Students' Take: LKCMedicine Anatomy Challenge 2021: The Real Challenge

By Zavier Lim, Class of 2024, and Organising Chairperson of LKCMedicine Anatomy Challenge 2021

LKCMedicine Anatomy Challenge is back after a year of hiatus!

With the current COVID-19 situation, planning for Anatomy Challenge 2021 (AC21) was undoubtedly a challenge. My organising team and I planned five settings of the event. For example, we planned for a hybrid and online event.

e did not know which would be the final setting for the event, until a month before AC21. With the guidance and advice from our School’s faculty and staff, my team and I decided to have a hybrid event.

This year, more than 230 students from 47 teams and 20 Junior Colleges, Polytechnics and International Schools participated in AC21.

On 17 April, our student volunteers headed to the participating institutes and conducted a gruelling Individual Challenge. The Challenge tested participants’ knowledge of Anatomy and their ability to apply their knowledge to various scenarios. They also viewed exciting programme booths and learnt about the relevance of anatomy in the clinical context.

With just 30 days to go, my team and I worked closely with our LKCMedicine faculty and staff from a whole range of departments including Communications & Outreach, Education Management, Advancement & Resources, IT Services, and Facilities & Operations and many more, working day and night to make sure we could bring AC21 to fruition. After all, we were determined not to let COVID-19 prevent us from achieving our mission of showcasing to pre-university students the importance and relevance of anatomy and making anatomy more accessible to all.

Leading AC21 in this COVID-19 times has been a test for me. A test of my leadership, a test of my perseverance and determination, and a test of my vision.

Having to provide guidance and set the direction of AC21 initially, when the truth was that no one had any idea how the COVID-19 situation would change, or what the restrictions would be was immensely challenging.

But without a vision and without an ideal end product in mind, the team could not function, and our planning could not take place. And so, we had to take actions to mitigate this uncertainty.

We engaged our external partners and participating schools to get a sense of their receptiveness to the various plans we had: we engaged in dialogue with the various LKCMedicine staff and faculty to understand more about the considerations and limitations that each possible scenario might bring, and we persevered.

Eventually, on 17 April, we sent over 60 LKCMedicine student volunteers out to participating schools to conduct the Individual Challenge, and the Virtual Amazing Race (virtual programme booths) for the participants. We received excellent feedback.  

A week later (24 April), the top five teams in the Individual Challenge competed in the Team Challenge, conducted in a gameshow format including segments such as Rapid Fire, Judges’ Special, and Video Round.

In the end, Nanyang Polytechnic School of Applied Science, emerged as the champions of AC21 and brought home the Anatomy Challenge Championship Trophy and Professor Low Cheng Hock Challenge Shield!

My sincere and immense thanks and gratitude goes out to Professor Low, Asst Professor Sharon Yeo, our esteemed judges, our sponsors, LKCMedicine staff and faculty, my organising committee, and all my peers who volunteered for the event, and even those who cheered and supported us all the way. Without your help and support, AC21 would not have been possible!