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College
Newsletter December 1999
Contents The President’s Message Report on ASM in Anaesthesiology 99 Report from Board of Censors Examination Report Simulator Workshop Announcements Hospital News Other Meetings
I write this message to you with pride. I am proud of the marvellous teams that I had the good fortune to be associated with. It was the teamwork of the organising committees for the 4th Annual Scientific Meeting and 10th Anniversary Celebration that has made these events successful. Favourable comments were received from both local participants and guests. On a personal count, it was the team effort of the members and supporting teams that enabled Trailwalkers "Ma Joy Four" to complete the 100-Km walk in 30 hours and 31 minutes. Another anaesthetist team also completed in good time. I hope the same spirit will prevail in the coming meetings in 2000 and 2001. The Annual Scientific Meeting for next year will be held in September. Dr. Chow Yu Fat is the chairman of the organising committee. The date will be earlier because the 2001 meeting will be a joint meeting with the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists to be held in May. The Hong Kong Academy of Medicine will hold an international meeting in early November 2000. Therefore a meeting in September will allow suitable intervals from the other meetings. The organising committee has held its first meeting recently. Feedback from the last meeting will be incorporated. I am sure Members and Fellows will give Dr. Chow all the support he needs to make this event a success. The chairman of the regional organising committee of the Combined Scientific Meeting in 2001 is Dr. John Low. The meeting will be held from 5th to 9th May 2001. Preparation is underway. A professional conference organiser has been appointed and the Convention and Exhibition Centre has been secured for the event. Work will be heavier as the meeting is getting closer. Again, help from members and fellows will be needed. The first 3-year CME cycle has completed in July 1999. Of the 158 Fellows who have completed the cycle, 11 are either retired or not Fellows of the Academy. 140 Fellows fulfilled the CME requirement, giving a compliance rate of 95.2%. There was much debate and deliberation at the Academy on what to do for Fellows who do not comply with their CME requirement. Dr. CT Hung has sent reminders to Fellows who has not sent in their CME return. The Academy has solicited opinion from Colleges on the adoption of continuous professional development (CPD) to replace the present continuing medical education (CME). It was agreed that in the long term, CPD should replace CME. However, it should be introduced gradually and should initially be voluntary. A number of categories of activities had been identified as suitable to be part of CPD. The types of activities accepted will be up to the individual Colleges to decide, as medical practice differs greatly between specialties. Your Council and the Education Committee will continue to discuss this issue. Fellows will be consulted and your input will be most welcome. We aim at developing a programme that, taking into account the different types of clinical practice in different sectors, would lead to improvement in the standard of practice in anaesthesiology. At the turn of the century and millennium, the medical system of Hong Kong will undergo major changes. The Government will overhaul the medical system of Hong Kong. We do not know how exactly that will be done. The Hospital Authority will change their medical staff structure and salary scale. This will not only affect employees of the HA. Eventually, there will be major impact on everybody in the profession. There is considerable degree of uncertainty. We should be careful not to be distracted from the primary mission of Our College to maintain the training and standard of anaesthesiology in Hong Kong. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Members and Fellows and their families a merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.
Dr TW Lee, President HKCA
Report on ASM in Anaesthesiology 1999 The joint SAHK/HKCA ASM 1999 was held in conjunction with the 10th Anniversary Celebration of the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists this year. Over 250 participants from twelve countries attended the meeting which was held over two and a half day at the Sheraton Hong Kong & Towers Hotel. This year’s theme was "Safety & Risk Management" with invited guest speakers; Professor James Eisenkraft from United States, Dr. Richard Riley, Dr Richard Walsh and Dr Peter Kam from Australia, and Professor Sun Da-jin from Shanghai. The opening ceremony started off with an audiovisual presentation of "100 years of history of anaesthesia in Hong Kong" before being officially declared opened by Dr David Fang, President of the HKAM. The official opening was celebrated with a lively and colourful lion dance. The refresher courses, difficult airway workshop and crisis management workshop was well attended on the first afternoon, which ended with a pleasant wine tasting and quiz in the evening. The concurrent on-site simulator workshop, mock trial, and debate between two teams on an anaesthesia issue were also extremely popular. We also had a record number of abstracts submitted for presentation this year. The Best Trainee Paper Prize went to Dr HH Lim (PYNEH) for her presentation on "Use of intravenous atropine to prevent hypotension induced by spinal anaesthesia in the elderly". I hope that all members, fellows and friends who attended the conference had enjoyed both the scientific and social programmes. We look forward to meeting you again next September at the first ASM of the new millennium. PP Chen, Chairman, ASM 1999
Since November 1998, all applications for Fellowship of the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists (endorsement either in anaesthesiology or intensive care) are subject to Exit Assessment before the Fellow can be granted. The Exit Assessment involves an interview by a Panel appointed by the Council. Before inviting an applicant to the interview, the Board of Censor will conduct an initial vetting on the application on his/her eligibility. All those applicants who prima facie fulfil the requirement for FHKCA will be invited to attend an Exit Assessment Interview. The latter is conducted every two months with the dates announced in advance. The assessment commences with checking the authenticity of the applicant’s certificates and supporting documents. This is then followed by an interview by a Panel comprises of a chairperson, delegates from the Board of Censor, Board of Examination, Education Committee and a Fellow of the Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists appointed by the Council. The Panel assesses the applicant’s accredited vocational training, formal project, professional knowledge and passing of final FHKCA examination or equivalent, for those who are applying for fellowship ad eundem. From November 1998 to November 1999, five Exit Assessments were conducted in November 1998; March, May, July and November 1999 respectively (there was no suitable candidate in January and September 1999). The Exit Assessment Panel consisted of Dr. SL Tsui who has been appointed as the Chairman and also represented the Board of Censors, Dr TW Lee represented the Education Committee, Dr CT Hung represented the Board of Education and Dr Andrea O’Regan as the Fellow appointed by the Council. For FHKCA(IC) assessment, Dr Tom Buckley was invited in addition, to serve as the representative of the Intensive Care Committee. An assessment fee of HK$ 5,000.00 were levied for those applicants who attended the interview. This fee was waived for those applicants who had previously attempted the relevant Final FHKCA Examination concerned or who had been charged for a previously unsuccessful assessment within one year. During the period, ten applicants for FHKCA and two applicants for FHKCA(IC) have been successful in the Exit Assessment. The dates for the Exit Assessment in 2000 are as follows:
Dr SL Tsui
Twenty one candidates sat the Intermediate Fellowship Examination July/August 1999. The pass rate was 52%. The following were successful.
The Prize of the Intermediate Fellowship Examination has been awarded to Dr Poon, Ho Yan. The College is grateful to Professor Peter Hutton of RCA, and Dr Malcolm Futter of ANZCA for their assistance as External Examiners during the examination. Congratulations!!!
HKCA Year 2000 Examination Dates The examination dates for year 2000 are as follows. Please note the dates are earlier than in the previous years.
Intermediate Fellowship Examinations Examination Fee: $ 7,000 Jan / March June / July Final Fellowship Examinations in Anaesthesiology Examination Fee: $ 11,000 Feb/ March Date
June / July Date
Final Fellowship Examination in Intensive Care Examination Fee: $ 11,000 Dates to be arranged
Examination in Diploma in Pain Management. Examination fee: $5,000 No examination will be held in January year 2000 The supervisors of training who are interested to observe the viva are welcome to sit as observers at the college oral examinations. Please send in your requests for arrangements to Mr Daniel Tso at the College office.
Our College organised a simulator workshop on 3rd October 1999. Although there were only two participants at the workshop, it served as an excellent "warm-up" for the workshop in the ASM in Anaesthesiology 1999. The simulator workshop in the ASM ran a total of 12 hours over 2 days. 19 anaesthesiologists, including trainees, fellows and anaesthesiologists in private practice participated in the workshop. The workshop was supervised by Dr Richard Riley, the guest speaker of ASM who also ran a crisis management workshop himself using the simulator. Both the simulator workshop and the crisis management workshop were very popular. Dr Riley also held a short course during his stay in Hong Kong on the setting up and running of training courses using anaesthetic patient simulators. Nine people from our College attended the course. Our College would like to thank Dr Riley for his invaluable guidance. We also need to thank the Department of Nursing and Health Sciences of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University for allowing us to use their patient simulator in our workshops, and the Society of Anaesthetists of Hong Kong and the Department of Anaesthesiology, HKU for jointly organising the workshops.
By Dr KF Ng
The following members have Diploma in the College for collection. Since this document cannot be replaced, kindly make arrangement to have them picked up in person or have someone authorised in writing to pick up on your behalf. The College office is located at Room 807, HKAM Jockey Club Building, 99 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong. Office hour is from 9:00am - 5:00 pm.
DPM FHKCA FHKCA(IC) On Sale Support your College !! Ties HK$110.00 Scarves HK$150.00
Make cheque payable to "The Hong Kong College of Anaesthesiologists" and mail your request to the Secretariat , Room 807, HKAM Jockey Club Building, 99 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen, Hong Kong
From Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospital:
From The Queen Mary Hospital:
Infectious Diseases Course and Postgraduate Diploma Programme Course 5 : Surprises in daily medical practice: tropical disease in the
developed world and public health (April 8-9, 2000) Details : Ms Angela Ma, Executive Officer, Tel: 2819 9290, or fax: 2816 1469, or email: akfma@hkucc.hku.hk
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