The National Conference on Students' Medical Research (2008) turned out to be a great success for a pilot project. Around 160 medical students from all over India participated in this 2 day conference.

The conference was inaugurated by His Excellency the Governor of Kerala, Shri. R.L. Bhatia on the forenoon of 11th April 2008.The inaugural function was attended by dignitaries like the Hon Minister for Health & Social Welfare, Kerala State, Smt. P.K. Sreemathy teacher; Dr. P.V. Ramachandran, Director of Medical Education, Kerala; Dr. K. Salil Kumar, Principal, Medical College, Trivandrum; Dr. Ramdas Pisharody, Vice Principal, MCH,Trivandrum; Dr. K.R. Leela Itty Amma, Professor & HOD, Community Medicine, Medical College, Trivandrum, faculty members from various medical colleges across the country, postgraduates and undergraduate students.

The scientific deliberations during the conference included theme based presentations by guest speakers and free paper presentations by the student researchers .The theme based papers were on
(i) Emerging health problems in India by Dr. C.R. Soman, Director, HAP,
(ii) Advances in basic sciences by Dr. M.Narendranath, Senior Consultant in Gastroenterology, KIMS & Cosmopolitan Hospital, Trivandrum  and
(iii) Evidence based clinical practice by Dr. Ramdas Pisharody, Vice Principal, Medical College, Trivandrum.

11 sessions each having around 10 paper presentations were simultaneously conducted in 4 venues between 9.00 am and 3.30pm on 12th of April 2008. Around 90 research papers in areas like maternal health, child health, communicable diseases, mental health, occupational health, non communicable diseases, surgery and orthopedics were presented by undergraduate students. 24 papers were awarded the Best Paper Award at the Conference.

The conference culminated with the Valedictory function which was presided over by our very revered teacher Dr. K.V. Krishnadas, Former Professor of Medicine, MCH, Trivandrum. Delegates too shared their views and experiences with regard to the conference. Dr. C.R. Soman, Director, HAP and Dr. K. Leelamony, Prof & HOD, Community Medicine, Dr.SMCSI Medical College, Karakonam congratulated the students and urged them to continue their pursuit towards excellence in the field of research.

We hope this platform has helped in fostering genuine interest and right attitude among young medical professionals, which shall eventually snowball into a research culture and evidence based medical practice.