The contest returned to the calendar of cyclical events of the Polish Physiological Society after a two-year break due to the CoViD-19 epidemic. Its motto was the words of Janusz Korczak: “It is not so important that a person knows a lot but that he knows well, not that he knows by heart but that he understands, not that he cares a little about everything, but that he really cares about something.”
Rules of the contest
“The Great Synapse” is addressed to students of medical faculties of Polish medical universities.
“The basic sciences, i.e. preclinical, and especially physiology, provide an essential basis for understanding clinical subjects. The physiological knowledge competition allows participants to learn and broaden their knowledge in this field. The mission of the contest is also to exchange teaching and scientific experience between the participants and representatives of the Departments of Physiology,” explains the host of the competition, Professor Agnieszka Cudnoch-Jędrzejewska, Head of the Department of Experimental and Clinical Physiology of the Medical University of Warsaw and Vice-Rector for Personnel and Organizational Affairs.
Our university was the organizer and host of the event for the first time. This year’s edition was attended by 10 teams from leading medical universities. Students took part in two competitions: individual and team. During the individual struggle, students solved a test of 100 questions, and then the 10 winners answered 20 short questions. On the other hand, the team competition consisted in solving study case tasks. This stage tested the teams’ theoretical knowledge and its practical application.
“The Great Synapse” was under the honorary patronage of the Rector Professor Zbigniew Gaciong, who welcomed the participants. Also present at the inauguration were: Professor Marek Kuch, Vice-Rector for Student Affairs and Education; habilitated doctor Łukasz Koperski, Deputy Dean for Student Affairs of the 1st and 2nd years of the Faculty of Medicine; and Professor Tomasz Brzozowski, a representative of the Main Board of the Polish Physiological Society.
Results of the scientific contest
On the first day of the contest, after individual encounters, the students went on a trip entitled “Warsaw Adventure”. Accompanied by a guide, they visited the capital riding on the iconic Volkswagen “cucumber”. After the end of the team competition and wrapping up the results in Hall B of the Teaching Center, diplomas and prizes were handed to the winners.
Students of the Medical University of Warsaw won in the both competitions. Out of 30 participants in the individual competition, the first place was taken by Hubert Borzuta from the Medical University of Warsaw, the second place went to a student from the Medical University of Silesia (Katowice) Ewa Krawczyk, and the joint third place to students of our university: Maja Owe-Larsson and Kamil Krauz. Students who took the fourth place were also distinguished: Paweł Kurzelowski from the Medical University of Silesia (Zabrze) and Aleksandra Brzozowska from the Medical University of Gdańsk.
The team competition was won by a team from the Medical University of Warsaw consisting of Maja Owe-Larsson, Hubert Borzuta and Kamil Krauz. The second place was taken by the team from the Medical University of Silesia (Katowice), and the third belonged to the team from the Zabrze branch of same university.
The educational supervisor of our team was Dr. Michał Kowara and the substantive part was developed by a team consisting of Prof. Agnieszka Cudnoch-Jędrzejewska, Dr. Agnieszka Wsół, Dr. Liana Puchalska and Dr. Małgorzata Wojciechowska. The implementation of tests and practical tasks was taken care of by Joanna Michalik, a lecturer from the Department of Medical Information Technology and Telemedicine. In addition, the efficiency of the competition and organizational issues were supervised by employees of the Department and Faculty of Experimental and Clinical Physiology and by employees of the Educational Center.
Expert meeting
The event, apart from the competition part, also became an opportunity to meet the heads of departments and faculties of physiology and educational supervisors. During the meeting the academics listened to a lecture by a representative of BIOPAC Systems, Inc. on fundamentals of psychophysiology recording – solutions for education and research and speeches of the President of Scanderia Venture Sp. z o.o. on the possibility of obtaining funds for scientific research.
The Medical University of Silesia will be the host of “The Great Synapse” National Physiological Knowledge Contest next year.
