Pacific Society of Anaesthetists

AIM
The objectives of the Society are as follows:

1. To advance the science and art of anaesthesia in the Pacific.
2. To further the professional education and training of anaesthetists generally.
3. To facilitate the exchange of knowledge between Pacific anaesthetists and overseas colleagues.
4. To encourage publications from Pacific anaesthetists.
5. To enhance the professional status of anaesthetists in the Pacific and to seek cordial relations between them, other scientific workers, and medical organizations.

History

The Society was formed in 1989 with the help and support from the Australian Society of Anaesthetists (ASA). Major funding for its Annual Refresher Course comes from the Australian Government and also the NZSA. Courses were mostly held in Fiji but since 2005 it has been held outside Fiji in alternate years.

1989–1996 Suva, FIJI
1997 Nukualofa, TONGA
1998–1999; 2001 Suva, FIJI
2002 Lautoka, FIJI
2003;2004 Suva, FIJI
2005 Rarotonga, COOK ISLANDS
2006 Suva, FIJI
2007 Apia, SAMOA
2008 Suva, FIJI
2009 Port Vila, VANUATU
2010 Labasa, FIJI
2011 Suva, FIJI

The members includes medical anaesthetists and Anaesthetic Technical Officers (ATO). The Society has grown from five to 30 financial members in the last 20 years.

Contacts: current office holders are:

•    President  -  Dr Sereima Bale, Anaesthesia Co-ordinator, Fiji National University.
•    Vice President  -  Dr Christopher Bowden, Senior Lecturer in Anaesthesia at the College of Medical and Nursing Sciences, Fiji National University
•    Secretary/Treasurer  -  Dr Ieli Fakraufon, Colonial War Memorial Hospital, P.O. Box 115, Suva, Fiji