Advancements in Medicine Conference Hosted at May Pen Hospital Results in Improved Service

Several health care professionals converged at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon on Monday (February 23) for a four day Advancements In Medicine conference which facilitated professionals from Jamaica and overseas sharing knowledge on current developments in medicine and identifying and implementing solutions that will lead to improvements in the country’s healthcare delivery system.

Senior Medical Officer at the May Pen Hospital, Dr. Bradley Edwards said the annual conference organized by the May Pen Hospital since 2010 in collaboration with the Organization for Strategic Development of Jamaica (OSDJ) has improved the efficiency and effectiveness of health care delivery at the May Pen Hospital.

Turning to the effectiveness of the initiative, Dr. Edwards pointed out that the topic of Endoscopy which is a medical procedure where an instrument is used to look inside the human body for medical reasons was covered at the 2014 conference. He added that after the conference, staff at the May Pen Hospital was trained in more advance techniques in Endoscopy which resulted in the staff being able to effectively meet patient’s needs in this area.

“The 2014 conference also resulted in the Accident and Emergency staff being trained in emergency ultra-sound which is another topic that was presented at that conference” Dr. Edwards added.

Dr. Edwards explained that some of the topics covered at this year’s conference included Professionalism to Colleagues and Patients, Hypertensive Crises, Investigation of the Infertile Couple, Acute Management of Asthma Including Status Asthmaticus, Panic Disorder, Understanding Schizophrenia, Diagnostic Imaging in Child Abuse, an extensive focus on ECG, its interpretation, assessment and treatment and the development of Paediatric Nephrology in Jamaica and the way forward.

For presenter, Dr. Stacene Maroushek, Paediatric Infectious Disease Specialist from the Hennepin County Medical Centre in Minneapolis, she has been working with the annual conference since 2008 and has found Jamaica very receptive. She highlighted the fact that she has been impressed with the level of dedication and service to patients by Jamaican health care professionals despite limited resources.

President of the Organization for Strategic Development of Jamaica Wayland Richards noted that in going forward the OSDJ hopes to partner with the Diaspora to provide support teams for each public hospital in Jamaica.

The conference which ended on February 26 featured presentations from medical consultants from the May Pen Hospital, the University of the West Indies, University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, University of New Mexico, Vanderbilt University and Hennepin County Medical Centre.