Let’s hear it for Deepak! He has been nominated by the community as June’s Volunteer of the Month! This month, we received Nine nominations for Volunteer of the Month - and Five of them were for Deepak Prasad. You may recognize him by his OpenMRS ID, @deepak140596
We want to acknowledge his work and commitment to the OpenMRS community, so we asked him a few questions about himself and the different ways he is involved in our community.
What is your Name?
My name is Deepak Prasad. I go by @deepak140596 on OpenMRS.
Tell us a little about your background
I am Deepak Prasad from India. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Heritage Institute of Technology, Kolkata, India. I am a passionate Android Developer and my love for Android started with attending various national-level hackathons.
When did you start with OpenMRS
I started contributing to OpenMRS from March,2019 after the announcement of organisations for GSoC 2019. It was my first contribution to an Open-Source project.
@f4ww4z, my mentor during GSoC 2019, has helped me a lot since my first contribution. He guided me and helped me even in trivial problems. He has constantly pushed me to become a better version of myself.
Coming from an average college where Open-Source contribution has never been heard of, I wish I knew it existed during my earlier years in college.
This awesome community made me a better developer and I still have loads to learn.
How do you participate in the community (What activities, projects, role, etc)
I am currently contributing to OpenMRS Android Client, v2.8+ for GSoC 2019. I am creating patches, fixing bugs and adding new features to the Android App .
I have also created tickets for new features or bugs that I encountered during testing of the app. From time to time I try to review some Pull Requests of my peers.
What drives or inspires you to work with OpenMRS
OpenMRS is one of the initiatives that directly affect the lives of many people. Many clinics around the world use OpenMRS to maintain records of their patients. It feels great when your one patch affects/improves the experience of so many people.
It would be very great to see OpenMRS being used in clinics / health care nearby me. It can bring a small revolution among this sector in a 3rd-world country like India.
What are your favorite things to do in your free time
I like to play games and read some books (basically tech-based). During clear night skies, you will find me with my telescope on the terrace star gazing.
What’s your favorite OpenMRS moment or tell us what makes OpenMRS special to you
The best moment is when my Pull Request gets approved. To be honest, waking up to see the PR being merged just makes my day and encourages me to write some more code.
How has OpenMRS helped you achieve any of your personal goals or how has working with OpenMRS impacted you
First and foremost, OpenMRS has constantly pushed me to become a good developer by following the best practices. Also it has helped me gain immense knowledge of Android.
Last but not the least, interacting with this great community and awesome people like you has evolved my personality and I have matured a little bit more.
