Talk at the MSH Office

Dr Ganesh presenting his case for the vening

In the last few months, the Malaysian Society of Haematology has moved its office - just across the block - into a bigger unit in Oasis Damansara. And this particular unit was big enough to host teaching sessions and meetings after renovation completed recently. So, last night, we hosted our first Pharmaceutical event, when Takeda brought an eminent speaker from Sydney, Prof Mark Hertzberg. He was previously the President of the Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand. He has been to Malaysia a few times, the last time being to Ipoh during the recent MSH Scientific Meeting.

Dr Jameela and Elizabeth in deep discussion while the delegates arrived

Elizabeth’s office certainly looked the part

The delegates starting to arrive

The stage was set

Not only that we managed to seat up to 50 delegates, but Takeda also brought in finger food, and coffee stand complete with baristas - and they brewed some mean cappuccino! The projection was more than able to cope with the event, and before the start, there was enough space to mingle and meet. If we arrange it properly, we could stretch to 100 of delegates into the office.

The new office had separate storage and an office area for our secretary, Elizabeth. Tucked to the side was a pantry area as well as two toilets and washing sink. After some food and chit-chat, it was time to start the business part. Yours truly was the chair for the day and the evening began with three case discussion from junior colleagues from Hospital Ampang - Dr Tan Su Keat, Dr Munzir Shukor and Dr K Ganesh. Great cases and indeed, the feedback from Prof Hertzberg were both authoritative and insightful.

Coffee of course …

And then some finger food

The AV guy on the ready

Prof Hertzberg chatting with Fui Teng from Takeda

The main event came after that. For 45 minutes, Prof Hertzberg went through the latest treatment options for Hodgkin Lymphoma, followed by a great question and answer session. Usually, I would be doing live blogging on such lectures. Unfortunately, being the chair, I was not able to. The meeting then adjourned to a Japanese restaurant around the corner, and the discussion continued on.

Dr Alan Teh, the immediate past-President of MSH with Prof Hertzberg

Prof Hertzberg getting the show off the road

Closing the session with a good old Q&A

I was delighted at how the event went on. The sponsor, Takeda certainly put in great effort to bring in the caterers as well as a dedicated audio-visual team for the evening. Judging from the success, there is certainly no reason why similar talks could not be conducted in the future. The only downside was the traffic getting into Oasis Damansara, especially during the rush hour. Maybe starting the event later in the evening or on Saturdays would help the matter.