Academia at SGH

I remembered giving a seminar for Medical Officers back in 2010 with my team from UMMC back then. It was a Saturday whole day event teaching the basics of Haematology for those in Medical Training. It was very well recieved and the delegates came not only just from Kelang Valley but down to Seremban, Ipoh and Kuantan.

It was organised by the Me\alaysia Medical Association - MMA - and the venue was the MMA Headquaters at Jalan Tun Razak, opposite HKL.

The main entrance foyerThere were a few meeting going on at the same time ..The building had since been demolished to make way for the MRT Project. The Headquarters had been moved out of town to Bukit Jalil, and the events such as these were now held at hotels and other venues.

In Singapore, they were moving forward differently and investing in the future. Continuous Medical Educations or CME forms an integral part of lifelong learning in Medicine. It would expose the trainees to the rapid new development in Medicine as well as keeping the seniors in touch with the current thinking. The value of these CME should never been underestimated. And along those thinking, the MMA had now made CME points compulsory in attaining our yearly Medical practice licenses.

It would have been noce to have a central hub for these meetings such as in Singapore. There, each institution have their own centre for CME with modern facilities and centralised organisation of these events.

Our meeting that dayIt wasn't just facilities for medical talks, but a training hub for nurses and surgeons as wellThe plaque by the office. The facilities is less than a couple of years oldLast weekend, I was involved in a regional Haematology event and it was held at one of these facilities. Academia as it was called belonged to SingHealth who is the body who has Singapore General Hospital under its organisation. The location was smack in the middle of the NUS-Duke campus and it had everything you would need to run such events.

Imagine the cost savings in terms or venue rental, program development as well as the actual organisation. I was also sure that its running would be efficient as this would be their bread and butter. We don’t have to rent a 5-star venue anymore to run such events. Another advantage here was the MRT station was right nearby - another advantage Singapore has compared to us.

The event I attended was hosted by a Pharmaceutical company with inputs from the University. There did not have any hesitation to use the venue despite us staying is a 5-star hotel. They could have easily use one of the conference room at the hotel instead.

The NUS-Dule building just across the roadThere were a few artworks at the walls. This was one of them ...Heading to another room for the afternoon sessionWe had a few venues and services such as these when I was in UMMC but the facilities there could do with a bit of investment. The MMA Headquarters seemed out of town and organising events there would be a logistical drawback. I had delivered lectures at facilities in Sungai Buloh ran by UITM. Not bad at all, but again the venue was a bit of a challenge. I am sure HUKM also have their own venue, but having a venue was one thing, having a dedicated team to run and coordinate such facilities was another.

All in all, if there is a facility with a central location which can ran these events - which takes place at least on a weekly basis - such facilities would have plenty of mileage and with the right investment, it could throve and be a model for more venues such as these in each general Hospital. Imagine if HKL were to kick things off, with a state-of-the-art venue? I don’t think it is not doable ...

If we are serious about developing a national CME program, a robust venue is a must .... this will create an identity and will make things easier to move forward.