Bulletin Number Three 1983

Dr. R. Swaminathan concerning education and training in Anaesthesia. He is currently Adviser in Anaesthesia and Resuscitation to the British Army. Professor Thornton has travelled widely. He was a Visiting Professor at the Universities o f Hobart, Lagos, Accra, Khartoum, Nairobi and at universities in Japan, and an Examiner to the Universities o f Nairobi, Khartoum, Cairo, Lagos, Ibadan, Colombo, Singapore, Kuwait, Iraq and Dublin. He has wide experience o f the problems associated w ith staffing and training in Anaesthesia. His research interests are in chronic respiratory disease and anaesthesia, dental anaesthesia, adverse reactions to anaesthetic agents, total intravenous anaesthesia and post-operative analgesia. Among his publications are seven textbooks on Anaesthesia and related topics. Dr. R. Swaminathan Reade r in Chemi ca l Pa t ho l ogy Dr. Ramasamyiyer Swaminathan studied Medicine at the University o f Ceylon, Peradeniya and graduated w ith honours in 1967. In 1970 ， he went to the United Kingdom for postgraduate training. He worked w ith Professor A.D. Care o f the University o f Leeds and investigated 'The Role o f Calcitonin on Calcium Homeostasis' and was awarded the Degree of Doctor o f Philosophy in 1974. Later that year, he joined the Department o f Chemical Pathology at the Leeds General Infirmary as a Trainee Registrar. During the training period, he obtained an MSc in Clinical Biochemistry. In January 1977, he joined the Department o f Chemical Pathology, University o f Leeds as a Lecturer. He continued his training and obtained his MRCPath (Chemical Pathology) in 1979. While at the University o f Leeds, he was first appointed as Honorary Senior Registrar and then as an Honorary Consultant in Chemical Pathology. His research interests include calcium meta­ bolism, regulation o f energy expenditure and obesity, sodium transport in erythrocytes and the use o f cellular analysis in Chemical Pathology. Tasks Ahead Department o f Anaesthesia I am particularly anxious to encourage the develop­ ment o f national training programmes to assist trainees in the preparation for higher examinations in Anaesthesia. I believe that the academic and service demands o f Anaesthesia should be closely integrated. The anaesthetist is in reality the physician to the surgical team and as such is heavily involved in the preoperative, operative and postoperative care o f surgical patients. The expertise o f the anaesthetist is also invaluable in the fields o f intensive care and resuscitation, and the close involvement o f the anaesthetist w ith other disciplines in medicine is essential for the overall well-being o f patients. The anaesthetist is also much involved in undergraduate medical and surgical education and has much to offer in the training in acute medicine and surgery. To foster research amongst anaesthetists, I am currently planning aresearch programme to investigate into the problems o f the management o f postoperative pain and the response o f patients to pain-relieving drugs. -J.A. Thornton Department o f Chemical Pathology Chemical Pathology is the study o f the biochemical and physiological aspects o f diseases. Chemical Patho­ logy, in conjunction w ith other areas o f Pathology, contributes to the understanding o f the disease process and its effects on the patient and contributes to the diagnosis o f disease and its management. The subject can be considered to have two subdivisions - Pathophysiology and Clinical Chemistry or Clinical Biochemistry. Over-emphasis on the latter without a thorough understanding o f Pathophysiology has led to over-investigation. The responsibilities o f the Department o f Chemical Pathology are undergraduate and post­ graduate training, an investigation service for clinicians, and research. A t undergraduate level, an understanding o f the disease process and how investigations may help in the diagnosis and management w ill train the students to become good clinicians. A t postgraduate level, there is hardly any training in Chemical Pathology in Hong Kong at present. The aim o f the new Depart ment w ill be to offer training facilities for all junior pathologists (whatever their speciality) during their RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 7