M4 Paeds Debate

YHP_1469b, originally uploaded by ou yang.

And the notion was: this house believes that a bone marrow transplant should be considered for a child with severe and unresponsive eczema. The eczema is socially restrictive, cosmetically disabling and unresponsive to conventional therapy.

On the proposition we had Hanboon, Eleanor and myself. The opposition comprised, Ren Jun, David and Jake. I thought it was a relatively fun debate considering that the question was strongly skewed in favour of the opposition but was also sufficiently /vague/ to allow for some debate.

It was the first time i had to constantly fight the constant urge to snap into pure medical mode and reject the notion outright. Frankly speaking (i can now say this publicly lol. debate over!) , there really IS NO PLACE for a bone marrow transplant in such a patient. It is simply dangerous, unproven and complicated. So for once, i actually entered into a debate with my gut feeling already condemning the notion - not a good idea.

Anyway, after some 2 - 3 hours of preparation and research by every one of us on the proposition, we were able to put up a strong fight. Im extra pleased to report that we won! :)

It must be said though, the opposition did put up a couple of good points which we didn't have a rebuttal to. Had us sweating for a moment there!

As for prizes, the department generously sponsored us all chocolates and pens. Not bad for 3 hours of work! I also got a wireless mouse which will soon be deployed for DOTA purposes. *grin* :)