President's Message

The orthopaedic surgeon to population ratio in Malaysia is about 1:10,000, which is still below the desirable value. However, our expertise and facilities are more evenly distributed across the nation compared to many developing countries. There is hardly any region in this country where orthopaedic expertise is not available within 3 to 4 hours of travel . Since orthopaedic surgery is one of the most rapidly developing specialties in medicine, it is therefore very important to ensure that our members are updated with latest advancement of medical knowledge and technology.This is the reason why the highest priority of MOA this year is to improve the level and number of CME programs in various regions in the country.

The MOA Executive Committee has identified the lack of communication as a serious limitation to members responding or participating in projects organized by the Association. To overcome this, we have made some changes and embarked on a few projects for this purpose. After the publication of our first full coloured newsletter, we have decided to proceed with four issues every year. All messages sent to members will also be posted on our homepage and we have managed to organize an email notification system for members who would like to be informed whenever a new message is being put up.

Medical research activities are mainly concentrated at the teaching hospitals in this country. Although most of the clinical work is being performed by hospitals under the Ministry of Health, funds for conducting research activities are not freely available in these institutions. Moreover, some of those in the private sector may also contribute to research activities. For this reason, we have decided to organize a mechanism to offer research funds to all our members. Dr Lim Heng Hing is entrusted with this project and subcommittees will be formed to set up guidelines and organize various aspects of the project. We will also identify some channels to replenish this fund.

Some of our members have personally been involved in humanitarian projects and gained positive life experience from these endeavours. Health/medical facilities are still not freely available in many parts of our neighboring countries and in some remote regions of Malaysia as well. Traditionally, several organizations like the World Orthopaedic Concern (WOC) have been actively involved in helping these people but we feel that Malaysian doctors are in position to offer medical assistance especially in the field of orthopaedic for this purpose.With this in mind, the MOA has decided to form a humanitarian project committee headed by our past president Assoc Prof Sharaf Ibrahim to coordinate medical outreach activities for members who are willing to offer their time and expertise.

Introducing changes to an organization is frequently associated with unforeseen problems and obstacles. Sometimes it may be difficult to decide on the priorities, and differing opinions may surface on how to achieve the adopted goals. After planning for several months, we have formed a few portfolios that are headed by either members of Executive Committee or experienced members of the association. With the collective effort of the "team" , we are confident that most of these problems will be overcome. We are hoping that our members will respond positively to these changes and provide us with constructive feedback. In this way, we hope that the Association will move forward and provide greater benefit to our members, patients, community and nation as a whole.

Dr Saw Aik
sawaik@hotmail.com

1 14th Zimmer ASEAN-American Orthopaedic Association Travelling Fellowship May / June 2005, USA
Prof Pan Kok Long of Universiti Sarawak Malaysia has been selected as the MOA representative to the USA beginning in May 2005 for about four weeks ending with attendance at the Annual Meeting of the American Orthopaedic Association in June 2005.

2 AAOS International Scholarship Programme 2005
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and its Corporate Advisory Council member organizations have initiated four scholarships to be awarded to selected international orthopaedic surgeons, for the intended purpose to travel to the United States to participate in a hands-on orthopaedic surgical skills course with cadaveric specimens in the Orthopaedic Learning Centre in Rosemont, Illinois, USA in 2005. The MOA nominated Dr Hyzan Mohd Yusof and he has been awarded one of the scholarships.

3 Call for Applications
The MOA would like to call for applications early for the following:

• 2nd ASEAN-BOA Travelling Fellowship
September / October 2005, United Kingdom
This Fellowship has been inaugurated to replace the EFFORT Fellowship. The Fellowship is usually for about two weeks. MOA members who are consultant aged between 35 to 45 years old are encouraged to apply for the Fellowship.
CLOSING DATE: 31 MAY 2005

• 23rd AOA Junior Travelling Fellowship 2005
October / November 2005
This Fellowship is for six weeks and will probably commence on 16 October 2005 culminating in attendance at the 56th POA Annual Convention combined with 25th Asean Orthopaedic Association on 14 to 20 November 2005.
CLOSING DATE : 31 MAY 2005

• 25th Annual Congress of the Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association
12 & 13 November 2005, Hong Kong
The Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association will be holding its 25th Annual Congress on 12 & 13 November 2005. The MOA would like to call for applications for applications for an Ambassador to attend the Meeting. The HKOA will provide complimentary registration and accommodation for three nights. The Ambassador would have to present a paper at the Congress. The MOA will provide a subsidy of RM1,000 towards airfare.
CLOSING DATE: 31 JULY 2005

MOA members are encouraged to apply for the various fellowships. Please include the following in your application:
(a) curriculum vitae (including present and previous posts, publications and presentations)
(b) abstract of one completed paper and title of one other talk
(c) involvement in the MOA activities and previous sponsorship by MOA, if any

Fellowship: Singapore-Asean Orthopaedic Clinical Fellowship Programme
This Fellowship has been approved by the SOA and the designated hospitals for the year 2005 -2006 are Singapore General Hospital and Changi General Hospital.

The terms of references are :
(1) T h e re will be 4 sponsored candidates per year from each of the ASEAN countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand) with 2 candidates in each hosting institution (Changi General Hospital and Singapore General Hospital).

(2) The candidates will be granted an observer status with no operating privileges for a period of two weeks.

(3) Successful applicants will be sponsored for accommodation, administrative expenses as well as a daily stipend of S$50 for a total of two weeks. This will come from the yearly S$8,000 set-aside for the above fellowship from SOA funds.

(4) The return air-fare will be borne by the respective Orthopaedic Associations of the country of origin of the candidate.

(5) Candidates are to apply through the Orthopaedic Association of their own country.

(6) The timing of the fellowship is subject to individual preferences and arrangements with the hosting institution

(7) Fellows will submit a report to the AOA Secretariat upon completion of the Fellowship.

MOA members who are interested in applying for this Fellowship are requested to submit a written application, a detailed curriculum vitae with email and contact nos. and 2 recent photographs to the MOA Secretariat. The closing date is 15 February 2005.

Japanese Paediatric Orthopaedic Association (JPOA) Asian Travelling Fellowship Awards
DEADLINE: 1 APRIL 2005

Purpose
This fellowship program is intended to serve many purposes, including education for both the candidate and the host institutions, to promote interchange of ideas of paediatric orthopaedics and to have communications between the Asian countries. We also hope that this will provide an opportunity to the candidates to broaden their experience, and prepare them for educational and leadership roles in our field.

Eligibility
Application must be an orthopaedic surgeon and under the age of 40 years old by the deadline date of 1 April 2005.

Financial Support
The JOPA will support the airf a re between each country and Japan, and the local accommodation. The incidental costs like the fee for the spouse must be paid by the applicants.

Stay in Japan
Successful applicants should attend the annual meeting of JPOA that will be held at Yokohama during 18 - 19 November 2005 and present their study in the meeting. Around a week's visit to the Japanese hospitals before or after the meeting will be arranged. Please check back on this site for instructions and application form.