Samoa Conference Site Visit

28 — "A delegation of six, led by Prof Philip Morris, visited Apia to meet with our conference partners."

Samoa Conference Site Visit

Meeting at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital in Apia, from the left: Prof Viali Lameko, Dean of Oceania University of Medicine, Dr Tito, President of Samoa Med Assn, Prof John Kearney, Academic representative of the GCMA, and Prof Philip Morris AM, President of GCMA. (Photo by Stephen Weinstein)

Prof Stephen Weinstein MHA, FRCPA, FRACMA, FACHSE stephenweinstein@bigpond.com

The GCMA’s previous joint medical conferences in the Pacific were preceded by fairly intense fact-finding visits, and the planned Samoa conference 28 – 30 September 2023 will be no different.

In the second week of October 2022, a delegation of six, led by our intrepid President Prof Philip Morris, visited Apia, the capital of independent Samoa, to meet with our conference partners, select a venue, plan the program, and put in place a steering committee to deal with the numerous details involved carrying out this venture.

First a few words on the Samoan Archipelago, in Western Polynesia. In the 1890s, Samoa was engaged in a prolonged civil war, with the various protagonists supported by the colonial powers Britain, Germany and USA. The issue was resolved in 1899, when the islands were partitioned into American Samoa, which is still ruled by the US, and Western Samoa, which in turn was ruled by Germany, then New Zealand, and in 1962 became the first independent nation in the Pacific. Independent Samoa is the larger of the two, with a population of about 200,000, while American Samoa has about 55,000. They share the same Samoan language and culture, which is based on the village, and the chiefly system, which places great emphasis on chiefly titles, referred to as matai.

Our conference partners in this venture are primarily the Oceania University of Medicine (OUM), a private medical school headed by its Australian vice chancellor Air Vice-Marshal Prof Hugh Bartholomeusz. Under him there are Deans for Australia, USA and Samoa. Most of the fee-paying students are from Australia and America, and about 15 Samoan students, most of whom are on scholarships. The Dean for Samoa, Toleafoa Dr Viali Lameko, was our main host and contact for this trip. The chiefly matai title “Toleafoa” precedes all other honours.

The other partners are the Samoa Medical Association, the Ministry of Health, and the local Samoan medical school under the National University of Samoa (NUS). We were asked to present at grand rounds at the Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital, the main teaching hospital in Samoa. Philip Morris spoke on suicide prevention, John Kearney on traumatic eye injury, and I covered DNA profiling in criminal investigation. The event was well attended by medical students of both schools, registrars and consultants.

My wife Lis and I first taught at the OUM in Apia in 2008, and it was gratifying to be remembered by at least some of the students. One of them is now Samoa’s only psychiatrist. As in many small Pacific Island countries, many of the doctors wear more than one hat, working mostly in the public sector, teaching at the medical schools, and some in the very embryonic private sector.

As far as venues are concerned, the most likely seems to be the Taumeasina Resort, a delightful hotel set on its own small island near Apia, joined by a causeway to the main Island of Upolu. This place has the best conference facilities in Apia, having recently hosted the Pacific Society of Reproductive Health (PSRH, google it!). During our visit to Apia, the Governor of American Samoa also stayed at the Taumeasina. We did not stay there, but at the Tanoa Tusitala Hotel in downtown Apia, a more central business venue.

Major conference issues still under discussion are the overall theme, topics and speakers, which is where the GCMA members, together with their friends and professional contacts, are indispensable. When asked about what would be most useful to Samoa, the answers encompassed almost the entire spectrum of disease states, from cardiovascular disease, neoplasia, infectious disease (not only Covid!), mental health, trauma, chronic disease, and you name it. It is also likely that the OUM will be looking for elective placements in Australia for some of their students.

If you are interested in being a speaker, please let us know.

In a lighter moment, the GCMA team breaks for lunch in a village on the south coast of Upolu. (Photo by Stephen Weinstein)

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