AWDS PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE 2011

Dear AWDS members & friends,

This note comes especially to wish you a marvelous Rabbit year. May 2011 bring you and your loved ones good health, happiness and good fortune.

Looking back on the activities of the previous year, I am truly impressed by the dedication and dynamism of the last AWDS committee led by Dr Wendy Teoh. A few memorable events come to mind:

Our recent AWDS/ British Theatre Playhouse’s Charity Gala Dinner Theatre on May 5, 2010, “From a Jack to a King”, raised an astounding $95,693.00 in aid of needy women with cancer & chronic illnesses through the KK Hospital Health Endowment Fund (KKHHEF).

The AGM in October saw 3 excellent speakers, Dr Myra Elliot, Dr Caroline Low and Dr Fatimah Lateef sharing their vast experience in charity work, ranging from raising funds, to organizing mission trips and first-hand experiences in disaster zones. It was truly inspirational stuff about what we as women doctors can achieve.

The AWDS has grown in strength and prominence. More activities and collaborations with other women’s groups such as, UNIFEM, AWARE, WINGS, Financial Women’s Association (FWA), Business & Professional Women’s Association (BPWA), to name a few, have been organised. We have also been invited to engage in Ministerial Dialogue Sessions. AWDS joined the Singapore Council of Women’s Organizations (SCWO) in 2005 and established a website in mid-2006.

This year, we will focus our efforts on the following activities:

We want to do a wide reaching survey on Women Doctors. The aim of the survey is to promote the interests of Women Doctors and to support them in the pursuit of work-life balance. This survey will also enable us to see if we can address the problem of attrition of doctors to the private sector and if it can be remedied. It will also enable us to give useful input in Ministerial Dialogue Sessions.

AWDS can make a difference with public education. Many of us with young daughters face difficulties in communicating certain important issues to them. We aim to enhance communication between parents and their teens on topics such as education on various aspects of women’s and children’s health, and we hope to raise sexual health awareness amongst teenagers. This makes our mission of increasing knowledge, awareness, and that of offering advice, very important. We hope to organize a public forum for Women and Daughters in July this year.

AWDS hopes to bring meaningful activities and programs to undergraduates through the continued mentoring of junior doctors.

We will strive to increase the bond between women doctors by organizing fun activities like cooking classes with gourmet chefs, and networking sessions with other professional bodies such as lawyers, bankers and other women’s groups.

Through our various activities, we hope to keep our members engaged and to increase membership. AWDS must be attractive to female doctors. Current and potential new members must have a clear vision of the benefits associated with membership.

The members of the committee have shown enormous zeal. Serving AWDS and its members as President is a great privilege and honor for me.

I look forward to serving you and working with you. I need your participation, and welcome your feedback. The Association looks forward to your presence in our many future events.

Best wishes for 2011. Have a great year ahead!

Dr June Goh, President 2010-2012

Updated 9 March 2011