Dear AWDS members & friends,

Thank you for all your support ,and for voting in a new vibrant exco committee who will helm AWDS from 2008- 2010 !

I welcome all the new members who have joined us and I thank the older members for continuing to be pillars of support. The founding members have and will always be invaluable for their wisdom and advice.

We celebrated the 10th anniversary of AWDS in 2008 and the society has come a long way since it was first registered in July 1998. AWDS first fought for the abolishment of the gender quota that, up until its termination in 2002, restricted the intake of deserving female medical students into the medical degree course in Singapore. AWDS has evolved through its teething years as a society, and is recognized as pivotal in promoting women’s rights in relation to health and career advancement in medical practice.

Since then, the association has grown from strength to strength in recent years with an increasing number of activities and collaborations with other women’s groups eg. UNIFEM, AWARE, WINGS, Financial Women’s Association (FWA), Business & Professional Women’s Association (BPWA) to name a few, and is also invited to engage in Ministerial Dialogue Sessions by the PAP Women’s Wing. AWDS joined the Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations (SCWO) in 2005 and established a website in mid 2006.

Recent years has seen AWDS focusing on

• medical advocacy & public education on various aspects of women’s and children’s health (like cervical cancer awareness & prevention, raising sexual health awareness amongst teenagers, etc)
• a heart for charity (with our inaugural AWDS Charity Dinner in 2007 benefiting Star Shelter, for abused women & Sanctuary House, for abandoned babies)
• and increasing the bond between women doctors, with a myriad of fun activities, ranging from spa treats, gourmet cooking classes, jewellery and wine appreciation, to make-up and fashion soirees

We will continue to have activities planned around our mission statement. We also aim to reach out to our younger colleagues through our fun activities, and we hope to recruit more junior members to join our ranks to network, socialize outside of the medical fraternity and help do our bit for the public health and social areas.

So, come on board and join us ! Wishing you all a good year ahead!

Dr Wendy Teoh

President AWDS