The Faculty is delighted to announce that with the help of a $4 million National Health and Medical Research Council’s Australia Fellowship, Professor Paul Glasziou of Oxford University will join the Faculty academic team in early 2010.

One of the Gold Coast’s top eye specialists Dr John Kearney recently hosted two Ophthalmology workshops at Bond University. The workshops were attended by an integrated group of final year medicine students from the Bond University and Griffith University Medicine Programs.

Bond University’s Clinical Education and Research Centre at Robina Hospital is a step closer with early construction works commencing on the $287.7 million hospital expansion.

The second annual Moonlight Masquerade Charity Ball was held on Friday 30 January at Conrad Jupiters Casino. Hosted by the Medicine Ball Committee, the aim of the Ball was to raise funds for the Gold Coast based charity, Future for Kids Queensland.

Bond University first year medicine students Emma Hogan and Kylie Ferguson are two of only 16 Australian medicine students to be chosen by the Australian Medical Students Association (AMSA) to attend the March Global Health Conference in Tunisia, North Africa.

The Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine hosted a student organised Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training workshop (ASIST) from 18-19 January. Organised by Phase 3 student Omar Mansour, the workshop focused on teaching the necessary skills to medical students to assist in dealing with the fragile situation of a person who is contemplating or threatening suicide.

“The ASIST workshop is for medicine students who want to feel more comfortable, confident and competent in helping to prevent the immediate risk of suicide” said Omar.

19 students participated in the two-day, highly interactive, practical and practiceoriented workshop which is anticipated to be held each semester. In line with Bond’s small class size philosophy, the number was capped at 20 students per workshop to allow for an intensive and personalised experience.

“Medical students sometimes feel that they do not know how to deal with a delicate situation involving suicide. I believe it is very important to have basic level of skills to deal with suicide” said medical student Omar.

Professor Chris Del Mar, who opened the workshop, says “This suicide prevention weekend was a wonderful example of students taking initiative and setting up an educational activity for students that seems really worthwhile.”

Omar is actively involved in several other initiatives including Asian Medical Students’ Association and has recently returned from the East Asian Medical Students Conference (EAMSC) held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

“Part of my role as Regional Chairperson AUSTRALIA for the EAMSC has been to engage Bond medical students in international conferences and learning opportunities” said Omar.

Omar was the first Bond medical student to attend an international student conference and has since attended over ten conferences including making an address to the World Health Organisation Regional Pacific Meeting and being invited to attend the general assembly to the European Students’ Conference.

In January, the Faculty's inaugural medical cohort completed their elective, where students can opt to complete a rotation in a clinical setting, or take part in a research project. The elective is a fantastic opportunity for students to gain experience in a location or speciality they are particularly interested in.

First launched in 2006, the Faculty hosts an annual Professional Development Series in Children’s Services consisting of regular evening and weekend workshops. The aim of the sessions is to provide professional support to interested children’s services staff, early childhood educators and parents within the community.

The Faculty congratulates Professor Jenny Doust on her appointment by the Minister of Health to the prestigious Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC). This Committee has world-wide recognition as one of the finest ways of deciding which pharmaceuticals governments should subsidise, using not just evidence-based criteria, but also health-economics criteria.

A team of academics from Bond University’s Faculty of Health Sciences & Medicine has been chosen from a nation-wide tender process to design a revolutionary method to uncover doping – a practice that has lured many athletes seeking that elusive edge.

After a year of preparing her literature review and PhD proposal, PhD student, Sheree Hughes-Stamm is about to begin the practical research of her research project on improving DNA typing methods in natural and mass disasters.

The Health Sciences and Medicine newsletter is a quarterly publication available both in hard-copy and electronic versions.  Update your subscriptions details today online at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine website.  The next edition will be available in June.