Assembly of Asia Pacific
International Academy of Pathology


Other pathology societies in the region

Fiji

A medical college was established in Fiji in 1885 to train Assistant Medical Practitioners. This became the Fiji School of Medicine in 1961; and in 1982 a 6 year MB BS course began.

The Medical School has struggled and the training of pathologists has been very slow.

In Fiji there are 3 full time pathologists, one of whom has a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Pathologists (FRCPA)
The service pathology and teaching at the Fiji Medical School is supplemented by pathologists from India and Sri Lanka on short term secondments.

Indonesia

Indonesia is one of the early members of the IAP, being formally registered before 1998.

The Division works with the Indonesian Association of Pathologists in arranging annual meetings and regional educational meetings.

There has been a continuing interchange of personnel with Australia over many years. This has been somewhat reduced in more recent years.

Prof. ST Himawan from Jakarta University was an early President of the Indonesian Division of the IAP. He continues in his contacts with pathologists in the Region.

Dr Tonoko the Secretary is a regular attendee at the meetings of the Australasian Division of the IAP.

Some representative photographs will be shown.

South Korean

The Korean Society of Pathologists (KSP; http://www.pathology.or.kr) was founded on October 1, 1946, as a nonprofit organization to assist the study and practice of pathology of human diseases. At the beginning, the activities of KSP were focused on experimental research until the year 1963, at which point, a resident system was adopted and KSP’s first board certification examination was conducted. Since then, surgical pathology became a major part of the activities at KSP.

In 1981, KSP became a member of the International Academy of Pathology (IAP), and Korean pathologists have attended in the IAP Congresses. A conjoint meeting of pathologic doctors from four countries in the Asia-Pacific region (Korea, Japan, Australia, and Hong Kong) was held at Seoul in 1999. The 8th Asia Pacific IAP Congress will be hosted by the IAP-Korean division and held in BEXCO (Busan Exhibition & Convention Center), Busan, Korea, from September 5 to 8, 2013.

In the activities of KSP, IAP division works are run by the International Cooperation Committee. The president of KSP also serves as the president of the Korean Division of IAP. In addition, the chair of the International Cooperation Committee serves as the secretary of the Korean Division of IAP. Two hundred senior pathologists are among the members at the Korean Division of IAP at 2013.

The Korean Society for Cytopathology (KSCP) was founded in 1986 as an affiliated society, and recently cytotechnologists can become members of the society.

The Korean Journal of Pathology (http://koreanjpathol.org) is the official journal of the KSP and the KSCP, and become open to public access in 1967. The journal publishes six issues every year. Since its founding and up until February 2012, the journal was published only in the Korean language; however, the journal shifted to English as its main language beyond that point.

The total membership of KSP constitutes 1,004 doctors, including 145 residents in 2013. There are 15 study groups and 4 regional subdivisions. KSP conducts various meetings every year, including spring (second week of May) and fall (third week of October) meetings, six monthly slide seminars, three workshops or symposia for members, and two educational programs for residents. About 500 members regularly participate in the biannual spring and fall meetings. Regional societies and study groups run their own slide seminars as well.

KSP holds a conjoint meeting with the Japanese Division of IAP in the fields of hematopathology , gynecological pathology, endocrine pathology, renal pathology, bone and soft tissue pathology, pulmonary pathology, and cytopathology.

The scientific research activities at KSP have also been recognized by The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences, and in this regard, KSP received excellency awards for nine years in a row, starting from 2004.

Malaysia

The University of Malaya was established by the British in 1963 just before Independence. It was founded on Western lines and attracted students especially from the Indian and Chinese population.

The University of Malaysia was established after Independence mainly for Malay students.

Lai Meng Looi was the second Professor in the University of Malaya and was still in the job in 2011. She has been RCPA representative for the area for some years and was given a Distinguished Pathologist award from the RCPA in 2011. She also recently received an award of Distinguished Professor from the Ministry of Higher Education.

Pathologists from Malaysia have been regularly attending meetings of the Australasian and other Divisions of the IAP. They have not as yet formed their own Division.

Pakistan

Pakistan is the 6th most populous country in the world with a population of over 180 million. ‘Pakistan Association of Pathologists (PAP)’ is the common platform of all Pathologists of Pakistan; its foundation was laid in 1975 and since early 1980s it regularly holds its annual conferences in a city of Pakistan. In 2013, 37th annual conference of PAP was held at Lahore from 20-22 December. Currently over 800 pathologists from all sub-specialties (Histopathology & Cytology, Haematology, Microbiology, Chemical Pathology & Immunology) are regular members of PAP. At about the same time in 1986, PAP took initiative to go ahead with ‘IAP-Pakistan Division’ which was formally approved in IAP Vienna congress. In later years however, unfortunately though PAP activities continued, this chapter became dormant so much so that relatively younger generation of pathologists even did not know that it existed. To our fortune in December, 2011 in a pathology course we met Professor Ho-Keung Ng, Associate Dean (Education), Faculty of Medicine and Department of Anatomical & Cellular Pathology Prince of Wales Hospital, The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He motivated us and facilitated revival of IAP-Pakistan Division in 2012. We must also acknowledge Hardwick, Secretary International Academy of Pathology who was so forthcoming and with that, we got back our international status. I am Secretary/Treasurer of, IAP- Pakistan Division and in 2014 membership of IAP-Pakistan Division stands at 160. This year other office bearers of the division shall also be elected.


First meeting of the IAP-Pakistan Division was held on 2nd November, 2013 at Pear Continental Hotel Karachi with about 200 registered participants from across Pakistan. Besides several local speakers, Dr Samir Amr, President, International Academy of Pathology participated as guest speaker and had a presentation on IAP, its history and educational mission. President IAP also presented a commemorative plaque to Secretary, Dr Shahid Pervez. Another foreign speaker was Dr Hakan Aydin from Singapore General Hospital. Poster presentations were also held along with best poster awards.

Papua New Guinea

A Medical School was established in PNG in 1961. In July 2011 some of the first teachers and students joined with current students and teachers at a function to commemorate the 50th anniversary of this happening.

The earliest post graduate diplomas (Master of Medicine) were given to specialists in clinical disciplines. In the 1900s the first National specialists in Pathology began to take over the specialist roles. This training course continues and there are 3 trainees at present.

These specialists were trained over a number of years in a course run by overseas graduates who were employed by the Health Department. Some of them went on to qualify for membership of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia.

In 1997, the National Pathologists formed the PNG Pathology Society. They invited some of the pathologists who had worked in PNG to attend this meeting. At present there are 5 National Anatomical Pathologists and 1 Haematologist in PNG.

The Australasian Division of the IAP, and the RCPA have been responsible for granting short term scholarships to trainee pathologists and qualified pathologists from PNG to undergo training in Australia and to attend their annual meetings.

 

The Philippines

There are quite a number of pathologists in the Philippines, and a Division was established in 1965 but there has been limited contact with them recently.

A photograph of some pathologists who attended the meeting in Singapore will be shown. It is hoped that more contact will be made with these pathologists in the near future.

 

Other countries in the Region

There are a number of Pacific Island States and countries such as Burma and Cambodia where there are only a small number of pathologists, and they are being served by short term visits by overseas pathologists and by attending meetings of larger Divisions which are offering scholarships for them to attend meetings.