November 2020
24/11/2020
FMA PRESIDENTS RELEASE#11
Dear
Members
Bula Vinaka, Namaste, Assalamo-alaikum and Noa’ia e mau’ri.
What an
Oktoberfest we had! We had our third and final mini-conference for our North
members in Labasa and, without a doubt, it was the best attended North
Mini-Conference ever. We were blessed to have been graced by the presence of
the Honorable Minister for Health, the Permanent Secretary for Health, and the
Chief Medical Advisor. We had a living legend; Dr. Wame Baravilala and the Guru
of wellness, Dr. Isimeli Tukana contribute to the scientific program. These are
Dr. Baravilala’s words coming from someone who has regularly attended numerous
high profile conferences all over the world from North America to Europe and
Asia; “This is one of the best conferences I have ever attended. It was
informative, entertaining, on-point and, provided practical insight into issues
facing Doctors right now. I thoroughly enjoyed myself”. I would like to thank
the FMA Executives especially our recently co-opted Executive Council member in
the North, Dr. Maurice for his immense contribution in the successful planning
and conduct of the North Mini-Conference. All that attended felt inspired by
our Honorable Minister for Health who bequeathed us medical professionals with
the somber responsibility of guiding our beloved nation through these
challenging times by remaining steadfast in our positions and inspiring the
Nation towards a path of eventual economic recovery. We heard you loud and
clear and we accept the challenge!
Fiji remains COVID contained. We recently confirmed our latest and
35th case and this was a border quarantine case. We are keeping our
path steady and holding steadfast in these stormy and un-predicable waters.
Metaphorically speaking, we are in the midst of a category 5 but we are holding
steady as we have strategically placed ourselves in the eye of the cyclone. We
are in a place which is the envy of the rest of the world. Let us remain in
this spot of relative calm as the catastrophic storm rages all around us. We
must move with this beast so that we remain in a place of relative calm, we
must adapt, assimilate and aggressively augment our arsenal to help keep the
status quo. Another humble request is that we must not let all our experience
and expertise be in vain. I urge you all to please try and articulate your
experiences with COVID-19 in the form of a journal article and forward this to
our FMJ editor in Chief, Dr. Brian Guevara at your earliest possible
convenience. Once we have a minimum threshold of articles, we will then
organize a writer’s retreat to fine tune these articles and you, as an author will
get an invite to attend this retreat with subsidized costs. We have only 3-4
weeks left to make this happen so please burn the mid-night oil and get
something in writing ASAP.
Please be mindful that we are hurtling towards the end of the year
and that comes with the task of re-certification with FMDC. Everyone needs a
minimum of 25 CPD points for this. If you have any issues with the points or
the process, please do not hesitate to email our secretariat for help. I also
urge everyone to make sure that you tick all the boxes for re-certification
well in advance to avoid undue hassle later on.
On behalf of the FMA Executives and Secretariat, I would like to
wish everyone a joyous and blessed Diwali. The lesson of victory of light over
darkness is something we all can relate to and it is our wish that everyone has
a safe and memorable experience.
Vinaka vakalevu, Khuda Hafiz, Daniyabaad and Fa’eksia
Dr Basharat Munshi
President
Fiji Medical Association
