The beginning of the beginning is about to begin!

Well well well... What a relief. Here is how the viva went down:

• Items we needed to bring + ideal to bring:

1. Filled examination card (given by Exam Dept. & you do the filling)
2. Copy of examination rules (given by Exam Dept.)
3. 2 Pens
4. Laptop with presentation and demo
5. Laptop charger
6. USB Flash with a backup of presentation and demo

• We all turned up in the morning and were shoved into a hot room with a poor A/C
• While we were kept sweating a doctor from batch 2 escorted each student out to their viva tables
• It was very important to have a fully charged battery as then you could open your presentation and demo and keep. If you don't you will do start up and getting ready on your presentation time of 10 minutes. Ouch! Better to have a battery that will last at least one to two hours. I borrowed a friend's laptop!
• Off your cellphone. Keep the bag inside the examination hall.
• The presentation went off well. The practice of my presentation over 5 times with friends and family really helped!
• Question and Answer session is of course highly dependent on the examiners you get but some things I learnt:

1. It really pays to have results of even a small pilot of your project in the form of pre-questionnaire, post-questionnaire and of course data outputs of the system you created. With all these results to discuss examiners wont have time to go through tricky technical questions.
2. Try your best to answer everything but don't try to bluff the examiner
3. Accept that you will not be able to answer everything and you will find peace
4. Answer slowly so you drag more time

• You will be given comments on your thesis. It will probably fall into:

1. Minor corrections: Small typing, spelling, styling & formatting errors. Nothing big. Perhaps a few rewrites of paragraphs.
2. Moderate corrections: The examiner may like your project but not agree with your approach. I'm afraid their is going to be some re-writing to do.
3. Severe corrections: Highly unlikely scenario @ the viva stage. Forget it!

• Thank your examiners.
• Remember to take your bag.
• Have a tea and a chat @ the canteen | Leave.

What will happen next? Stay tuned...

No turning back...

Just a little further...

So now it comes down to this. 15 slides. Questions and Answers. 2 years in 20 minutes. It cannot get any more tense than this. Will all my practice go to waste (How many trial runs is enough to present?). Will I forget my definitions?

Either way this course has taken me on a journey of self discovery that the world of Health Informatics is certainly a part of my life now...

Lets hope for the best tomorrow!

My Viva Preparation

The best of both worlds!

I though to follow the plan below:


1. Reading the thesis a few times to get a good overall picture of
what I have done
2. Scanning for keywords used in the thesis and preparing a keyword
list:
    • Description
    • At which points have I used it in the thesis
3. Read the thesis to find out the weaknesses in my thesis
    • Identify where I could have done better | gone wrong
    • Steer clear of presenting | talking about those areas
    • Since you may be asked prepare a feasible alternate explanation
    • Dont lie: If you messed up you messed up. I am sure examiners
hate conjecture!
4. Prepare a PowerPoint presentation based on the guidelines above
highlighting strengths and steering clear of weaknesses
5. Write down what your going to say in front of each slide | Write
down the key points per slide
6. Do a dry run with supervisor | senior consultant | family member a
few times to get the timing and style right
7. Pre-loading my content tabs in sequence to improve time efficiency
8. Its good to give some charity before going for the exam


I Hope this cracks it!

Viva details

Time is really tight!

Here is the summary of the tips given so far from Vajira Sir | Dr
Roshan | Students of BMI

• Date: 20th May
• Material required:
   1. Laptop (internet connection if demo is online) [Assumption:
Power sockets to plug in laptop will be available @ presentation area
and viva table as battery life of laptops is not 100% sure)
   2. 5 printed copies of 1 paged abstract
   3. Demo (running in the local machine | online)
   4. Printed thesis with comments of thesis examiner will be with the
viva examiners
• Components of defense:
   1. 10 minute presentation of slides + running of demo
   2. 10 minute question and answer session

• General Advice:
   - Dont Panic
   - All of us are good on paper
   - Present what you have done clearly
   - Prepare early
   - Practice many times
   - Stop on time

• 10 minute presentation of slides
   1. Number of slides to make: ~15
   2. Content of slides:
       - Address the research question, methodology, implementation
and brief discussion (and anything you feel relevant)
       - Emphasis for PHI, MEI: Implementation & Results
       - Emphasis for BI: Data analysis including tools used and data
sources
   3. Running the demo: Just do it! 

• 10 minute question & answer session
   - You can be questioned on anything you say in the viva or anything
you have written down in the dissertation so watch what you say
   - Know every word and sentence of your thesis

Did I mention its 50% of the exam?

Defending the fort!

Well what a relief! My thesis was accepted and it feels great!

Take no prisoners!

But the work is not over yet! The viva is due. These are the basics of the viva:

• 15 minutes slide presentation
• 10 minute viva
• You will be given your corrected thesis
• You need to hand it in inside 2 weeks

So the task I now have at hand is:

1. Revise the thesis I did to get the overall picture
2. Revisit the knowledge domains I used in the thesis as this is where they will question us from
3. Identify the chinks in my thesis and be prepared to defend it
4. Make a presentation which answers all the examiners questions & leaves them speechless!

Easier said than done! Stay tuned...