April 2009

Drug Forum

In view of the recent hot discussion on drug safety, the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM) will hold a Drug Forum on this issue. The Forum aims to give a positive message of how prompt and careful handling of the crisis is saving lives. Please download the registraton form here.

Date and Time:
2-5 pm; 18 April 2009 (Saturday)

Venue:
Lim Por Yen Lecture Theatre
G/F, HKAM Jockey Club Building
99 Wong Chuk Hang Road, Aberdeen

Programme:

Briefing Session on Nutrition Labelling Scheme

The Centre for Food Safety and the Academy will co-organise a joint briefing session on Nutrition Labelling Scheme to be held on 25 April 2009.

The new regulation on the Nutrition Labelling Scheme was enacted by the Legislative Council in May 2008, and will come into operation in July 2010. The regulation aims to assist consumers in making healthy food choices, regulate misleading or deceptive labels and claims, as well as encourage food manufacturers to apply sound nutrition principles in formulation of foods for the benefit of public health.

• Registration Form
• CME Accreditation Details

43rd Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine

The Academy has been invited to hold a parallel session during the 43rd Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine on 8 August 2009. The theme of the Congress is "Reducing Mortality and Morbidity in the Next Decade". The delegation from Hong Kong this time will include 3 speakers: Prof. Raymond Liang, Prof. L.K. Hung, and Prof. Tony Chung. Their topics are "Hepatitis B reactivation following chemotherapy", "Parenteral nutrition for debilitated patients", and "Cancer screening in women" respectively.

2009 Annual Subscriptions

Demand notes for the 2009 subscriptions have been sent out to Fellows from either the Academy or their College. Fellows are urged to settle their subscription as soon as possible before 30 June 2009 if they have not yet done so. (Note: Please be reminded that it is Council's policy that subscriptions received by the Academy after 30 June will be subject to a surcharge of 5% on the subscription amount.)

Continuing Medical Education / Continuous Professional Development (CME/CPD) for Specialist Registration

Fellows are reminded that Specialist Registration (SR) is maintained by the Medical Council of Hong Kong and Dental Council of Hong Kong (MCHK/DCHK). The Academy’s duty is only to make reports to MCHK/DCHK on compliance of CME/CPD for the purpose of SR. While the Academy can grant exemption to Fellows retired from active practice, this is for the purpose of Fellowship only. The Medical Registration Ordinance (MRO) and Dentist Registration Ordinance (DRO) stipulate that CME is a must for the SR. The Academy will cease to record CME/CPD for a Fellow upon his/her resignation or approval of CME exemption, and shall inform the MCHK/DCHK once his/her name has been removed from the Academy’s register. Fellows who wish to resign his Fellowship or apply for CME/CPD exemption should consider voluntary resignation from the SR with MCHK/DCHK directly, if their names are on the SR. The Academy cannot do this on behalf of Fellows.

Fellows' Contact Information

If Fellows have recently changed their contact details, please inform the Academy. The Secretariat would only send letters or notifications to Fellows using the contact information in the record that was provided by the Fellows themselves.

Wonca Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2009 - Building Bridges The Hong Kong College of Family Physicians invites you to join the Wonca Asia-Pacific Regional Conference 2009 - Building Bridges. The conference will be held on 4-7 Jun 2009 at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. For more information and registration, please visit www.wonca2009.org.

Hong Kong College of Community Medicine Annual Scientific Meeting Humanitarian Challenges in Public Health The College of Community Medicine will hold its annual scientific meeting entitled “ Humanitarian Challenges in Public Health” on 14 June 2009 (Sunday) at the Academy Building. For details and registration, please visit the College website at: http://www.hkccm.org.hk/whatsnew.html

Scientific Symposium on Emergency Medicine New Concept, New Model Cum 2nd Hong Kong-Shenzhen Emergency Medicine Conference Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine, Hong Kong Society of Emergency Medicine and Surgery and Hong Kong Emergency Nurses Association invite you to join the Scientific Symposium on Emergency Medicine on September 25-26, 2009 and 2nd Hong Kong – Shenzhen Emergency Medicine Conference on September 24-25, 2009 at Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. For more information and registration, please visit www.ssem.hk.

Peer audit and supervision on the practice of doctors

The Medical Council of Hong Kong (MCHK) has requested the assistance of the Academy in inviting Fellows to voluntarily enrol as a volunteer supervising doctor to conduct peer audit and supervision on doctors.

MCHK is empowered by the Medical Registration Ordinance (MRO) to impose condition of practice on doctors who have been found guilty of misconduct in a professional respect. Besides, MCHK can impose condition of practice on those who have applied for restoration to the General Register after having their names removed as a result of disciplinary order in accordance with the MRO.

Since October 2006, MCHK has been adopting a policy to consider the suitability of candidates as supervising doctors with regard to the following factors:

a) Disciplinary record (i.e. whether of good standing);
b) Type of practice (i.e. public institution or private practice);
c) Specialist status and specialty;
d) Length of practice experience;
e) Relevant qualifications;
f) Experience with the relevant ordinance; and
g) Any personal relationship with the supervisee.

As a start, each supervisor would not be asked to supervise more than two supervisees at the same time. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer supervisor, please download the proforma and send the completed form back to the Secretariat before 15 April 2009. For detailed enquiries, please contact MCHK at 2873 5131.

Hong Kong Medical Journal February 2009 issue is now available on the Journal's website <http://www.hkmj.org>. Highlights of this issue include:

EDITORIAL

• Foreign bodies in children’s airways: a challenge to clinicians and regulators

ORIGINAL ARTICLES

• Foreign body aspiration in Hong Kong Chinese children

• Menstrual problems and health-seeking behaviour in Hong Kong Chinese girls

Online CME/CPD

Quizzes from the following Colleges are currently available at iCMECPD website for Fellows to study online for CME/CPD:

Please visit the CMe-Learning of iCMECPD website (www.icmecpd.hk) for the latest CME/CPD materials.

Upcoming Conference(s) / Symposium(s)

Public health short courses

The Chinese University of Hong Kong School of Public Health will offer the following short courses in April and May 2009:

PBH7004 Environmental Health Sciences
PBH7005 Infectious Diseases in Public Health Practice
PBH7206 Application of Geographic Information System in Public Health
PBH7506 Clinical Trials

For details, please click http://www.sph.cuhk.edu.hk/cms/content/view/53/49/lang,en/