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The Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine aims for excellence in the standard of training and practice of Occupational Medicine in Australasia. Occupational Physicians are consultants in the effects of work on health and health on work, and strive continually for acceptable working conditions in all facets of industry. |
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Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine
145 Macquarie Street Sydney, NSW 2000
ph: 02 8247 6219
afom@racp.edu.au
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AFOEM eNewsletter 6 March 08 |
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News & Events
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Rundown to Adelaide 2008! |
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There has been a fantastic response to the forthcoming joint AFRM/AFOEM conference in Adelaide, which promises to be interesting, convivial and diverse. Fellows have a tremendous selection of sessions to attend on the theme of People at Work: Managing Complexity.
The emphasis is on participation, with a plethora of practical workshops with such titles as Snoozing on the Job; Working with Neurological Conditions; Radiation - things you need to know; The Older Worker among others. There are some innovative breakfast meetings such as How to have Your Article Published and the inaugural AFOEM Education Breakfast meeting.
There is also a great social program including a McLaren Vale half day tour through the wineries and the joint gala dinner at the National Wine Centre of Australia. Sponsorship has exceeded expectation - now all we need is YOU.
For registration please go to www.dcconferences.com.au/afrmafoem.
If you would like an electronic copy of the ASM brochure please apply to the office.
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RACP Pre-Congress Workshops |
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AFOEM Council Summary February 2008 |
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Trainee Notices |
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ANZSOM 2008 Annual Scientific Meeting |
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RTW Knowledge Base |
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The Return to Work website www.rtwknowledge.org will be officially launched by Tim Stewart, AFOEM President, on March 11 and aims to inform employees, employers, practitioners and insurers on the best worldwide research on rtw issues.
This is a well crafted and informative site - well worth a visit. Some recent news articles that appear on the site can be viewed at:
http://afoem.racp.edu.au/page/news-and-events
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Expressions of Interest sought for repeat Occupational Hygiene practical workshops |
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"Before Galton: J.S. Mill and the Origins of the Modern Nature-Nurture Debate" |
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The Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine, the Medical Humanities Program and the History and Philosophy of Science Department, extend an invitation to you to attend two presentations by Professor Diane Paul, of the University of Massachusetts Boston:
1) "Before Galton: J.S. Mill and the Origins of the Modern Nature-Nurture Debate"
Monday March 17, 12.10 - 1.30
Location: the Kevin Lee Room, Level 6, Lobby H, Main Quad (sponsor: department of history)
http://www.arts.usyd.edu.au/departs/history/events/index.shtml
2) Patient Advocacy and Public Policy: The Case of Newborn Screening
Tuesday March 18, 12.30pm, Level 3, Board Room, Medical Foundation Building, University of Sydney
Diane Paul is Professor Emerita at the University of Massachusetts Boston, where she taught in the Department of Political Science and directed the Program in Science, Technology, and Values, and Research Associate in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard University. Since 2005, she has been Visiting Professor in the Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of British Columbia (Spring 2005), Visiting Professor of Medical Ethics in the Program in Ethics and Health, Harvard Medical School (Sept. 2006 - Dec.
2007), and most recently, Visiting Scholar at the Allan Wilson Centre for Molecular Ecology and Evolution at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand (Jan. March 2008). She has published on many aspects of the history of genetics; her books include Controlling Human Heredity: 1865 to the Present and The Politics of Heredity: Essays on Eugenics, Biomedicine, and the Nature-Nuture Debate. She is currently finishing research for a policy-oriented history of newborn screening for phenylketonuria (PKU)."
Light refreshments will be served following the presentations and discussion.
RSVP: for catering purposes would you be so kind as to notify us of your intention to attend to lgaze@med.usyd.edu.au
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URGENT REMINDER |
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Research and Education Foundation and Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation
Research Entry Scholarship Appeal An urgent letter from Ken Roberts, Chairman of the Research and Education was recently sent to College Fellows to help the Research and Education Foundation raise $200,000 to provide an additional Research Entry Scholarship to talented young researchers. To secure the $400,000 conditional grant from the Vincent Fairfax Family Foundation we must raise $200,000.
Please help us meet our goal and send in your donation by 10 March, 2008.
Send your donation to:
Research and Education Foundation
145 Macquarie Street
SYDNEY NSW 2000
For more information call Nicky Lancaster at the Foundation on 02 9256 9620
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3rd Annual Psychological Injury & Stress in the Workplace |
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The 3rd Annual Psychological Injury & Stress in the Workplace Conference is being held in Sydney from 30 April-2 May 2008. For further details go to the following website: www.iir.com.au/psych
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MABEL: Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life |
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Improving your working life – MABEL
MABEL (Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life) is a major new national longitudinal survey of doctors, funded by the NHMRC. Policies about the medical workforce and how to alleviate shortages of doctors need to be based on evidence about doctors’ own views, preferences and work and family circumstances. Without such evidence, policies may be insensitive to the realities of medical practice in Australia and less likely to be effective. MABEL is the first survey that will provide such rigorous evidence in Australia. The survey’s findings will be used to: i) improve doctors’ morale and work satisfaction, thus leading to improved patient care; ii) improve the population’s access to medical services; iii) develop policies to help doctors’ manage their workload; and iv) improve the evidence base of medical workforce policy. MABEL focuses on
examining a number of issues influencing the work—life balance of all types of doctor in Australia, and includes doctors in training through to doctors close to retirement. The longitudinal nature of the survey is very important as it will enable changes in doctors’ views, preferences and circumstances to be examined and followed up over time. The survey gives doctors the opportunity to provide important information about what it is like working in medicine and how this work interacts with their family and personal life. Invite letters for the first wave of the survey will be posted to a stratified random sample doctors in May 2008, and piloting is taking place at the moment. Doctors can also register to take part in MABEL by going to www.mabel.org.au
The survey is being led by Professor Anthony Scott at the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research at the University of Melbourne, in collaboration with the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences at Monash University. The survey is supported by a Policy Reference Group, comprising professional organisations and state and commonwealth governments, to ensure that the survey is relevant and that its findings are ultimately reflected in policy.
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Australasian Symposium on Neck Pain |
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Sunday 23rd November 2008, Adelaide Convention Centre
Held back-to-back with the: Better Choices Better Health Conference - Improving Compensation Outcomes, Monday 24th - Wednesday 26th November 2008, Adelaide Convention Centre
The conference themes are:
* Recognised best practice management of soft tissue injuries
* The compensation setting
* Return to work and the community
* Building capacity (through research, education and training)
Call for abstracts - Submission deadline - 18th April
Contact details for Symposium and Conference:
All Occasions Management
41 Anderson Street
Thebarton SA 5031
P: 08 8354 2285
F: 08 8354 1456
E: conference@aomevents.com
W: www.alloccasionsgroup.com/BetterChoicesBetterHealth
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ICOH 2009 News Update |
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Developmental Origins of Environmentally Induced Disease and Dysfunction |
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International Conference on Foetal Programming and Developmental Toxicity Tórshavn, Faroe Islands, 20-24 May, 2007
Philippe Grandjean, Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark,Department of Environmental Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA
Pal Weihe Department of Occupational Medicine and Public Health, The Faroese Hospital System, Torshavn, Faroe Islands
Proceedings from the conference are available online at: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1742-7843.2007.00169.x
".......Foetal and early postnatal development likely constitutes the most vulnerable time period of human life, in regard to adverse effects of environmental hazards. Subtle effects during early life can lead to functional deficits and increased disease risks later in life. The programming hypothesis (i.e. that early development determines subsequent organ functions and disease risks), has gathered much support from both experimental and epidemiological studies. The prenatal and early postnatal environment affects gene expression, and epigenetic changes may constitute an important mechanism for the programming effects. All of this information suggests that the timing of exposure to environmental chemical is crucial in determining the toxicity effects. These important insights are likely to be of importance for new research in environmental health and related fields, and for health
promotion and prevention purposes.
An international conference was therefore organized to review the current research frontline and stimulate cross-disciplinary research and collaboration in regard to developmental programming caused by environmental chemical exposures. The meeting was held on 20-24 May 2007, and the venue was the Nordic Conference Centre in Tórshavn, the capital city of the Faroe Islands. Over 120 scientific papers were presented, half of them as lectures. All abstracts and most of the posters are available at the conference website (http://www.pptox.dk). ...."
"......just published report on the impact of Prenatal programming and toxicity. It is based on a conference held last May. This volume (and the conference) were sponsored by WHO HQ, by NIH and the U.S.EPA.
In collaboration with the journal editor, the publisher has provided open access to thsi special issue. One outcome of the conference was the "Faroes statement", which received wide attention in the news media last year.
The proceedings (the Faroes statement and 25 invited papers) are now freely available at the journal website:
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/toc/pto/102/2
The articles demonstrate that the issue of adverse effects during early development is becoming a crucial issue also in toxicology and environmental health. While developmental biologists, nutritionists, and physiologists have explored the science of "developmental programming", the related perspective in regard to adverse effects of environmental stressors is only now becoming apparent. This means that we need to look for causal factors also far back in the past, and that we may easily have missed that goal by several decades. - Philippe Grandjean, MD...."
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