10th Annual Conference and Dinner of KEMCA UK
Graduates of King Edward Medical College for over five decades gathered in the leafy surroundings of Hinckley village for their 10th Annual meeting on 12th July 2008 at the Sketchley Grange Hotel. As before the day started with an educational symposium which was followed by an enthusiastic Annual General Body Meeting and a colourful gala evening and dinner
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Continuous Professional Development
The theme this year was “Recent Advances in Clinical Practice” and approved for three CPD credits by the Royal College of Physicians, London.
Dr Sajid Khan, Consultant Respiratory Physician from Barnet Hospital London started the proceedings with a common but difficult to treat symptom of cough and gave insight in its less virulent simple cough of pharyngitis to most serious causes such as lung cancer.
Dr Sajid Khan Dr Mahmood Adil
Professor Qasim Aziz, from St Mary’s College and the Barts - London NHS Trust, gave a delightful presentation on his well renowned research work on “Brain Gut interactions in health and disease”. His talk provided an insight in the mysterious relationship of brain and gut and recent advances in the management of gastrointestinal disorders like irritable bowel syndrome.
Dr Mahmood Adil informed the audience about his “North to North Partnership”- a well organized and dedicated work, with co operation of Department of Health UK to facilitate transfer of health technology and clinical expertise to some needy areas of Pakistan.
Prof. Qasim Aziz Dr Tanzeem H Raza
Dr Tanzeem Raza, Consultant Physician from Bournemouth, shared his experience about applying and winning the “NHS Clinical Excellence Awards”.Dr Reza Dar, Consultant A&E, Nottingham shed light on “CV writing and Interview skills for Junior Doctors”
Dr Javed Mansoor Ahmed, Consultant Cardiologist, Newcastle illustrated recent advances in “Management of Myocardial Infarction”by showingthe life saving procedure of primary coronary angioplasty.
The talks on “Recent Advances in Vascular Surgery” by Dr Asad Rahi, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Blackburnand “Advance Laproscopic Surgery in Children” by Dr Adil Aslam, Consultant Paediatric Surgeon, Cambridge, were informative and well received by the audience.
The feedback about the CPD programme was positive and it seemed that the efforts made by KEMCA Scientific Committee for this well organized and informative programme were worthwhile.
Annual General Body Meeting:
This AGM was well attended and started with presentation by chairperson, Dr Abid on current KEMCA UK projects including Dr Arif Zaheer memorial fund and application for recognition of KEMCA’s charity status etc. It was unanimously decided to hire the services of a law company to take the application further. The treasurer, Dr Hafeez ur Rehman presented a brief budget report.
These presentations were followed by discussion and brainstorming on how we can increase KEMCA membership and junior Kemcolians attendance at our meetings. The discussion highlighted that the best way to increase membership is better communication through electronic media and most importantly personal contacts.
The tenure of executive committee was retained at three years and delegates were encouraged to actively participate in upcoming executive committee elections.
The plans for next annual meeting were discussed and the date for 11th Annual Meeting was agreed as 11th July 2009.
Gala Evening and Annual Dinner:
A delightful entertainment programme captivated the delegates and their families for the rest of the evening. The programme started with Chairperson’s annual speech.
Dr Anwar-ul-Haq, our chief guest - being the eldest Kemcolian present in the meeting, amused all with his interesting and exciting talk.
The dinner though specially catered could have been better.
The highlight of the evening was a comedy performance by Omer Sharif who had just arrived from Pakistan. Tired but alive with his great sense of wit and humor he kept all engaged and brought tears of laughter with his humorous zeal and zest.
Musical entertainment was by Hina Khan and party a local Pakistani music group who sang melodious tributes of Rafi, Lata and Kishoure and kept all awake till mid night. As before a much enjoyed and entertaining day came to an end with a promise to meet again next year.
Organizing Committee: From left to right: Dr M Tufail Toor (Executive member), Dr Anjum Bashir (General Secretary), Dr Hafeez ur Rehman (Treasurer) Dr M Abid (Chairperson), Dr Naveed Malik (Social Secretary), , Dr Adeel Iqbal (Executive member)