Health Care Professionals to Share Information at Conference

Over 300 participants are expected to attend the Third Annual Advancements in Medicine Conference, which will bring together health care professionals from the Caribbean, Canada, the United States of America and the wider Diaspora, as they seek to discuss cutting edge research findings and changes in the medical field.
Under the theme: ‘Transforming Research into Policy and Practice’, the six-day event will begin with an opening ceremony and the annual Barry Wint Lecture on Monday, February 23, at the Main Medical Lecture Theatre, University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, beginning at 5:30 p.m.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Dr. Kenneth Baugh, will deliver the keynote address. The Barry Wint Lecture will be delivered by Dean of the Faculty of Medical Sciences, UWI, Cavehill Campus, Professor Henry Fraser.
A joint effort of the Ministry of Health and Environment, the Faculty of Medical Sciences at the UWI, Mona, and the Minnesota-based Organisation for Strategic Development in Jamaica (OSDJ), the 2009 conference will bring together health professionals, such as doctors, nurses, medical and nursing students and persons involved in health care management.
According to member of the Planning Committee and Acting Director of Disease Prevention and Control in the Ministry of Health and Environment, Dr. Sonia Copeland, the 2009 conference will, for the first time, feature external sessions, which will be held simultaneously in Kingston, Montego Bay and Mandeville on February 23, 24 and 26. The main conference, however, will be held at the Sunset Jamaica Grande Hotel in Ocho Rios, from February 26 to 28.
Explaining the rationale for this new initiative, Dr. Copeland explained that some of the international consultants, specialists and doctors involved in research who have attended previous conferences, “expressed the desire to interact with health workers within their settings, through lectures and conducting surgical procedures.”
She said that this move is consistent with the overall aim of the conference, which “is to a creatively bring together, a wide range of health care experts from overseas to Jamaica for mutual information sharing.”
“Many times, health care workers, in trying to keep abreast of cutting edge changes in research and medical procedures, would have to go abroad for these conferences,” she said, and praised the efforts of organisers who have collaborated with the Minnesota Medical Association to have the conference accredited to meet world class standards.
“We have gotten accreditation for the conference and we are bringing in all these medical experts who would be on the same platform with our local experts, to present to us all these topics focussing on the advancement in medicine,” she continued.
This year’s conference will feature presentations from leading researchers of institutions, such as the world renowned Mayo Clinic of Minnesota, Vanderbilt University, Emory University and other international institutions as well as representatives from the UWI and the Ministry of Health and Environment.
Advancements in surgical procedures, paediatric care, the treatment of different cancers, internal adult medicine and technical and scientific developments in blood transfusion, are some of the topics that will be explored.
Presenters will include Head of the North Central Blood Services (NCBS), a division of the American Red Cross, Dr. David Mair; Specialist with the Gillette Children’s Speciality Health Care in Minnesota, Dr. Mark Gormley, who will speak about the treatment of cerebral palsy; and Dr. Karen Godette, of Emory University, whose area of speciality is breast cancer.
Among the local presenters are Professor Maureen Samms-Vaughn, of the UWI, who will present on the autistic child; Dr. Gillian Wharfe, on paediatric leukemia and Dr. Verna Brooks-McKenzie, who will speak on osteoporosis in women.
“We are very concerned about the epidemic of chronic diseases and so many of the topics will look at some of the new approaches as it relates to managing heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, especially diabetes in the young,” Dr. Copeland informed, adding that health managers will find sessions, such as quality improvements in medicine and health care, very useful.
For registration information, interested persons are invited to call Dr. Copeland at 924-9668 or 490-4848.