|
Contributed by Felip
Antoja,Secretary of the Spanish Societyof Clinical Biochemistry and
MolecularPathology,
Member of the IFCC Newsletter Working Group
 The Sociedad Española de
Bioquímica Clínica y Patología Molecular (Spanish Society of
Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Pathology), first known as the
Sociedad Española de Química Clínica, SEQC (Spanish Society of
Clinical Chemistry), was founded in 1975 by Professor Enrique
Concustell and counted 25 Founding Members. It is presently
presided by Professor Francisco Alvarez.
The first scientific meeting was held in the first year,
and the General Assembly of members created the first two
committees: Education and Quality.The Commission of Units,
Standards and Nomenclature rapidly followed in 1977 and a
relationship with the IUPAC Committee of Clinical Chemistry was
established in 1978. The same year the SEQC organized its First
National Congress, that was fllowed by an International Symposium
on Automation in Clinical Chemistry in 1979, that was the beginning
of the future International Congress of Automation.
The Scientific Committee that joined all the commissions and
working groups, and the first Bulletin (Newsletter) were created
the same year. In 1992 SEQC created the Publications Committee that
publishes books and translations of NCCLS documents, in addition to
the newsletter and the scientific journal.
The year 1980 saw the creation of the Quality Control Commission
with the initial participation of 147 laboratories. This feat was
however sadenned by the untimely death of the Society's President
Professor Enrique Concustell, in car accident.
The 1980's reflected an intense scientific involvement of the
SEQC. The 1st issue of Society's Journal Quimica Clinica
appeared in 1982. It was also the same year that the Society
organized the First International Congress on Automation and New
Technologies in Barcelona, that was followed by a 2nd in
1984. In 1986, it hosted the Third Mediterranean and Near East
African Congress of Clinical Chemistry in Seville. At the local
level, the SEQC has regularly organized courses on various topics
and annual scientific "Jornadas" since 1987.
The scientific activities culminated in 1990 with the
organization of the joint IX National Congress, the IV
International Congress on Automation and New Technologies and the
II International Congress of TDM-Tox in Barcelona with 1300
registered participants, 30 symposia, 4 plenary conferences, 22
workshops, 475 posters, 37 oral presentations, 1400 m2
of commercial area and 35 exhibitors.
In 1993 the SEQC changed its name to the "Sociedad Española de
Bioquímica Clínica y Patología Molecular" (Spanish Society of
Clinical Biochemistry and Molecular Pathology) to reflect the
scientific and professional development that had occurred in the
last 20 years. The acronym SEQC is however still widely used as it
is deeply rooted in the professional community.
The establishment of the Society's website in 1997, that
coincided with new phase of the annual Eductaion program, is
another hallmark of the SEQC history as it led, in 1992, to the
creation of the IFCC Rincón Iberoamericano website that was hosted
and maintained by the Society for many years.
The involvement of the SEQC in the development of the profession
has never failed through the years. It did so by organizing or
sponsoring National and International meetings such as the Congreso
Nacional del Laboratorio Clínico and the 3rd
International Symposium of the Federation of European Societies on
Trace Elements and Minerals (FESTEM) in Santiago de Compostela in
2007, and the 22nd AACC International Symposium on
Critical and Point-of-care testing. In terms of publication, the
Society together with 2 other sister societies sponsor the new
journal Revista del Laboratorio Clínico since 2008.
Nowadays, SEQC counts more than 2100 members, of which over 300
are involved in commissions, committees and working groups
including those of IFCC and EFCC.
|
|
Contributed by Snežana
Jovičić, Institute of Medical Biochemistry
Clinical Centre of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia
The Society of Medical Biochemists of Serbia organizes every
year educational seminars that are supervised by the Chamber of
Biochemists and carry 6 CME credits. The 14th
educational seminar entitled "Education of Medical Biochemists and
Improvement of Work Quality" was held last April. The lectures were
"Postgraduate Qualification in Pharmacy: Tempus PQPharm Project
Goals and Harmonization with the EU", by Prof. Dr Jelena Parojičić
(Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, Serbia), "The
development of Standardization Business and Integrated Management
System", by Prof. Dr Vidosav Majstorović (Faculty of Mechanical
Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia), "The Needs, Rules and
Process of Continuing Medical Education" by Prof. Dr Svetlana
Ignjatović (Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Belgrade, and
Institute of Medical Biochemistry, Clinical Centre of Serbia,
Serbia) and Dr Velibor Canić (Chamber of Biochemists of Serbia,
Serbia). Prof. Dr Nada Majkić-Singh (Faculty of Pharmacy,
University of Belgrade, and Institute of Medical Biochemistry,
Clinical Centre of Serbia, Serbia) talked about "Education and
Recognition of Professional Qualifications in the Field of Medical
Biochemistry of Serbia". In addition to these distinguished
speakers from Serbia, we were honored and very pleased to have two
lecturers from the EC4 Register Commission - Dr Simone Zerah and
Ms. Janet McMurray.
The President of the EFCC Professional Committee and Chair of
the EC4 Register Commission, Dr Simone Zerah, spoke on the EC4
Register for Specialists in Laboratory Medicine. She highlighted
the structure and the perspective of the EC4 Register, described
the aims of the Commission and stressed the importance of choosing
the right name for the profession and of the relations with the
European Commission and Parliament. She also introduced the
foundations of the Register - EC4 Syllabus (which is in accordance
with ISO/EN/15189 Standard and the European Directive on the
recognition of professional qualifications) and the Code of conduct
(representing the ethical values required for professional
behavior), and of the Self-Regulation Database of the European
Economic and Social Committee's Single Market Observatory
(EESC/SMO). Dr. Zerah finally emphasized that the Register enables
promotion of the profession of specialist in laboratory medicine in
the E.U. and strengthens our influence at the European Commission
and the Parliament.
EC4 Register Commission Secretary, Janet McMurray, elaborated
about the implementation of the EU Directive on recognition of
professional qualifications as applied to specialists in clinical
chemistry and laboratory medicine. In her lecture, Ms. McMurray
talked about systems for recognition of qualifications and
Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament on the recognition
of professional qualifications, its effects on specialists in
laboratory medicine, common platforms, education and training
levels, as well as training contents in European countries, with
the review of current status of common platforms and their
future.
Prof. Dr Nada Majkić-Singh followed these excellent lectures by
presenting the situation of the recognition of professional
qualifications in the field of medical biochemistry in Serbia. In
her talk, Prof. Majkić-Singh presented the syllabus of
pharmacy-medical biochemistry of the University of Belgrade Faculty
of Pharmacy, as well as the professional program of specialization
and academic doctoral studies in medical biochemistry, the
conditions and regulations for practice and for recognition of
foreign higher education, together with equivalence of standard of
education, training and competence in comparison with EC4
standards.
Overall this seminar painted a clear picture of the position of
specialists in clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine in Europe
today, of the current platform on training requirements. It also
gave the opportunity to realize that Serbian laboratory
professionals were not far removed from their European colleagues
in terms of their professional programs and regulations for
practice.
 Lecturers on Seminar
(form left to right): S. Ignjatović, V. Canić, J. McMurray, N.
Majkić-Singh, J. Parojčić, S. Zerah
|
|
Contributed by Mary-Ann Kallai-Sanfaçon, Editor of the
CSCC Newsletter
Dr Edward Randell: Incoming President of the Canadian Society for
Clinical Chemists
Ed Randell
Dr. Edward Randell is presently
Division Chief of Clinical Biochemistry for the St. John's city
hospitals and has a full-time faculty appointment as Associate
Professor in the Department of Laboratory Medicine at Memorial
University, St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. He completed his Ph.
D. at Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1993 and completed the
Postdoctoral Training Program in Clinical Chemistry at the
University of Toronto and obtained his Diploma in Clinical
Chemistry in 1995. He became a certified Clinical Chemist in 1996
and a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Clinical Biochemistry in
1997. Since then he has remained a very active member of CSCC. Dr.
Randell worked as a Clinical Chemist at the Janeway Child Health
Centre in St. John's, NL until 1999, and then at the Health
Sciences Centre until the present. He is also involved in teaching
and research in the Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy, and with the
Department of Biochemistry at MUN. The main area of interest for
his research is exploring the use of serum advanced glycation
end-products as diagnostic markers.
Reproduced with permission from the CSCC Newsletter
Honorary Life Membership Awarded by CSCC to Dr. J. Gilbert
Hill
Contributed byArlene Crowe,
PhD, FCACB (Emeritus)
from left to right: Dr. Gilbert Hill, Dr Edward Young, CSCC
Past-President
At the annual CSCC conference one
of the chief highlights is the presentation of awards mainly to
CSCC members in recognition of significant contributions to the
profession and the Society. This year, at the stunning banquet,
held on the final evening of the June conference in Vancouver, Dr.
Edward Young presented a seldom given Honorary Life membership to
Dr. J. Gilbert Hill of Toronto. CSCC's Constitution and By-Laws
state that 3 past-presidents combine to make the nomination.
Council approved unanimously the nomination, made by Drs. Matthew
McQueen, Raymond Ogilvie and Arlene Crowe at its winter meeting.
The larger part of the description below of Dr. Hill's many
services to CSCC is excerpted from my introduction of Dr. Hill at
the banquet.
Dr. Hill's university education
began with a BSc in Engineering Chemistry obtained at Queen's,
followed by his MD, CM at McGill and then his PhD in Biochemistry
back at Queen's. A seminal part of Dr. Hill's laboratory experience
took place at the Montreal General Hospital, in the very lab of Dr.
William Bauld, one of the three Montrealers regarded as the primary
founders of our Society. After completing his PhD, Dr. Hill became
the Clinical Biochemist at Kingston General Hospital and Assistant
Professor in Queen's Department of Biochemistry. In 1965 he moved
to the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, working under Dr.
Sanford Jackson, yet another illustrious name in CSCC's history,
until Dr. Jackson's retirement in 1975. Dr. Hill became then
Biochemist-in-Chief, Service Division, while rising through the
ranks on the teaching side to Full Professor at the University of
Toronto. Mention should also be made that, when certification was
being introduced, Dr. Hill, although perfectly eligible to be
grandfathered, was the first CSCC member to receive his CSCC
certification by examination rather than by grandfathering - he
stated that he wanted "to keep the process honest".
In 1970 CSCC Council appointed Dr.
Hill to be the Chairman of the Central Co-ordinating Committee
(CCC) for the forthcoming IX International Congress of Clinical
Chemistry, which saw CSCC and AACC acting as joint hosts for the
huge meeting to be held in Toronto in the summer of 1975, the first
time (and only time so far) that IFCC has designated a Canadian
city to be the site for this prestigious meeting. Those CSCC
members who attended have very fond memories of this conference -
superbly organized with fascinating up-to-the-minute symposia and
posters, a large exhibition area, and an array of social outings to
the Stratford and Shaw Festival Theatres, the McMichael Gallery in
Kleinburg, the Toronto Islands, etc., all of which took place under
constant blue skies. It is difficult to overstate the impact the
1975 meeting had on raising CSCC's profile among clinical chemists
internationally, as several thousands attended from Europe, Latin
America and the USA.
During the frequent meetings of the
CCC planning for the Congress, Dr. Hill also managed to serve as a
CSCC Councillor from 1973 to 1975; then, without so much as a
breather, he served as President-Elect 1975-76 and President the
following year. In 1982 Dr. Hill was named the recipient of what
was then called the Ames Award, which we all know now as the CSCC
Award for Outstanding Contributions to Clinical Chemistry
(presented this year at the banquet to Dr. Sherry Perkins).
On the provincial side Dr. Hill was
the founding President of the Ontario Society of Clinical Chemists
1969-71, and again it's difficult to overstate his contributions to
the growth of OSCC and its important relationship with the Ontario
Ministry of Health. Dr. Hill will modestly say that many other CSCC
and OSCC members were responsible for the building of positive
relationships within CSCC itself and with external associations,
but the astute CSCC/OSCC member who can read between the lines
recognizes full well Dr. Hill's guiding hand. After 1975 Dr. Hill
went on to serve IFCC in several capacities and also to serve on
the Section of Laboratory Medicine of the Ontario Medical
Association. Yet another international meeting for which he acted
as Chairman of the Central Co-ordinating Committee was the
International Congress of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine, held in
Toronto in 1983.
In summary, from as long ago as the
late 1950s, at the time just when automated analysis, quality
control and information technology were becoming integral features
of any clinical chemist's practice, Dr. Hill's unique training in
engineering, medicine and chemistry made him our unofficial expert
and an unassuming but influential guide in any new direction CSCC
undertook. Even though he has supposedly again "retired" (having
officially retired from Sick Kids in 1995), he continues to be
active and involved to this very minute, and it should be mentioned
that he is the only clinical chemist serving on Infoway, the
project aiming to provide standards for the reporting of tests and
methods that will hopefully render uniform Electronic Health Record
introduction across the country. It is a safe bet that Dr. Hill
will continue to enlighten us about that project and generate even
more new ideas for our profession and our Society.
Reproduced with permission from the
CSCC Newsletter
|
|
Contributed By Prof Rajiv
Erasmus, IFCC eNewsletter WG Member
Rajiv Erasmus
College of Pathologists of East, Central and Southern
Africa established
SAACB members Dr Zemlin, Dr George, Mr Hassan, Dr Hoffman and Prof
Matsha as well as its president, Professor Erasmus were founding
members of the newly established College of Pathologists of East,
Central and Southern Africa. The College was inaugurated on the
16th September, 2010 and a Council established. Professor Erasmus
the current SAACB president was elected to be its first Vice
President.
Educational workshop of Inborn Errors of Metabolism held
January 2011 in Durban
SAACB held an educational workshop of Inborn Errors of Metabolism
in the last week of January 2011 in Durban. It was hosted by the
University of Kwazulu Natal, one of the premier universities of
South Africa. It was hugely successful and very informative
Professorf Steenkamp was elected to the IFCC Executive
Board
Former president of the IFCC, Professor Steenkamp was elected to
the IFCC Executive Board in at the IFCC meeting in Berlin on
15th May, 2011
IFCC Congress in 2017
Durban, South Africa will be the venue for the IFCC Congress in
2017
Professor Erasmus invited by IFCC
Professor Erasmus has been invited by the IFCC to be part of a
Laboratory Management Course to be given just before the Africa
Federation of Clinical Chemistry Congress (AFCC) in Nairobi on
26th September, 2011.
Dr Jocelyn Naicker appointed Chair of the National
Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) Expert Committee on Chemical
Pathology
SAACB Council member, Dr Jocelyn Naicker was appointed to Chair
the National Health Laboratory Services (NHLS) Expert Committee on
Chemical Pathology. The SAACB would like to congratulate her on
this appointment
SAACB involved in the organization of the Africa Health
Medilab Meeting
SAACB was involved in the organization of the Academic Program of
the Africa Health Medilab meeting that took place at NASREC,
Johannesburg from 10th to 12th May, 2011.
This meeting brought various health organizations and medical
specialties including Surgery, Medicine, Obstetrics, Radiology
under one roof. SAACB would like to thank Prof Delport, Prof
Erasmus, Jocelyn Naicker and Dr Zemlin for participating in this
meeting.
Dr Remaley from the NIH (USA) Guest to theSAACBAnnual
Congress
This year's invited guest to the South African Association for
Clinical Biochemistry (SAACB) annual congress (Sandton City
Convention Centre) is Dr Remaley (NIH) from the USA. Please visit
the SAACB website to get more details.The meeting will be held from
1st to 4th September, 2011. This year's
meeting will also involve medical technologists.
|