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COLLEGE PRESIDENT 2013 - 2015

8 May 2015

Dear Fellows of the College of Surgeons,

2014 marked another dynamic year in the College of Surgeons with our Fellow members proactively organising and participating in various events to continue in our vigorous enthusiasm to upgrade and put the College in the forefront of our profession.

The Chapter of Cardiothoracic Surgeons kicked off the year with its Dinner Lecture Series of Continuing Medical Education program with Prof Kim Kwhanmien, who lectured on the “Complex VATS Lobectomy for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) – How Far Can We Push the Boundary?”. This was followed by The Chapter of Otorhinolaryngologists, who commenced their series with Prof Michael Rutter on "Endoscopic Airway Surgery State of the Art 2014". The following month, The Chapter of General Surgeons opened their Dinner Lectures with “Laparoscopic Colorectal Surgery: An Update from the Japanese Multi-Centre Trial” delivered by Prof Fumio Konishi. The Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetics Chapter Surgeons launched their lectures with “Asian Advances in Scar Management” with Dr Giuseppe Micali.

The Chapter of General Surgeons organized the Live Laparoscopic Surgery Symposium on the 4 to 5 May 2014 at Tan Tock Seng Hospital covering topics such as Laparoscopic TEP Repair, Laparoscopic Ventral Hernia Repair, 3-D Laparoscopic Reversion of Sleeve to Roux-En-Y Gastric Bypass, 3-D Laparoscopic Hiatal Hernia and Nisson Fundoplication.

In grooming our own speciality surgeons, the Chapters organised preparatory courses to assist Trainees in their Exit exams; Knee Arthroscopic Course; Urology Skills Update Course; and the Staff Registrar Scheme, a 3-year structured Diploma program with on-the-job training for foreign doctors.

FAMS participated in various initiatives and discussions to provide feedback to MOH and SMC; attended numerous monthly meetings, sits on JCST Exam Committee, endorsing events in support of contemporaries to seeking a common goal and unity.

The College honoured our fellow professionals with the College Lectureship (Professor Lee Eng Hin), YAHYA COHEN Memorial Lectureship (Dr Gan Eng Cern) and College of Surgeons Gold Medal Awards for the best performing specialist exit examinees.

I would like to thank all of you for your effort in organising and participating in the activities of the College and its Chapters, and for making 2014 a successful year.

For 2015, the College and its Chapters have plans for conferences and congresses as well as many specialty lectures and events to help our Fellows remain in the forefront of our profession.

With best wishes for the year ahead,

Professor E Kesavan
President
2013 to 2015 Council
College of Surgeons, Singapore

COLLEGE PRESIDENT 2011 - 2013

13 June 2011

Dear Friends in the College,

On behalf of the new Council, I like to thank the immediate past President, Prof Low Yin Peng, for his able leadership and for bringing the College to its present status. Indeed, all of us in the College are grateful to him and all the previous College Presidents. They have truly given the College a respectable mantle locally and internationally.

It is now, my unenviable task to lead the College for the next two years. Apart from the normal day to day running, the College Council also oversees professional issues relating to the surgical disciplines.

For example, over the past few weeks, we have been looking through the proposed Colonoscopy Screening Guidelines. As background information, it was announced in Parliament in March 2011, that Medisave can be used for screening colonoscopy. Guidelines were drafted on accreditation of colonoscopy centers, extra accreditation required of colonoscopists who want to participate, maintenance standards, etc.

The College Council, with a lot of help from the Chapter of General Surgeons, has been scrutinizing this document. We have provided a response to the Master of the Academy including our reservations about the need to further re-define accreditation for screening colonoscopy. The proposed guidelines (if unchanged) may result in some doctors, who have already undergone tough traineeship training, passed rigorous relevant exit examinations, and who have been until now been accredited and been performing colonoscopy, being barred from performing a routine procedure.

We have argued a case that once a doctor has been accredited by SMC or its designated organizations to do colonoscopy, there is no need to re-accredit them nor any need for them to re-apply for maintenance on an annual basis. Any doctor knows that he has to perform any procedure competently whether it is under a national screening programme or not. The renewal of the practicing license by the SMC depends on our practicing within our expertise and competency as specified by SMC and this applies to all doctors including surgeons or gastroenterologists, who have been cleared to perform colonoscopy.

In addition, please come for the Academy meeting in July 2011, which will give us an opportunity to share views with other specialties and to renew friendships both locally and internationally (especially our Malaysian colleagues). We thank you for your whole-hearted support.

Best Wishes

Dr Sayampanathan S.R.E.
President
2011 to 2012 Council
College of Surgeons, Singapore

COLLEGE PRESIDENT 2009 - 2011

2 June 2009

Fellows of the College of Surgeons, Singapore

The College just held its 5th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 22 May 2009 (Fri) and we thanked all Fellows for your support by your attendance at the AGM. As detailed in the College’s Annual Report 2008 that was presented at the AGM, the College has had an eventful year in 2008 from organising of numerous academic events to the awarding of the College’s Lectureships and Awards for 2008, we are grateful for the continued support and contribution from our Specialty Chapters under the purview of the College, as well as, our healthcare partners to make this happen.

We should also not forget to give credit to the outgoing College Council of 2008-2009 who has led the College through an exciting year 2008 and this year, we hope that the new Council 2009-2010 could perpetuate the admirable work of the past Council and bring about greater benefits to our Fellows and trainees alike.

The College will be facing a difficult year 2009/2010 due to the recession economy. In this light, we will face more adverse conditions when getting sponsorships and other contributions for events and meetings organising, therefore, the College would need to spend prudently and would work closely with our healthcare partners to ensure the continuity of partnership. The College’s operations rely on contributions from our partners and members and we give our sincere appreciation to one and all who have been giving us their support these years, such as the Lee Foundation who has been supporting generously to the College’s effort in surgical education in Singapore.

I would personally like to appeal for more active participation from our members in our activities to enhance our academic and professional development. The relevance of our College in our surgical community is our raison d'etre. For a start, we should aim to play a significant role in surgical education. The next step would be our participation in national specialist training, continuing education and accreditation.

Our vision would be our active participation in the examination of surgical candidates nationally and internationally in the region and beyond, and to award diplomas as in the case of our sister colleges in the UK.

With infant steps, we have slowly gained academic recognition by our sister colleges from overseas – as in the first in 5 years since the College has established in 2004, we have received a request from Lucknow College of Surgeons from India on 15 May 2009 requesting for an academic exchange with our College and we are pleased that the Chapter of Cardiothoracic Surgeons will be hosting the delegation on the College’s behalf on 8 June 2009.

Moving forward, we would like to seek all Fellows’ active participation in the following:

College of Surgeons’ eForum – this is a platform specially developed for the benefit of our Fellows for online interaction/discussion and knowledge/expertise sharing. This is a secured site which is only allowed access to our Fellows by security login.
43rd Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore from 6-8 August 2009 at Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel – the College of Surgeons is participating in this congress which is being held annually alternating between Singapore and Malaysia as hosted by the Academy of Medicine, Singapore and Academy of Medicine of Malaysia respectively. This year, we will be organising a session on “Increasing Success in Transplant” and “Challenging Issues in Chest Surgery” at the congress.
College of Surgeons Dinner 2009 on 7 August 2009 at Traders Hotel – this year, the College Dinner will be organised in conjunction of the 43rd Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine, where the College will also be hosting Presidents from overseas fraternal surgical Colleges. The College will also be conducting its 4th College of Surgeons Lectureship, which we are honoured to have Prof Raj Nambiar to be our 4th College of Surgeons Lecturer, as well as, its 14th Yahya Cohen Memorial Lectureship. The College will also be giving out the College’s awards at the dinner.

The College look forward to another thriving year 2009 with the united effort of the College and its Specialty Chapters. The College also welcome feedback and suggestions from our Fellows which could be sent to the College Secretariat at css@ams.edu.sg. Please visit the College’s website at www.ams.edu.sg/colleges/CSS/home to obtain regular updates on the College and Chapters.

Best Wishes,

A/Prof Low Yin Peng
President, 2009-2010 Council
College of Surgeons, Singapore

COLLEGE PRESIDENT 2007 - 2009

30 April 2007

Fellows of the College of Surgeons, Singapore

Last year, the College of Surgeons has had a quiet year due to a lack of administrative support. But with good administrative staff, the College is back in full swing.

The College has its own website as well as an eForum site now. Personally, I urge each and every Fellow to actively make use of these website and eForum to:

Use as online space for discussion
Post enquiries
Share any case study / pictures
Share any research knowledge and expertise or opinions

Each Chapter will have its own discussion space restricted for Chapter Members usage. Further details on the eForum will be printed in the next College Newsletter (6th edition).

The College has commenced the nominations for the following at the beginning of this year:

Chapter Committees 2007-2009 for the ten Chapters
Chapter Chairmen 2007-2009 for the ten Chapters
Three Councillors for the 2007-2009 Council

All the above will take office at the coming Annual General Meetings (AGMs) to be held in May 2007. Notice of the AGMs will be disseminated to all the College Fellows soon. The College and the ten Chapters will also be reporting its annual report for the year 2006 at the AGMs.

Fellows not only can expect more activities from the Chapter Committees related to their own specialties but also to actively participate in them. Alternatively, Chapter Members who have any suggestion to organise either talk or event that will benefit the Chapter Members, they may write to the Chapter Chairman of their specialties for consideration.

Dr Anthony Heng (outgoing President) has endorsed the active participation of the College in the forthcoming 41st Singapore-Malaysia Congress of Medicine to be held at the Raffles City Convention Centre from 19-22 July 2007. Therefore, I hope all Fellows to register for this Congress. In doing so, you will give a big moral booster to the people who have taken precious time to organise this Congress. Also, the administrative staff of the College will be greatly motivated and encouraged to actively run future Congresses. Remember your College and Chapters are actually running symposia in this Congress. Early bird registration before 31 May 2007 will enjoy a special rate for all Fellows.

The College look forward to your spontaneous participation. The College welcome feedback and suggestions from Fellows. Please send your feedback and suggestion to the College Secretariat at css@ams.edu.sg if any.

Thank You.

Best Wishes,

Dr Chan Heng Thye
President
2007-2008 Council
College of Surgeons, Singapore

COLLEGE PRESIDENT 2006 - 2007