NORTH EAST BRANCH
Prepared by: Dr. Cindo Nicholson (Chairman)

We continue to have our monthly – 4th Fridays - meetings during the past year, usually at the Almond Tree Restaurant These have taken the form of CME presentations delivered by eminent speakers and sponsored by various Pharmaceutical companies. We use this medium to register our thanks publicly to them.

We look forward to the ensuing year, with a hope that along with the MAJ administration we shall continue to represent the interests of our members and our clients, whom we are sworn to serve at all times to the best of our abilities.

Thanks to the outgoing administration for serving us admirably, and to the incoming, our prayers and support we shall continue to give.

WESTERN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
Prepared by: Dr Garfield Badal (President)

The Western Medical association (WMA) started the year with this new executive.

President: Dr Garfield Badal
Vice President: Dr Grace Hall
Secretary: Dr Derron Reid
Assistant Secretary: Dr Karen Dunbar
Treasurer: Dr Douglas Streete
Assistant Treasurer: Dr Maroo Lwin
CME Coordinator: Dr Selbourne Hemmings
Public Relations Officer: Dr Tecah Foster
Immediate Past President: Dr Jacqueline Chambers-Roberts
Floor member: Dr Yumkella Kamara

The year was productive as the WMA seeks to reposition itself as a key organization in the planning and execution of health care for the region. We continue to support and influence our membership positively through various activities.

The WMA membership served as host and facilitated several events over the year;

The Neurosciences symposium (January 2009), Opening of the Paediatric Orthotics services clinic in Negril (February 2009), first international conference on Nephrology and Hypertension (March 2009), Annual health fair (April 2009), Updates on H1N1 virus, Annual MAJ symposium (June 2009), Ethics symposium by the Medical Council of Jamaica (May 2009), and a lecture on Good Record Keeping (September 2009).

The international and local symposiums held in Montego Bay were well attended with moderate membership participation as presenters, attendees and chairpersons. The neurosciences symposium in January was reportedly good and the golf tournament afterwards made its usual impact. Special congratulations to Professor Barton and his team on the successful hosting of the first international conference on Nephrology and Hypertension.

The Paediatric Orthotics Clinic opened in February 2009. It offers orthotic management and care for children with lower limb weakness, skeletal deformities, spasticity (multiple sclerosis, spina bifida, cerebral palsy), and gait deviations (standing and walking stability).I attended the opening ceremony of this exciting venture; my address was short but highlighted the need for the service and pledged the support of the WMA in the continued growth and development of this specialist service. The invaluable input of the late Paediatrician,
Dr Everton Hylton during the infantile stage of this project was appropriately acknowledged and applauded. We stand proud in the memory of this humble but extraordinary gentleman of the west. Patients are now being seen, they receive referrals from both the private and public sectors.

The Health fair was a major success despite limited membership participation. We teamed up with the St James Health Department, the Child Protection Committee of Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), Sagicor Ltd. representative and other local interests. The partnerships were complimentary and together we accomplished a lot.

The fair, held under the national theme: " The Medical Check up: road map to good health" offered several services; medical consultations, health education (primary and specialist areas) and screening tests (eyes, blood sugar, HIV). The displays by the nutrition team, the child protection committee, the male and female booths and regional HIV team made the setting captive and informative.

There were 57 volunteers; 15 were doctor, other categories included nutritionists, laboratory technical assistants, medical technologists, community health aides, various groups of education officers. There were over one hundred and twenty beneficiaries from the day’s activities. The WMA executive is indebted to you all for the excellent support received; indeed we admonish you to continue this annually.

The momentum generated from hosting the fair led the executive to formulate a draft facilitating and encouraging yearly medical checkup and the promotion of healthy lifestyle practices for its members. This is being fine tuned. We plan to implement random noninvasive screening tests for physicians at our local meetings on a quarterly basis. I applaud the MAJ executive for suggesting this focus; highlighting the relevance of the medical check up in the maintenance of good health for all.

The WMA conducted a total of 18 CME meetings awarding 25 hours credit for this period. The topics were varied, relevant and topical. Despite the economic challenges of the past year our pharmaceutical companies unwaveringly supported our local meetings and the efforts of the association to inform, educate and engage our members. We utilized more local and regional speakers this past year compared to the previous years; this resulted in significant cost saving. The feedback was positive; the standard of the presentations were excellent and the delivery were commendable. We thank all our sponsors for the financial support over the year and to all our speakers for a job well done. We thank Dr S Hemmings (CME coordinator) and our super secretary (Ms Julet Aarons) for their hard work and dedication.

Regular updates on the epidemiology and clinically relevant information on the new H1N1 virus was presented at our CME (Continuing Medical Education) meetings by our Regional Public health Specialists. Some members made presentations in schools and other public forums as we sought to improve awareness of the general public.

The WMA again participated in the planning and execution of a section in the annual symposium held in June 2009. I thank Drs Delroy Fray (Senior Medical Officer, CRH) and Carol Thompson-Forbes (A&E Consultant, CRH) for their excellent presentations on ‘trauma in the diabetic foot’ and ‘the ideal trauma centre’ respectively. We thank the MAJ scientific committee for this opportunity two years running and hope to be involved in the future.

The WMA facilitated the Medical Council of Jamaica (MCJ) in hosting the Medical Ethics Symposium in May 2009. The topics were relevant and the attendance was overwhelming. The shortcomings were highlighted and forwarded to the council. A further ethics meeting for the western region is planned for later this year. I applaud the MCJ on this mandatory ethics CME requirement for yearly registration and appreciate the recent approval by council for the MAJ to rightfully conduct similar type seminars.

Our executive congratulates our distinguished member, Dr David Stair who was sworn in as the Custos Rotolorum of Hanover. The former executive members Dr Karen Dunbar and Dr Karen Simpson moved on for postgraduate studies, we wish them all the best. We thank former executive members; Drs Sonia Nixon, Martin Taylor, Marcia Johnson-Campbell and Dr Steven Bourne for their invaluable contribution to the WMA over the years.

We had several successes over the year and faced some challenges. Most of the objectives of the administration were realized, we will continue to serve until the end of this calendar year. We continue to create a united WMA and encourage MAJ membership. We have engaged and energized some younger members as executives of the WMA; this should secure the inevitable transition and further development of the WMA into a more vibrant group for the future.

Heartiest congratulations to outgoing President of the MAJ, Dr Rosemarie Wright-Pascoe and her executive for having lead and negotiated successfully the challenging periods during her tenure. We acknowledge that it takes a lot of time, dedication and hard work to perform well at this level. We wish the new president
Dr Winston De La Haye and his executive continued success during their tenure. The WMA will continue to be supportive, engaging and responsive to the objectives of this new administration.