Newsletter

Volume 23, Issue 1

Message from the President:

First of all, I wish to extend my warmest welcome to all newly admitted Fellows and Members to the family of The Hong Kong Collegeof Pathologists.

Pathology has evolved into a field combining clinical interpretation and application of advanced laboratory techniques. It is estimated nearly 70% of clinical decision is related to medical laboratory test results.

To address the increased expectation of the community, not just patients and relatives, we have to get well prepared. Nowadays, our responsibilities are not confined to diagnosing infection or malignancy efficiently and finding causes of sufferings or death accurately. From a few cells or drops of blood, we need to predict prognosis and guide the use of personalized medicine, to trace the routes of infection, to dissect genetic basis of disease, and to decide whether a person can receive organ from a donor.

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Volume 23, Issue 2

Message from the President:

Both Hong Kong and our College havefaced unprecedented challenges this year. OurCollege and our specialty have been in the spotlight of the media. There has been doubt on the standard of pathology training and qualification as well as pathology service in Hong Kong. While continuous self-reflection and review are constructive, we must not lose faith in our good practice and should continue our devotion to the community. With our sustained high quality of service, I am confident that the trust of the community can be maintained.

This is also a moment of celebration for our new Fellows and Members. On behalf of the College, I would like to extend my warmest welcome to all newly admitted Fellows and Members to the family of The Hong Kong College of Pathologists. You have also faced and defeated challenges bravely. After surpassing years of serious training and examinations, our Fellows are now qualified specialists in pathology. As consultants to bedside doctors, you will play pivotal role in diagnosis as well as guiding the plan of prevention and treatment of disease.

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Volume 22, Issue 1

Message from the President:

After nearly two years of hard work among Councillors, Honorary Advisor and the lawyer of the Company Registry, we are in the process of calling an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) in early June. A lot of work has been done on updating our Articles with modifications, including adopting a similar mechanism as the Academy on nomination of Honorary Fellow. The Registrar has, by the time of publishing this Newsletter, sent you the relevant information and invitation to attend the EGM held in the Academy Building in the evening on 10 June. I urge you to come and support the EGM which will only take a little bit of your time. If time permits, we may have a chat and you may let me know your thoughts on College matters. This is an important step for our College to move forward.

I am happy to announce that the structured training programme in Molecular Pathology is now established. Our Specialty Board chairpersons are instrumental in setting up individual programme in respective disciplines. Our laboratory inspectors have completed inspection of training centres. The Training and Examinations Committee reviewed all the inspection reports which have been endorsed by the Council. The new training curriculum will be effective for the new trainee intake this year.

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Volume 22, Issue 2

Message from the President:

After completing two terms as President, I write this final message to bid you farewell. The past four years have been a great challenge to me personally, and I believe my Council Officers and Members would feel the same. We have completed our inspection cycle on training centres for molecular pathology training. A revised training curriculum is now in place for our new trainees registered on or after 18 October 2012, with specific requirement to participate in structured molecular pathology training according to individual specialties. Though we encountered differences in opinion on the admission of scientists, I hope there will be closer liaison between our medical and scientific colleagues in future. Some of the scientists are, in fact, playing an important role in enhancing technical exposure of our residents in molecular pathology.

Our Extraordinary General Meeting held on 10 June this year was successful, after nearly three years’ preparatory work. We updated our Memorandum and Articles of Association (M&A) to adopt a similar mechanism as the Academy on nomination and election of Honorary Fellows. The M&A have also been further modified as a result of numerous communications among the solicitor of the Companies Registry, the Registrar and our Legal Advisor. All Council Members participated actively in fine-tuning the changes. I am pleased to report that everything is now in place, and I hope that this will facilitate our future operation.

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Volume 21, Issue 1

Message from the President:

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the College. We are facing a few major changes in the road ahead. Our TEC (Training and Examinations Committee) will start to implement a structured training programme in Molecular Pathology for different disciplines, including conducting the first round of inspection on training centres. The essence of the programme is to introduce some practical experience for our trainees. My personal feeling is that, analogous to performing deliveries during our undergraduate days, our trainees will understand the technology as well as its implications and limitations for their future practice. After all, it is the pathologist who is responsible for the interpretative reporting in pathology practice. The programme is simply an introduction to the field. Pursuit on further understanding in the subject does not stop there. We have witnessed Molecular Pathology developing into a separate discipline in other countries. It will be one of our future directions.

Our partnership with scientists is currently under close review. Following a favourable response from a survey initiated by the Council last year, an open forum is scheduled on 13 April for all members. The forum is an opportunity when all members will discuss on admitting scientists to the College under a new category, “Scientists of the Hong Kong College of Pathologists” (ScHKCPath). A Task Force, chaired by our Vice-President, Dr. Edmond MA, held meetings with representatives from different disciplines and worked out some preliminary admission criteria over the past 2 months. The new category is separate from our existing categories of Associates, Members and Fellows, and bears no voting right. In accordance with our Articles, our trainees need to be medically qualified, and fulfill our training requirement before they are allowed to take the Fellowship Assessment. Through recognition of the contribution by our “Scientists”, we wish to strengthen a closer collaboration between pathologists and scientists. The input of our new members will be channeled to the betterment of our profession. Hopefully, the local development of pathology practice will be taken to a new level.

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Volume 21, Issue 2

Message from the President:

This has been a very busy year for the College – and I truly mean it for the Office Bearers and the Council.

While the College was preparing for the Conferment Ceremony, AGM, T.B. Teoh Lecture and related events in 2011, we were also updating our Articles with modifications, including adopting a similar mechanism as the Academy on nomination of Honorary Fellow. I suddenly realized there is a new Companies Registry Law, and there needs to be clarification and changes in our Articles in order to comply with the Law. Hence, the EGM, planned since last year, has to be deferred till some time next year. I hope this can be done once we get clearance from the Companies Registry. All members will be duly informed, and I would greatly appreciate your support when it is called.

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Volume 20, Issue 1

Message from the President:

The appeal to address manpower shortage from the Department of Medicine in Tuen Mun Hospital initiated a series of events in the medical circle. I attended a forum for Chiefs of Services (COS) of the Hospital Authority (HA) in the Head Office on 8 March evening chaired by Dr. P.Y. Leung, the Chief Executive, and Mr. Anthony Wu, the HA Chairman. The top management appeared to be taken by surprise in regards to the magnitude of the problem which spread beyond one clinical discipline. They were sincere and eager to find immediate or short-term measures to help the frontline doctors.

During the session, many COS presented their views and ideas in helping their staff. It was recognized that the staff morale had been poor since the segregation of salary scales and contract terms a few years back. With the improvement in the private market and increase in demand and workload in the public sector, it is natural to see specialists and senior staff leaving the public service. The increased demand in certain specialties, such as Obstetrics, Radiology, Orthopaedics, and Urology, just to name a few, resulted in brain drain crippling some areas of the public service. This is aggravated by decrease in number of medical graduates for the next few years starting from 2011. Despite a proposal to increase intake of medical students, it will take at least 12 years to see the beginning of any replenishment of specialists.

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Volume 20, Issue 2

Message from the President:

This year we are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the College. Like what we did 10 years ago, we are publishing a book to commemorate the 20th birthday and review the milestones of the past two decades. On behalf of the Council, I write to invite all Fellows and members of the College to our Annual Dinner on 19 November in the Academy Building, including all Past Presidents. It is the time to meet all old and new acquaintances.

The contribution of scientists to laboratory science in our practice has long been recognized. During the last ILCP meeting, I realized the close collaboration among pathologists and scientists, especially when I was told that pathology residents in the States are assigned to molecular laboratories run by scientists as part of their training. The Royal College of Pathologists in Australasia established a Faculty of Science to enroll scientists (including pathologists with contribution in Medical Science) as Fellows. In order to facilitate our further collaboration, it may be time to consider extending our family to our scientific partners. A survey has been carried out under the Credential and Appeals Committee (CAC) recently on the admission of scientists, under the instruction of the Council. Details of the survey are included in this Newsletter. Having discussed in our Council, we understand we do not have the resources to finance and support a separate faculty. Hence we may consider creating a new category, separate from our existing categories (Fellow, Member and Associate) to accommodate our new partners. I would like to discuss more on this aspect with you in the near future in an open forum. At this point so far, I would like to thank our CAC, chaired by Drs. Raymond YUNG and Edmond MA, for their effort in organizing and carrying out the survey.

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Volume 19, Issue 1

Message from the President:

I have been asked a few times about my plan since I took office last November. Though I have some ideas about the work, I must admit I have little time to set up any schedule. Perhaps this gives me a chance to write up some thoughts.

Over the past few years since I joined the College Council, there were major changes. We have a full-time College Secretary who helps to tidy up bits and pieces in our Chamber, including taking Council minutes, managing daily operation of the College, and assistance in CME/CPD. At present, Adrienne plays a crucial role in communication among Fellows, Councillors and the Academy. We discussed and implemented changes in standardizing score in examinations, examination formats in specialties, training requirements (such as in case of long sick leave, autopsy numbers), appeal mechanism, etc. All of these require the work of a team, not individuals, who share the view to better the College and our profession.

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Volume 19, Issue 2

Message from the President:

On behalf of the College, I hosted the International Liaison Committee of Presidents (ILCP) Meeting 2010 on 2 & 3 September in Hong Kong. This is an annual event hosted by one of the member colleges and societies in their respective nations. The member colleges and societies of ILCP include the Royal College of Pathologists (U.K.), Association of Clinical Pathologists (U.K.), the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Faculty of Pathology of the Royal College of Physicians in Ireland, College of American Pathologists, and the American Society of Clinical Pathologists. The Canadian Association of Pathologists became a new member last year, but its President was unable to attend this meeting.

The purpose of the meeting is for Presidents of Colleges and Societies of Pathologists to meet face to face to discuss on various issues of our professional practice in developed countries, including problems encountered. It is hoped that work on joint statements, projects and high-level strategy can be formulated if necessary.

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