A proposal from the Gold Coast Medical Association (G.C.M.A.) for Samoa to host an international medical has been welcomed by the different groups that make up Samoa's health sector. 

A delegation made up of executive members of the only local membership-based organisation, which represents the broad interests of the medical community on the Gold Coast, have been in Samoa doing scoping work on whether an international medical conference can be hosted by Samoa. 

Following a meeting with all the heads of Samoa's Ministry of Health, School of Medicine and the Oceania Medical Association, the G.C.M.A. executive members have confirmed that an international medical conference will take place in Samoa next year. 

In an exclusive interview with the Samoa Observer on Friday, the President of G.C.M.A. Professor Philip Morris confirmed that the conference will run from 28-30 September next year. Other details such as topics and the venue for the conference are yet to be finalised.

Prof. Morris, who is qualified in psychiatry and addiction medicine and is also the Executive Director of the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association, told this newspaper they successfully carried out similar conferences in other countries in the Pacific and have built great partnerships with the medical associations of those countries. 

They are also hoping to build strong connections and relationships with their colleagues working in the health system in Samoa through this international conference. 

Speaking about the objective of the conference, Prof. Morris said they hope the conference will be a "positive and very serious meeting" which covers academic, research and educational topics relevant to the health system of Samoa. 

"We are here to see if we can get it all together for September next year," Prof. Morris added. 

"We were able to speak with the Samoa Medical Association President, the Dean of the Oceania University of Medicine, the Dean of the National University of Samoa Medical School, the Acting Director General of the Ministry of Health who is also the Deputy Director of Public Health in Samoa. 

"We have made expressed our interest with the assistance of the Dean of O.U.M. Dr. Viali who has been our point of contact in Samoa, so far they have welcomed the idea and we are happy to know that they are willing to assist us with making this conference possible."

Dr. Stephen Weinstein added that the people they had met so far in Samoa have been "extremely helpful". 

"We appreciate the help from our Samoa counterparts and we are grateful for the support and welcome we have been getting from our colleagues in Samoa."

Asked about how Samoa will benefit from hosting this conference, Dr. Weinstein said that exchanging of ideas at a professional level is the main driver behind the conference. 

"We will bring in experts on various fields and we are looking at ways where we can have medical students who are not doctors yet, to work in the hospitals in Australia for training so it can broaden their knowledge and skills maybe that will help them decide what sort of specialty they want to pursue and what sort of specialty Samoa needs.

"We also see this as a learning opportunity not only for the doctors in Samoa but for the doctors from Australia who will be attending this conference."

Nevertheless, Dr. John Kearney Oam, who is an Ophthalmologist at the Gold Coast Eye Clinic, added that this will also help Samoa's tourism sector. 

"We have really enjoyed our time in Samoa as this is the first time for the most of us to be in Samoa," Dr. Kearney said. 

"We went to a delightful fire dancing at Siva Afi and that was magnificent. We also visited the Robert Louis Stevenson Museum up at Vailima and it was an amazing experience. 

"This will also help Samoa in terms of tourism as the conference will bring in doctors with their families and they will get to see what's happening in Samoa and what Samoa has to offer and they can take the experience back to Australia and encourage people to come to Samoa. 

"Australians don't understand the nature of things in Samoa and the lifestyle here."

The conference will also be a platform for senior doctors from the two counties to give presentations on the areas that they're looking after. 

Not only that, but it will also offer an opportunity for the junior doctors who are also experienced in the profession to present papers to their colleagues. 

The O.U.M. Dean for Samoa and the Asia Pacific, Toleafoa Dr. Viali Lameko told the Samoa Observer that the conference will offer overseas specialists to present the latest and updates treatment of some common diseases relevant to Samoan patients and also to health resources and system. 

Toleafoa added that this conference will be a great help to medical practitioners in Samoa and is looking forward to the country hosting such an important conference.