The team is comprised of Western Australian, Australian and internationally based doctors. A key member is Perth-based Associate Professor Chris Curry, a specialist in Emergency Medicine based at Fremantle Hospital, who currently serves on the International Skills and Training Institute in Health (ISTIH) Medical Advisory Committee. The lead emergency physician is Dr Georgina Phillips, a colleague of Dr Curry’s, based at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne. Co-ordinating the team is Dr James Kong, a Hong Kong based, Australian trained surgeon who grew up in Myanmar.

The group will visit Myanmar in June 2012 to deliver the first ever Myanmar Emergency Medicine Introductory Course (MEMIC) to doctors at Yangon General Hospital (formerly Rangoon).

This is the second visit Dr Curry will make to the Indian Ocean nation. In February of this year, Dr Curry visited teaching hospitals in Yangon and Mandalay, at the invitation of leading Burmese surgeon, Zaw Wai Soe. This visit contributed to the building of an Emergency Medicine development plan that will utilise Dr Curry’s network of Australasian colleagues within the International Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (IEMSIG) of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM), fellows of the Australasian College of Surgeons, and international colleagues based in Hong Kong, as advisors and initial trainers.

This plan will unfold over three major phases. The first is to recruit doctors currently specialised in other disciplines to undertake a series of intensive short courses in emergency medicine – of which the June 2012 MEMIC course will form a key part. These doctors will become leaders in the next phases of the program, and will be involved in the establishment of a Masters in Medical Science program specialising in Emergency Medicine, with international guidance where required. The final phase will extend emergency medicine training programs to other clinical practitioners and allied health workers, including general practitioners, ambulance officers and emergency nurses.

“Having had half a century of a closed military dictatorship”, says Dr Curry, “most of the country’s doctors have had no exposure to modern emergency medicine.”

Dr Curry cites the “established and maturing” emergency medicine training program initiated at the University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby in 2001 as a successful example of the ‘train the trainer’ model. In Papua New Guinea, he explained, though there are still Australian clinicians visiting to assist and act as medical examiners, education in Emergency Medicine has progressed to the stage that “ten years down the track… they now are almost independently training and graduating their own emergency physicians.”

ISTIH support will contribute towards assisting doctors in Myanmar to devise a system best suited to their own working environment, with invited assistance from international specialists such as the IEMSIG group, in addition to several of Dr Curry’s colleagues in Perth.

ISTIH is proud to provide ongoing support for Dr Curry’s work in Myanmar, and recently extended the offer of support to his colleagues.

Recently ISTIH sponsored a visit to Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu, by Associate Professor Dr Chris Curry, a specialist in Emergency Medicine (EM) based at Fremantle Hospital, who currently serves on the ISTIH Medical Advisory Committee. During this time Dr Curry delivered Emergency Medicine skills training in support of the University’s new Doctor of Medicine in Emergency Medicine degree program. Launched in September 2011, the three-year specialist program marks an exciting step in the Emergency Medicine education development process, with the first cohort of fully training specialists expected to graduate in 2014.

Dr Curry has made frequent visits to the country since 2007, both as a teacher of Emergency Medicine and as a specialist advisor during the curriculum planning stages of the Doctor of Medicine in Emergency Medicine degree program. A number of his colleagues, including fellow Emergency Medicine specialists at Fremantle Hospital and members of the International Emergency Medicine Special Interest Group (IEMSIG) of the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine (ACEM) have made teaching visits and will continue to do so throughout the education development process.

The progress made in developing Emergency Medicine in Nepal so far is encouraging, says Dr Curry, and valuable relationships have been forged between Australasian, Nepali and Indian clinicians. It is hoped that the Tribhuvan University program will follow the path set by the established program at the University of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby in 2001. Testament to the success of the ‘train the trainer’ model, the University’s Emergency Medicine teaching staff at Port Moresby General Hospital are “almost independently training and graduating their own emergency physicians.”

In addition to the support extended by ISTIH, the WA Department of Health Community Leave Support program has facilitated return visits to Nepal by Dr Curry and a number of his colleagues. Launched in January 2011, the leave provision scheme supports eligible Department employees wishing to participate in approved WA and international aid programs, as part of the Department’s commitment to improving health care sustainability in under-serviced communities.

ISTIH applauds the Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health for its commitment to achieving sustainable outcomes in remote, regional and international health care, demonstrated through the introduction of the Community Leave Support program. Information on the program can be found at www.nursing.health.wa.gov.au/home/community.cfm

Whilst communicable diseases remain the top health burden in the Kingdom, the burden of non-communicable diseases such as cancer is increasing. Levels of understanding of cancers amongst the public and health community remain limited, however, and clinical experience indicates that over 80% of cancer patients in Bhutan present at an advanced and often incurable stage.

Winthrop Professor Saunders, who is spearheading this initiative, says the goals of the new cancer policy and care plan are “to improve mortality and morbidity from cancer from all citizens of Bhutan, and to allow equitable access to a full range of patient centred cancer control and treatment modalities.”

The plan is set to involve the establishment of an Office of Cancer Control within the Ministry of Health, support for national cancer screening programmes, and the development of early detection programmes for breast, oral and stomach cancers. Other crucial parts of the project include the development of a comprehensive plan for community and home-based palliative care, and community education and awareness raising campaigns targeting the dangers of smoking and the need for vaccination against prevalent, potentially cancer-causing infectious diseases such as Hepatitis B.

“Tackling cancer is a complex task, which is eased with the presence of a comprehensive plan which is supported by all involved,” said Professor Saunders.

Professor Saunders is a Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Western Australia and a specialist in the diagnosis and management of breast cancer and melanoma. She is a Board Member of Cancer Australia, President of the Cancer Council of Western Australia, and an active member of the ISTIH International Outreach Advisory Committee (IOAC).

Professor Saunders previously chaired the WA Cancer Taskforce that developed a State cancer prevention and treatment plan. A cancer policy consultant at both a State and National level, Professor Saunders will contribute a wealth of clinical and research experience to the development of the new Bhutanese cancer policy and plan.

ISTIH co-sponsored a recent visit to Western Australia by a delegation of two senior Bhutanese officials, Dr Lungten Wangchuk and Dr Ugyen Tschomo. Whilst visiting the University of Western Australia, the delegation toured the University’s Clinical Training and Education Centre (CTEC) and was welcomed at a special reception.

The Bhutanese visit was jointly sponsored by ISTIH, the Cancer Council Australia and the Australian Himalayan Foundation.

ICTEC is modelled on the Clinical Training and Education Centre (CTEC) at the University of Western Australia (UWA), and operates within the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital at the University of Indonesia, Jakarta. It was established through a collaborative partnership between ISTIH, UWA, Rumah Sakit Cipto Mangunkusumo Tertiary Hospital, the University of Indonesia and the Indonesian Government.

The $40 million, fully equipped clinical teaching facility commenced its training programmes from June 2010. The collaboration between ISTIH and its Indonesian partners has assisted in allowing Indonesian doctors to travel to Perth for training, and for Perth doctors to train health professionals in Indonesia.

ICTEC delivers an extensive range of clinical skills training courses tailored to many groups of practitioners, ranging from medical students and residents to certified surgeons and specialists. Many ISTIH volunteers have contributed their time and expertise to the Centre, including Perth based Dr Hairul Ahmad, who ran a successful laparoscopic procedural course for students and practicing GPs in December 2011.

Over 100 hospitals across 33 Indonesian provinces currently benefit from the work of ICTEC.

Dr Ahmad is an upper Gastrointestinal and General Surgeon and Endoscopist. He is also a senior clinical lecturer with the University of Western Australia School of Medicine.

Dr Ahmad’s visit to ICTEC followed a recent visit by a delegation from the Indonesian Ministry of Health to Perth. Dr Teddy O.H Prasetyono, ICTEC Chairman and Plastic Surgeon with the Department of Surgery at the University of Indonesia’s Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, accompanied the delegation.

The visit was hosted by ISTIH, CTEC and UWA. During their time in Perth the delegation members were able to see Dr Ahmed conduct the same training course at the Clinical Training and Education Centre (CTEC) on the UWA Nedlands campus.

Dr Ahmad’s course was delivered to a group of medical students and practising GPs looking to improve their skills in performing laparoscopic procedures.

During the Indonesian visit Dr Prasetyono and Dermot Patterson, ISTIH CEO, also met with Kim Snowball, Director General of the West Australian Health Department, while he was visiting CTEC.

Squire Sanders Australia will provide pro bono legal support for ISTIH, replacing our previous sponsor, Minter Ellison Perth.

The change of hands corresponds with the merger of Minter Ellison with the global law partnership Squire, Sanders & Dempsey. Squire Sanders Australia is based in Perth and often acts on behalf of offshore clients with investments in Western Australia.

Squire Sanders Australia partner Amber Stanton, previously a partner at Minter Ellison, was recently presented with the 2011 Telstra Businesswoman of the Year Award for WA in the Hudson Corporate and Private Sector Category.

Named one of Lawyers Weekly’s Top Movers and Shakers for 2010, Amber manages Squire Sanders Australia’s pro bono legal work for ISTIH.

Squire Sanders Australia Managing Partner John Poulsen, formerly Managing Partner at Minter Ellison, said Squire Sanders firmly supports pro bono work as part of its Community Investment Program. The firm’s partnership with ISTIH was formed partly as a result of Poulsen’s connections with Professors Michael Henderson and Bruce Robinson.

“I’d heard about ISTIH through the Perth business community. Squire Sanders has long provided pro bono work as part of our community outreach, and so we’re motivated to support the good work ISTIH does in the region.”

Minter Ellison’s Perth Office became Squire Sanders Australia on October 1 2011.

ISTIH volunteers Gillian Walsh and Vercess Caina represented the Institute, proudly sporting the new ISTIH shirt as they ran, to raise awareness of the Institute and its work within the Asia-Pacific region.

ISTIH was founded in 2005 by Professors Michael Henderson and Bruce Robinson of the University of Western Australia, and is housed at the UWA Claremont campus.

The Institute takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the management of aid projects. Bringing together the collective expertise of some of WA’s leading clinical health specialists, ISTIH delivers skills and disaster relief training to allied health workers in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.

Co-founders Michael and Bruce were recently awarded the 2011 Ernst and Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award for the Western Region. They are now candidates for the National title, which will be announced at a ceremony in December.

Professors Michael Henderson and Bruce Robinson recently received the 2011 Ernst & Young Social Entrepreneur of the Year Award – Western Region for their work with ISTIH.

Michael and Bruce were honoured at the Western Regional awards ceremony, held at the Burswood Entertainment Complex on July 29th. They are now in the running for the national Australian Entrepreneur title, due to be announced in early December.

In their acceptance speech, the ISTIH co-founders discussed the vital work of the Institute, including plans for development within countries such as Cambodia and scope for further expansion of ISTIH’s work worldwide.

ISTIH takes a multi-disciplinary approach to the management of aid projects. Bringing together the collective expertise of some of WA’s leading clinical health specialists, ISTIH delivers skills and disaster relief training to allied health workers in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.