INTERVENTIONAL CARDIOVASCULAR FORUM 2009, AWANA GENTINGS, 11th-13th Dec 2009 FOLLOWUP REPORT

Well, the weekend is over. This year, we tried for the first time, a three half day meeting. Friday being a working day in most states ( except Selangor ), saw poor attendance. By saturday, we were back to what it was previously, in terms of attendance. In terms of clinical material and case presentations and discussions, it was very good and informative. The Thais came well prepared and on Thursday, so that they presented many caes on Friday morning. Interesting ones, from which we all learn alot. Looks like we are not yet ready to close clinic to come. Looks like it has to be a strictly weekend meeting, for the moment at least.
Awana Gentings was easy to get to. It took me about 65 mins from Subang, driving at a leisurely pace. On Thursday afternoon, the traffic was good. The resort itself could do with some refurbrishing and maintainence work. I nearly could not get into my room on saturday as the door lock was jammed. Also the cook tried to serve me curry mee, picking up the mee and ingredients with his bare hands. I declined the mee and reported to the manager, that I did not know what the cook last did, before touching the mee. The children who came along had fun, as there was much to do. Conference facilities for a meeting of 50-60 people were adequate.
The attendance on Friday was 40 odd made up of about 20+ Malaysians, anout 10 Thais, and about 10 sponsors representative. Saturday was about 50+ and Sunday about 30+. We saw about 30 cine cases. Although we did not planned it, we saw many cases of thrombus ( blood clots ) in arteries, and how each interventionist dealt with it. The foreign speakers also showed some of their cases. There was of course, free and unbridled discussion in a spirit of learning. No one tried to " Lord " it over the others. There were two cardiac surgeons in the audience to keep over enthusiatic interventionist in check. To remind us that in some situations, cardiac surgery may be the better option. I think that that is important. The younger members felt ( they all shared with me ) that they learned alot from the discussions of the cases. The lectures were good, and well prepared. The lecture on the use of Plavix, with Losec was particularly informative. We all learned that it was still controversial. Maybe we should use Plavix + aspirin with a H2 antagonist as a prefered initial strategy. The data on plavix PPI interaction was still rather controversial. It depends on which camp you came from.
The gala night was great. Not many people attended. Looks like the sponsors had taken many away privately. Those who were there ( about 6 tables ) had a good time, eating, laughing, joking and having good wine. This year, one delegate donated 4 bottles of good wine. Those that I bought for the evening were of average quality only. Suffice to say that we finished all the wine. The Thais are quite good wine drinkers. We all had a jolly goodtime.
Well, we spend well within the budget. When I looked over the master bill for Awana on Sunday afternoon, we were very healthy ( budget-wise ). I have yet to see the overall bill. I expect it to be well within our means. The sponsors' response so far ( of course when I ask them, it is a bias response ) was good. They were pleased. I shall be speaking to some of the big bosses to see what kind of feedback they will give me.
As for next year ( everyone is asking ), there were many suggetsions for improvement. Some wanted it earlier, some suggested that we go overseas. The Thais suggested that we should reciprocate and hold it in Thailand next year. I replied that we will consider and budget is an important factor ( as always ). As for the academic content, I suppose the cine review sessions will definitely remain and may be enhanced. Maybe it should be abit more structured.
Overall, I think that we fulfilled our objective of helping to further raise the standard of interventional cardiology, in Malaysia, and maybe Thailand too. It was a good weekend of learning.