Newsletter of The Neurosurgical Association of Malaysia

[The PDF version of the newsletter can be downloaded here  223KB ]

President’s Message

Dr. Chee Chee Pin President of Neurosurgical Association Malaysia

Neurosurgery in Malaysia has evolved from only a handful number of neurosurgeons based in Kuala Lumpur beginning in the late 1960’s to more than 50 in numbers covering the whole country from West Malaysia to East Malaysia. The Neurosurgical Association of Malaysia (NAM) was formed in 2001 to bring all the neurosurgeons together under one umbrella. Over the years NAM has progressed steadily under the leadership of the first President, the late Dato’ Arumugasamy then Dato’ Dr. Fadzli Cheah with many meetings, conferences and workshops organized. The master programme in Neurosurgery is now well established with the first successful candidate in 2005.

The NAM Web page will be revamped soon and we are launching the NAM Newsletter to keep all the members and the affiliated bodies and societies informed of the progress in the NAM affairs, meetings and workshops being held or going to be organized. This would bring all them members closer together and might eventually allow the members to air their views and suggestions in the development of the Association.

The Ministry of Health has in its plan to implement the Continuing Professional Development requirement for all doctors by 1st April 2008. Whereas the government doctors are to follow the KKM stipulated CPD requirement, non-government doctors will have to comply with the new CPD requirement under the Colleges and the Academy of Medicine. It will probably be linked to the renewal of the annual practicing license or the specialist re-certification. Prof. Vickneswaran will represent NAM in the College of Surgeons CPD Committee.

The newly formed Spine Section subcommittee has undergone brain storming discussions and will be organizing activities soon involving spine surgery and spine care. These will be ranging from high powered workshops and symposiums to combined meeting with other medical professional bodies and public talks. The first Spinal Symposium will be end of May or early June 2008 to be held in the Prince court Hospital, Kuala Lumpur in conjunction with the AGM of NAM. Through these activities, those members interested in Spine Surgery will be able to keep abreast with the latest development in spinal surgery and there will be a better understanding for the other members of our medical fraternity and the public about the various spinal operations including the traditional type of operations like discectomy and fusion to more complexes and state of art spinal operations done by neurosurgeons in this country.

Malaysia is again going to organize the ASEAN Conference in Neurosurgery in Kuala Lumpur from 1st to 4th December 2008 with renowned speakers like Professors ER Law, Tetsuo Kanno, Yoko Kato, Andrew Kaye, Perneczky and Ramani confirmed as invited speakers. The first day will be a hand-on
workshop and the following one and half days of the conference will be the WFNS neurosurgical training course, the second time to be held in Malaysia. Sponsorship will be given to young neurosurgeons from Burma, Laos, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Philippines and Indonesia, 2 from each country.

The organizing committee has been working hard in preparing for the meeting. We will be the host country for the 8th Asian Conference in Neurosurgery in 2010. This is going to be the first time for ACNS to be held in South East Asia. The venue will be the state of art Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre in late November 2010 and we will be supported by the Ministry of Health and Tourism
Malaysia. The Convention Centre can cater for more than two thousand participants with more than 5 thousand hotel rooms in the vicinity. We have received enthusiastic response not only from the US, Japan, Australia and Europe but also from India , Pakistan, China , our neighbouring countries and the Middle East. Professor Peter Black, the then President of the World Federation of Neurosurgical Societies has confirmed his presence as a honoured speaker for this meeting. We will strive to organize a comprehensive and knowledge seeking scientific programme for the participants and an enjoyable social programme for them and their spouses or accompanying persons. 

With all these activities and international conferences to be held soon and within the next few years, we are looking forward to an exciting future for the association and the neurosurgical community. Nevertheless we will need the co-operation and active participation of every member to ensure the success of these activities. 

Dr. Chee Chee Pin

This newsletter is for general informations only. Measures has been taken to ensure the accuracy of  the contents. NAM members are invited to submit any relevant articles for the next issue. 
We also would like to receive any constructive suggestions for further improvement in the future.  Editor

Highlights of NAM Exco Meeting

The 6th Annual General Meeting was held on 9th June 2007 at Legend Hotel, in conjunction with the National Neurosurgical Conference and 3rd Annual Scientific Meeting, Neurosurgical Association of
Malaysia. A new batch of Exco members were elected with Dr. Chee Chee Pin as the new president. 

1) 17th June 2007. The first new Exco Meeting was held at Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital Kuala Lumpur to discuss the details on preparation for the 13th ASEAN Congress of Neurological Surgeons in Kuala Lumpur. 

2) 4th August 2007. Head injury database will be maintained by HKL whereas a new Neurosurgery database on Vascular disease and tumour will be formed. The first newsletter was proposed by Dr. Chee Chee Pin to ensure a sense of belonging and keep the members up to date with NAM activities. 

3) 10th November 2007. Bidding preparation for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia as a host for the 8th ACNS 2010. 

4) 22nd January 2008. Update on 13th ASEAN meeting preparation and NAM first newsletter. Announcement of the successful bidding for ACNS 2010 during the 12th AACNS meeting, November
2007 in Nagoya, Japan.

Previous Events

• National Neurosurgical Conference & Annual Scientific Meeting,
  Neurosurgical Association of Malaysia • (7th – 9th June 2007)
  
  

  Dr. B.Warf (USA)

  Prof. Michael Morgan (Sydney)

  The Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) of Neurosurgical Association of Malaysia was held from the 7th to 9th June 2007 at the Legend Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. It was preceded by an endoscopic workshop on
  7th June 2007 conducted with the assistance of a team of Neurosurgeons from Fujita Health University, Japan.
   
  This meeting had a diverse representation of speakers from Japan, USA and Australia, headed by Prof. Tetsuo Kanno, Prof. Yoko Kato, Dr. Benjamin Warf, Dr.de Salles and Prof. Michael Morgan. It was well attended by 250 delegates from the local medical fraternity including paramedical personal. A separate Nursing session was also held for paramedical personal. This year also saw a record of 20 free papers presented by neurosurgical trainees and junior neurosurgeons. 
   
  The Datuk Arumugasamy Award for best research based free paper went to Dr. Saiful Azli Mat Nayan for his paper on “Treatment for Intracranial Subdural Empyema : An Analysis of 2 surgical
  methods used in 90 cases.”
   
   
• ICRAN (International Conference of Recent Advanced in Neurotrauma) Meeting,
  Tianjin, China • (18th – 20th September 2007)
  
  The ICRAN meeting in Tianjin, China was attended by Dr. Mohammed Saffari b Mohammed Haspani from Hospital Kuala Lumpur and Dr. Cheang Chee Keong from Hospital Ipoh. The congress was
  organized by Neurosurgical Association of China in collaboration with World Federation Neurological Surgeon (WFNS), Neurotrauma committee. Dr. Saffari was officially accepted as a committee members in WFNS Neurotrauma Section representing NAM.
  It was also decided that the next ICRAN meeting will be in St. Petersberg, Russia in 2010. During the meeting, Mr. Saffari presented a paper on ”Feasibility of Management of Neurotrauma in Accreditated Non Neurosurgical Centre – The Malaysian Experience.”
   
   
• WFNS 13th Interim Meeting / 12th Asian - Australasian Congress of Neurological Surgeons, 
  Nagoya, Japan • (17th – 21st November 2007)
  
  The 13th WFNS Interim Meeting and the 12th Asian – Australasian Congress of Neurological Surgeons was held in Nagoya, Japan from 17th to 21st November 2008. The Malaysian delegates
  consisted of Dr. CP Chee, MF Yoong, Safari and Ramesh. The Academic side of the Conference consisted of workshops, main sessions, morning, luncheon and evening video seminars, E-posters and nurse sessions. It was very comprehensive, well attended by delegates and covered the various topics in neurosurgery and neurosurgical nursing. 
   
  The administrative side of the Meeting consisted of the EXCO meeting and various subcommittees meetings of the WFNS and the AGM’s of the AACNS and the Asian Conference (Congress) of Neurological Surgeons (ACNS). Among the high lights are the bidding for the 8th ACNS Meeting in 2010 followed by the 13th AACNS Meeting in 2011 and the 15th WFNS Congress in 2013. The Malaysian delegates successfully defeated other contenders from Turkey, Pakistan, Thailand and Singapore in the bid for the 8th ACNS Meeting in 2010 to be held in Kuala Lumpur with Dr. CP Chee as the President. Taiwan won the bid to hold the 13th AACNS Meeting in Taipei with Dr. Yong – Kwang Tu as the President. 
   
  The bidding for the WFNS Congress in 2013 was also very intense with even the Royalty the Princess of Jordan present. South Korea finally won the bid to hold the event in 2013 in Seoul defeating
  Jordan, Singapore, China, Japan and Indonesia. 
  
  Professor Peter Black is the incoming President of the WFNS.

National Neurosurgery Database

Data will be collected from 1 Jan 2008. To all practising neurosurgeons, please send your contact address to Dr Azizi Abu Bakar at: abazizi@gmail.com or Dept Surgery, HUKM, Cheras, 56100 Kuala Lumpur.

Coming Events:

1. Spinal Conference & NAM Annual Scientific Meeting,
   Prince Court Hospital, Kuala Lumpur (May—June 2008)
   
   NAM Spine Subcommittee will be organizing a Spinal Conference from May to June 2008, at Prince Court Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. The meeting’s objectives are to promote public awareness on spine problems and involvement of neurosurgeons as well as a part of educational activities. Several International speakers are also invited and NAM will be holding the AGM 2008 at the same time. This 3 days conference will include hands-on workshop, scientific meetings and public forum. The details of the programme will be announced soon.
    
2. International Symposium in Endoscopic Skull Base Surgery, 
   UPM Serdang / Hospital Putrajaya  (22nd—25th July 2008)
   
   This symposium will be held on 22nd till 25th July 2008 at Medical Faculty, Universiti Putra Malaysia Serdang and Hospital Putrajaya. Activities will include series of lectures, practical demonstrations on endoscopic instruments, hands-on cadaveric workshop and live demonstration surgeries involving various procedures with special highlights on endoscopic endonasal approaches to pituitary, anterior & posterior skull base lesions, clivus, cervicomedullary junction and transcranial (supraorbital) approach. A special session for nurses and paramedics will be also included. Several International speakers including Prof. J Andre’ Grotenhuis (Nijmegen, The Netherlands), Dr. Cleopatra Charalampaki (Mainz, Germany), Dr. Daniel Monte-Serrat Prevedello (Pittsburgh,USA) and Dr. Chandrasekhar Deopujari (Mumbai, India) have confirmed to attend this meeting. Further informations please contact: azmidr@hotmail.com 
    
3. The 13th Asean Congress of Neurological Surgeons & 8th Asean Neurological Nursing Congress, 
   Incorporating the World Federations of Neurosurgical Societies Teaching Course, 
   Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur   (1st—4th December 2008)
   
   The Neurosurgical Association of Malaysia is proud to be the host of this biennial conference in December 2008. The organizing committee has lined up an interesting programme starting with an endoscopic cadaveric workshop to be conducted by Prof. Axel Perneczky and invited lecturers from Japan, Australia and USA. This meeting will enable us to build closer ties with our fellow neurosurgeons in the region and compare the progress of neurosurgery in this fast developing region. In the spirit of ASEAN, we hope to strengthen cooperation with our fellow neurosurgeons. The support of all members of our association is crucial in making this event a grand success. 

 
Fast Facts about  Neurosurgical  Association of Malaysia (NAM) :

• Formed on 26th April 2001 
   
• First AGM meeting on 16th June 2001 
   
• Presidents 
   
  1) Dato’ Dr. Arumugasamy (2001 – 2003)
  2) Dato’ Dr. Fadzli Cheah Abdullah (2003 – 2007)
  3) Dr. Chee Chee Pin (2007 – present) 
   
•  Current registered members 43 persons, including 20 life members and 2 honorary members. 
   
• Also Members of: 1) ASEAN Neurosurgical Society   2) ASIAN Congress of Neurological Surgeons (ACNS)   3) World Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS)   4) Asian-Australasian Society of Neurological Surgeons

 
Neurosurgical Services:  • Neuro-Trauma •  Neuro-Oncology (Brain & Spinal Tumours) • CNS Infections • Neuro-Vascular • Neuro-Spine • Skull Base Surgery • Paediatric Neurosurgery • Functional Surgery • Epilepsy Surgery • Radiosurgery • Neuroendoscopy • Neuroendocrine Surgery 

[The PDF version of the newsletter can be downloaded here  223KB ]

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