30th August 2024 – The Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) in collaboration with Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine & Health Sciences, Monash University Malaysia and Queen Mary’s School of Medicine & Dentistry, UK, has recently held an international pharmacology quiz competition called the International Intervarsity Pharmacology Challenge 2024 (IIPaC 2024). The organising committee spearheaded by Professor Dr. Nafeeza Mohd Ismail of UiTM was supported by all members of the Department of Pharmacology. Questions for the quiz were developed and vetted by the scientific subcommittee, headed by Dr. Norhafiza Razali. This subcommittee consisted of all Department of Pharmacology members together with Professor Dr. Patricia McGettigan and Prof. Dr. Vetriselvan Subramaniyan from the two collaborating institutions.
There were 2 stages of the competition: the preliminary stage and the final rounds. The preliminary stage was held online on 2 May 2024 at 8:30 pm Malaysian time, which utilised the Zoom platform in welcoming and introducing the participants, which consisted of medical students (years 1 – 3) from 6 public universities, 7 private universities and one team from Indonesian university, totalling 23, 4-person teams with some universities, including UiTM, sent 2 teams. The competition proper was then held on the Quizizz platform, with Dr. Muhammad Huzaimi Haron as the quiz master. At the end of this stage, the top 10 performing teams (including both from UiTM) qualified for the final rounds.
On 30 August 2024, the 10 teams who qualified through the preliminary stage were welcomed to the Faculty of Medicine in UiTM’s Sungai Buloh Campus for the semifinal and final rounds of IIPaC 2024. Participants were provided with door gifts, which were partially sponsored by Pharmaniaga Berhad. The welcoming ceremony was held in Auditorium 1 in the academic building and was graced by the presence of Prof. Dr. Fazah Akhtar Hanapiah, dean of the Faculty of Medicine, who delivered the officiating speech. Prof. Dr. Fazah was accompanied by her Deputy Deans including Associate Prof. Dr. Noor Shafina Mohd Noor (Postgraduate & Professional Training), Prof. Dr. Anis Safura Ramli (Research & Innovation), and Associate Prof. Dr. Leny Suzana Sudin (Industry, Community & Alumni Network).
The competition proper was held at the Seminar Room of the Department of Medical Education (DoME). Dr. Norhafiza acted as quiz master, with the assistance of three external judges who were Professor Dr. Nur Azlina Mohd Fahami (UKM), Dr. Ameya Ashok Hasamnis (Taylor’s University), and Dr. Else Haniffah Mejia Mohamed (UM). At the end of the semi-final round, 3 teams qualified for the final round and they were UTAR (Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman), Geeky Islanders (Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin) and Adrenaline Rush (UiTM). After a short respite, a fierce final competition was displayed by all 3 competing teams, with UTAR and Adrenaline Rush pushing each other all the way into a tie-breaker. Ultimately, UTAR prevailed and was crowned champion of IIPaC 2024; they were awarded RM1000 and individual trophies. Our UiTM team Adrenaline Rush brought home RM700, while Geeky Islanders of UniSZA pocketed RM500. During the closing and prize-giving ceremony, Prof. Dr. Nafeeza congratulated all teams who participated, with the hope that all universities continue to support future competitions.