thailand, made it to the finals.
“The competition was tight and we’re thankful we won second place,” she said, adding that the winner was one of the teams from Thailand.
Audric expressed happiness and pride about their win because in the past two competitions, the UGM team had not been able to make it to the finals. They hoped their achievement would inspire other students.
Marcellus added that their success in the SIMPIC was thanks to the support and facilities of the Faculty that gave them training and supervision. The supervisors for SIMPIC team were dr. Tri Wibawa, PhD, dr. Rina Susilowati, PhD., dr. Titik Nuryastuti, M.Si., PhD., and dr. Elsa Herdiana, MKes, PhD.
“Thanks to our supervising lecturers and faculties who supported us, we did well in the SIMPIC competition. Hopefully, in the future, we can make more achievements,” he said.