Medical specialists to discuss ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

The Internal Medicine Organisation of the Pacific ( IMOP) will be conducting a two- day minisymposium at the Shangri-La Yanuca Island on December 4 to 5.

The IMOP is a regional organisation that consists of internal medicine specialist doctors and trainee doctors from the Pacific region. The membership of IMOP includes member doctors from Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Samoa, Cook Islands, American Samoa, Tuvalu, Australia, NZ and even as far as East Timor.

Close to 60 attendees are expected at this year’s conference –most of whom work as doctors at the Colonial War Memorial, Lautoka and Labasa Hospitals. This is the seventh such annual minisymposium organised by the IMOP. 2020’s theme will be “The New Normal – Medical Challenges and Opportunities in the Blue Continent”.

This theme was selected to reflect lessons learnt and future projections regarding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Day one, is an introductory session for conference participants; with registration formalities, ice breaker bonding and wellness exercises.

The second day is the scientific conference proper-consisting of five plenary sessions: The first three sessions are entirely focused on COVID 19.

The fourth session will include master’s research presentations of studies conducted by final year Masters in Internal Medicine doctors, who are presenting live from Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands.

They will be presenting their masters research findings that will help shape their respective national management and treatment protocols.

The fifth and final session will involve senior specialist doctors describing, special clinical cases and issues of relevance to IMOP members.