Our morning session started around 7.30 am on July 18, 2015 at JC’s Banquet hall, Toronto, Canada with participants registering for the event and subsequently attending the CME/Scientific session. Over 50 attendees came from all over the world, and most of them are our Alumni who made every effort to travel to Toronto. They had the opportunity to meet their beloved batchmates and friends, as well as their family members. Some of them saw each other after several years.

              The CME session was organized by the joint sponsorship of JMFOA-NA and the Medical Council of Pensacola (MECOP) and was offered 4 hours of CME American Medical Association (AMA)- Category 1 credits to the participants.  In addition, a quiz session was organized, sponsored by Merk Canada Inc., offering one hour of Category Mainpro M1 credit accepted by College of Family Physicians of Canada. The event was well-attended by the ardent alumni and the enthusiastic speakers’ points were well received.

              After our CME/Scientific event, the Annual General Meeting was held and new committee was elected. During the meeting, all of our past activities were presented to alumni, and we envisioned future plans.

The evening session started around 6.00pm with registration, followed by lighting the traditional lamp by the honorable Chief Guests Drs.  (Mr. & Mrs.) Vetpillai, our distinguished senior lecturers in Surgery and Microbiology, respectively, at our Alma Mater. Their presence (from the UK) and contribution to the function made a high mark to all of us making our gathering a very special one. This was followed by traditional Bharatanatyam and instrumental music performances by the children of our members or their friends.  

             Since it was an international meeting, the program included speeches not only by our Chief Guest, Mr. Vetpillai, but also by JMFOA-NA president Dr. Ravichandran, JMFOA-UK president Dr. Parthipan, JMFOA-Australia president Dr. Jeyaprakash and JMFOA-NZ president, Dr. Selvakumar. The treasurer submitted the annual report which was approved by the members. JMFOA-NA new committee was recognized. The masters of the ceremony Dr. Malathy Varatharajah form Ohio and Dr. A. Varatharasa from Toronto were able to coordinate the events very elegantly. 

             The speeches and cultural shows were followed by sumptuous dinner and the participants were able to catch up with their friends and families as well as classmates. These reunions were long overdue for many of them. Finally, the dance floor  met with lots of footsteps to the DJ rhythms went on till past midnight creating a long-lasting memory altogether. More than 100 of our members and their family and friends participated in the event. With their generous support and contributions, we are able to keep our organization going with its noble cause, that is to support our Alma Mater.

              The following day on July 19, 2015, at least 50 of our members and families proceeded with the planned western Canada post event trip to the Canadian Rockies arranged by Dr.S. Karunakaran from Saskatchewan, Canada. We flew to Vancouver,B.C from Toronto and spent that evening exploring the city, undoubtedly a bustling city even though it does not have the global city vibe as Toronto.

              On the 20th of July 2015, we were able to board the famous Rocky Mountaineer train and travel along the beautiful scenic interior of Canada to Banff, Alberta which lasted for 2 days. Finally, we arrived Banff, Alberta and be able to witness the most scenic glacier mountains and lakes in the world. Then, we winded up the trip and parted from each other from Calgary airport, Alberta on the 26th of July, 2015 with full of memories from the company of our friends and families as well as witnessing the most scenic places on the Earth. By the completion of this trip, we felt as though we had just completed the most memorable trip in our lifetime.