Australian Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering Annual Report 2004Despite potential problems such as terrorism, war, a global economic downturn and SARS, WC2003 was very successful and we were delighted to see so many colleagues and friends in Sydney. We got through due to a hard-working and dedicated executive committee with excellent support from our professional conference organiser and continuing international help, good will, encouragement and advice, particularly from Dov Jaron and Joachim Nagel. Our Keynote and Plenary speakers were excellent, bringing us the state-of-the-art developments in their fields and pointing us towards the future. In particular, the keynote speaker, Lord May of Oxford, suggested that the future of such Congresses lie in their broadening to be more inclusive than exclusive. In the light of feedback from colleagues and previous World Congresses, we introduced new tracks and changed the thrust of others. As an example, Health Technology Management, which combined the former Clinical Engineering and Technology Evaluation Tracks, proved to be a great success. We put a lot of work into good communications. Our e-newsletter "DownUnder 2003" was very successful and some editions were also published in Chinese and Japanese. Other innovations included the personalised program on the website and the search engine included in the CD Congress proceedings. The 2084 delegates included 975 full time registrations, 346 day registrations, 461 student, developing countries and retiree registrations, 72 complimentary registrations and 58 accompanying person registrations. There were 1290 oral presentations and 978 poster papers. The budget was about AUS$2,000,000 (about US$1,400,000) and the gross profit was about AUS$113,000 (about US$79,000). This year's Engineering and Physical Sciences in Medicine Conference, EPSM 2004, will take place from November 14th to 18th. The conference will be held in Geelong, a regional city in Victoria an hour's drive from Melbourne. A joint conference of the Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine, the Engineers Australia College of Biomedical Engineers, and the Society for Medical and Biological Engineering, this annual conference is a forum for discussion of all aspects of research, treatment and management in the fields of Biomedical Engineering and Medical Physics. The theme for EPSM 2004 is "Regional Healthcare Technologies - Overcoming the Tyranny of Distance". This will provide an opportunity to participate in the current debate concerning the appropriate type and expense of healthcare in regional, rural and remote areas; and what the optimal solution to providing that health care should be. This covers issues such as provision of fundamental medical services in remote and impoverished communities, and access to specialist services in regional centres, telecommunications protocols and infrastructure, homecare technologies and the role of technology in improving the quality of services. These are major political and technical issues in a large country with a relatively low population density in many parts. The conference will also include one-day symposia on Biomedical Digital Signal Processing Hardware and Professional Development Program for Biomedical Engineers and Technologists Further details can be found at http://www.epsm.org.au/2004
Dr Richard Kirsner
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