PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
As the activities of the College grow, the number of necessary
committees, panels, working groups and task forces also expands - all require
input and membership by College fellows.
Various outside bodies also require the services of College
representatives. A list detailing such
involment is given on the next page.
With only about 120 fellows residing in Hong Kong, we need the
involvement of as many fellows as
possible if we are to successfully achieve all the College’s goals. As in any organisation, there are occasions
when minor problems in communication have led to some misunderstandings, while
at other times members have felt that the College has not recognised their contributions - we
ask for your tolerance on such occasions.
Please do not hesitate to give your opinions. Constructive feedback can only help to strengthen our College.
The Continuing Medical Education
programme commenced on 1.7.96. It is
unfortunate that some perceived problems and disagreements did not surface
earlier - the CME programme had been described in two earlier editions of
the Newsletter and in the Academy Newsletter.
Nevertheless, several teething problems have been encountered and the
College is doing its best to resolve these problems. The excellent FAQ sheet, produced by the Education Committee,
helped to further explain the finer points of the programme while a special
meeting on 9/8/96 with 20 or so fellows attending, raised some other issues
such that the Education Committee will produce a questionnaire to canvass
opinions and gauge what further action, if any, is needed. For those Academy and College fellows who
feel they are not yet ready to participate in the CME scheme, the Council has
resolved that they may start their CME cycle on 1.1.97. If any fellow still remains uncertain about
any aspects related to the CME system,
they should contact a member of the Education Committee.
I shall be representing the College at the International Liaison
Committee of Presidents to be held
in San Diego on 5th & 6th October, 1996.
Our past-President, Prof Faith Ho, attended the last meeting and felt it was a successful
encounter and an important method of
fostering better understanding between our international-equivalent colleges
and organizations. The positive effects that such a relationship can bring is
obvious.
ANNUAL GENERAL
MEETING Saturday, November 23rd NEW CLUB HOUSE, HONG KONG JOCKEY
CLUB, Shan Kwong Road, Happy Valley.
The inspection
of laboratories and training posts has proceeded very smoothly. Particular thanks are due to Prof. Augustine
Cheng and the Specialty Convenors, as well as and to all the participating
inspectors. The inspectors
recommendations will now be considered by the TEC and the Council’s decision
will then be given to the various laboratories.
A
MESSAGE FROM THE HONORARY TREASURER
It is a painful thing, but in view of rising expenditure by the
College, the College Council discussed and decided in the recent Council
Meeting to increase the annual subscription of Fellows to $2000 with effect from
November 1st 1996, with the same percentage of increase applied to the other
categories of members.
As you know, the running of our College depends almost entirely on the
entrance fee and annual subscription collected from members. Like all colleges with a relatively small
number of members, we suffer from a
limited ‘revenue’ from membership. The
income from the payment of entrance fee has also been drastically reduced after
the first few years of the inception of our College when most of our members
have paid their share. On top of that,
your College is now more established and needs to be run more
“professionally”. With the increase in
workload, the College has, in April this year, engaged a full-time paid
secretarial staff member to handle the
secretaries work and the
financial transactions of the
College. Inevitably, our
expenditure has increased and the College is now running in the red.
The decision by the Council to recommend raising the annual subscription was a difficult one but it is a real necessity without which your College cannot survive and operate. This decision of the Council will be presented to the Annual General Meeting on November 23 1996 for your endorsement. Meanwhile, copies of the Audit Report for the past financial year are available for your perusal and I will be available to answer you if you have any questions on the College’s financial matters.
TRAINING
& EXAMINATIONS COMMITTEE
The Training and Examinations Committee would like to further remind
all Educational Supervisors to
register all new trainees with the TEC by writing to Dr SL Loke,
Secretary of the TEC.
Please note that the revised Application
Form for Recognition of Training Posts in Laboratories have been sent out
in July and that laboratories concerned were asked to complete the forms and
return them within two weeks to facilitate subsequent inspection. The expiry
date for most laboratories is the end of 1996.
UPDATE
on THE HONG KONG ACADEMY OF MEDICINE WORKING GROUP ON SPECIALIST MANPOWER
From
Dr SL Loke, our College representative,.....
The College Council has now completed a survey on the projected
manpower needs in the various disciplines.
The College working group includes Dr Wilina Lim ( in Microbiology and
as Convenor ), Dr Raymond Chu ( in Haematology ), Dr Anthony C.C. Shek ( in
Clinical Chemistry ), Dr S.L. Loke ( in Histopathology ), Dr Eric Chan ( in
Immunology ). Dr H.K. Mong ( in Forensic Pathology ) and Dr C.S. Feng ( in
AP/CP ).
The survey collected the views of Fellows in each discipline on the
workload and the manpower required to cope with such workload. The need for more trained staff in
Haematology, Microbiology and Clinical
Chemistry was re-affirmed, although the number of staff positions in the public
sector does not reflect the manpower requirement. This is also true for Histopathology, but to a lesser
extent, particularly when the
administrative and non-clinical duties of the histopathology staff are also
taken into consideration. The manpower
requirement in Immunology and Forensic Pathology are relatively small and care
should be taken in planning their manpower supply so as not to overshoot on
either side. There was no strong
support for training in an AP/CP programme among the Chiefs of Service (
Pathology ) in the public hospitals.
The consolidated report will be submitted to the Working Group on
Manpower Supply in the Academy for use in making a projection of the overall
specialty medical manpower requirements in Hong Kong. The Academy Working Group has been recommending to the Academy
for a while that there should be protected time for staff receiving or
providing training in their discipline.
The Group has also tried to set up a formula to be used for the basic
calculation of the present manpower needs in order to cope with training, while
taking into consideration the actual number of trainers and trainees in each
College. While the Academy Working
Group has pushed this aspect, individual Colleges have been asked to supplement
this with more solid proposals to the Academy Council.
Meetings
and Societies
·
The College co-sponsored, with the Hong Kong Pathology Society, the
recent symposium on Paediatric Pathology held on 21st-22nd September, 1996.
———————————-
·
The College will co-sponsor the Keynote Lectures on “The
Liver in Transplantation” which will be held on 16th November, 1996.
This will be part of the programme of the 5th Annual Scientific Meeting and
International Symposium on Liver Pathology organised by the International
Academy of Pathology ( HK Division).
————————————-
·
Following the previous issue of the Newsletter, a seminar titled “Topics
in Forensic Pathology” will be held in Room 004, University Pathology
Building, Queen Mary Hospital on the 8th of November, 1996 starting at 1415
hrs. The program will include talks by
Professor Bernard Knight on “Formulating a Cause of Death”, “Autopsy on
Post-Operative Deaths.”
Colleagues from the Forensic Pathology Service will talk about the local
experience with “Dismembered bodies”.while Dr Paul Dickens will talk on “The
Autopsy as a Tool in Clinical Audit”. The course is jointly organised
by the Department of Pathology, HKU and the Forensic Pathology Service. All are welcome and C.M.E. points
application has been made.
Membership
of College
The total membership of our College is now 234 with 12 Honorary
Fellows, 87 Founder Fellows, 63 Fellows, 14 Overseas Fellows, 13 Members and 45
Associates.
THE
HONGKONG ACADEMY OF MEDICINE
Continuing Medical Education
Via Satellite To Your Hospital.
The Academy seeks the Colleges’ response to an approach by the EuroTransMed network, “a non-profit
making foundation established by doctors to provide live interactive
educational programmes for doctors.
The foundation broadcasts by satellite up to 40 programmes a year from its studio in London and from major
conferences and symposia in Europe. Any
hospital can join EuroTransMed. Already
the network reaches over 200 European
hospitals.”
“EuroTransMed programmes bring together opinion leaders and
researchers, practising physicians and surgeons. Research results are communicated, new developments
discussed. Subjects for EuroTransMed
programmes are chosen by an independent Editorial Board. This Editorial Board keeps in close touch
with major European Medical Societies and responds to comments and suggestions
from the audience. In choosing
subjects, the Editorial Board will focus on new developments in the clinical
and research fields. The interactive
format of the programmes enables medical practitioners to examine and question
the evidence presented.”
“A selection of subjects
covered by the EuroTransMed
programmes:”
·
ontroversies in the treatment of breast cancer
·
Comprehensive management of the treatment of osteoporosis
·
Euthanasia - the example of the Netherlands
·
Diagnostic imaging
·
The practical management of coronary heart disease
·
Communicating with cancer patients and their relatives
·
Pathogenesis and management of progressive renal disease
·
Infectious hepatitis
·
Aspergillus infections: an increasing and insidious threat
·
Comprehensive programmes for treating schizophrenia
·
Protease inhibitors in the treatment of HIV disease
·
Ensuring the virological safety of transfused blood
·
Optic nerve health
·
Oral contraceptives and cardiovascular disease.”
“Interactive discussions
with international opinion leaders”
“Doctors can call in to speak to the studio panel during the programme
or send them a fax with questions or comments.
Programmes are broadcast live so questions can be answered during the
programme. Two-way video links are
possible and video phones can be used in hospitals with ISDN lines.”
“How to receive
EuroTransMed?”
“Programmmes are encrypted but provided free of charge to hospitals.
The EuroTransMed foundation is
supported by the European Commission and by educational grants from the health
care industry.”
“Receive sites require:
Ž
a standard satellite dish on the roof cabled to one or more viewing
rooms
Ž
a satellite receiver and a EuroTransMed decoder
Ž
a television set(s)
Ž
optional: a videorecorder ( hospitals are welcome to record programmes
for their own libraries).”
—————————————
These programmes are broadcast at one of two times 12 noon (UK
time)/1pm (Mainland Europe time) or 5.30pm (Mainland Europe time)/4.30pm noon
(UK time), with the latter being used for surgically related subjects. Obviously only the most enthusiastic of
local professionals is likely to want to actively participate on-line at the
equivalent local times but the option of recording the programmes for use by
Academy fellows is one aspect of interest for the Academy.
A possible scenario is that the Academy would finance the cost of
setting up the receiving dish, etc. The Academy could then make one or several
tapes of the programmes for use by Academy Fellows / Colleges. Please let the College know if you would
like us to further explore this matter.
[ Editor: A tape of the session on Kaposi’s sarcoma broadcast in March 1996 has been viewed by several Council members and their responses were most favourable as to the content and quality of the production.]
You can obtain more
information on the World Wide Web using the following URL :
http:/www.eurotransmed.nl
PROFESSIONAL & GENERAL
AFFAIRS COMMITTEE
College Web Page
You can find the College home page (see below) on the WWW.at http://medi.net.hk/~hkpath/
Try it! and give some feedback.
Souvenirs
The PGA committee has received Council approval to obtain a number of
pens with pen stands bearing the College logo for purchase as souvenirs. These
will be available at the AGM and afterwards. The price will be $50.00.
College Badges of Office
The College badge of office will be worn by the College President at
this year’s AGM.
College Address Handbook
The new edition to be printed soon, will be distributed towards the end
of the year.
[
Editor: A note from Dr CH Tse, COS Path, QEH :
Would you mind including QEH Department of Pathology URL in the
newsletter: "http://www.ha.org.hk/qeh/dept/pi"
You will find a fairly comprehensive Pathology Internet Resource list as well as our College's CME accredited meeting notices there. I am trying to put up an updated Pathology CME activities list on our web site. ]
NEW
FELLOWS, MEMBERS and ASSOCIATES
Resignation:
Dr.
SO Kwan Wing, Kon Fan.
It is with regret but understanding that we
note the resignation of one of our Founder Fellows, Dr. SO Kwan Wing, Kon Fan.
Dr So made a major contribution to the development of Anatomical Pathology at
the Queen Mary Hospital in the many years before he retired to Australia. Today
his major, and rightly deserved, interests lie with the roses in his garden,
his wife and their grandchildren.
————————————————-
The College extends a warm welcome to the
following:
Fellows:
Dr HO Luen Cheung
Members:
Dr
NG Chung Ki
Associates:
Dr
LAM Kit Yi
Dr LO Wing Ip
CHANGE OF ADDRESS
Fellows:
Dr LAM Suk-Yee, Christine,
Dept of Pathology
Yan Chai Hospital
7-11 Yan Chai Street,
Tsuen Wan, HK.
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NEWSLETTER MATERIAL?
Please send your contributions to:
“ Dr RJ Collins, Newsletter Editor, Hong Kong College of Pathologists, C/o Department of Pathology, University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong”
Tel: 2855 4009 Fax: 2872 8098
Email: rcollins@hkucc.hku.hk
——————————————————-
Newsletter Production and Editorial Panel:
Dr RJ Collins
Dr Phillip Beh
Dr Dominic Tsang, et al.
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HONG
KONG COLLEGE OF PATHOLOGISTS - OFFICE BEARERS AND COUNCIL MEMBERS - Addresses and Contact Numbers