P&G Health announces winners of PANACHE

Winners will be awarded scholarships to fund medical courses by P&G Health

Procter & Gamble Health (formerly known as Merck) announced the culmination of the 2019 edition of PANACHE — a first of its kind platform to support India’s Gen X doctors in their medical education journey. PANACHE aims to assist students in honing skills for holistic patient care including medico–legal aspects, ethics, role of technology, emotional intelligence, problem-solving and leadership among others.

Dr Vivek Nidhi from Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, Burdwan (winner), P Shri Ram from Gandhi Medical College, Secunderabad (1st runner-up), Dr Tejaswini M from Yenepoya Medical College, Mangalore and Suma Damera from Rangaraya Medical College, Kakinada (joint 2nd runners-up) emerged as the winners from among >11,000 participants from > 250 colleges across 130 cities in India. Their PANACHE journey included two rounds of online quiz assessments, and a live final round at the Annual Conference of the Association of Physicians of India (APICON) 2020, wherein they competed among 12 finalists in the presence of stalwarts from the medical and science fraternity. In addition to being recognised as the winners of this prestigious pan-India programme, the three winners will also be offered a scholarship for an amount of Rs 3 lakhs, 2 lakhs and 1 lakh respectively, for pursuing educational courses, by P&G Health.

Hailing from Burdwan and an intern of Burdwan Medical College and Hospital, PANACHE 2019 Winner Dr Nidhi commented, “I am thrilled to have won. This achievement brings honour to my college and I would be delighted if it inspires students from colleges from small towns to participate in such platforms. It is indeed a thoughtful step by P&G Health to institute this programme for medical students to learn crucial skills as well as medical ethics. I hope P&G Health continues this programme in the years ahead to enable many more students to develop themselves for the future.”

The date and venue selected for the grand finale has special significance as it marks the 75th anniversary i.e., Platinum Jubilee of APICON. Over the years, APICON has been established as the platform to showcase the latest research, developments and innovation conducted by the medical fraternity.

Speaking at the felicitation ceremony, Milind Thatte, MD, Procter & Gamble Health stated, “P&G Health’s PANACHE was conceptualised with an aim to go beyond sharing medical expertise for any therapy area, to help equip the doctors of tomorrow with holistic skills that encompass all aspects of clinical practice. I would like to thank the APICON team for giving this platform to our finalists to compete in front of senior members of the medical fraternity. I also express my gratitude to the renowned medical expert panel who helped us design PANACHE, Heads of medical colleges for their support and participation, and to all medical students who went through the PANACHE experience.”

Dr PK Maheshwari, Organising Secretary, APICON added, “Along with the right diagnosis and treatment recommendation, sound general knowledge, good communication skills and the right attitude are essential for today’s doctors. While I congratulate the winners, I would also like to congratulate P&G Health for this initiative and for associating with APICON by letting us be a part of this grand event. My best wishes to the winners and to P&G Health for future editions of this programme.”