We thank and praise Allah [SWT] for His Infinite Mercy and Blessings.
The IMASA [Cape Town] Branch hosted a successful Graduation Ceremony & Fundraising Dinner on Wednesday, 2nd December 2015, Islamia College Hall, Lansdowne. A total of 450 people attended the event. Exhibitors included: PPS Insurance, Melomed Hospital Holdings and L.A. Sonday Insurance. The programme was opened with Qiraat by Fajrul Islam Learners, Alhamdulillah.
Despite the disruption of examinations, which impacted a great deal of our invited delegates, we hosted 75 graduates in the faculties of Medicine, OT, Dentistry, Oral Hygiene, Pharmacy, Physiotherapy, Social Work, Unani Tibb, Complimentary Health Science, Chinese Medicine & Acupuncture. Post Graduates included: Obstetricians and an Oncologists. Prof Razeen Davids, was honoured for his Phd in Development and usability evaluation of a multimedia e-learning resource for electrolyte and acid-base disorders.
Dr Osman Brey, retired IMA stalwart, was given the honorary duties of awarding the oaths to the graduates. The hall was filled to capacity as parents of our graduates supported this event in a big way. We salute our parents and family members’ for their phenomenal support of our newly qualified healthcare professionals as they pave their way to success, Alhamdulillah.
Our guest speaker was the vibrant Dr Mohamed Dalwai who holds a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from University of Stellenbosch. He is passionate about the impact of medicine within the rural context having completed his Community Service at Manguzi – a rural community – in the Maputaland region of the KwaZulu-Natal province. This led him to join MSF as an ER doctor in various countries such as Pakistan, Libya and Syria, with missions to Haiti, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. He is currently the President of MSF Southern Africa. In 2012, the Mail & Guardian recognized Mohammed as one of South Africa’s Top 200 youngsters specifically for his groundbreaking work around the South African triage Scale and its implementation across the world. He is currently pursuing a PhD in Emergency Medicine at the University of Cape Town.
In 2012 he co-founded The Open Medicine Project, aimed at capacitating healthcare workers through Open Access mobile apps. In 2014 he was chosen as a TED fellow giving talks in both South Africa and Brazil. The Open Medicine Project has apps been used in over 200 countries by over 140 000 healthcare workers. Mohammed believes in the accumulative value of individual contributions with the overall imperative of changing the world, one step at time.
Mohammed spoke about his personal experience and taking a different path of medicine throughout his career. He emphasised the values behind patients care and the central role of doctors in our society and how we can address challenges of the modern world. This talk was awe inspiring to both young and old, Alhamdulillah.
Spanglish guitarists offered some light entertainment with a musical interlude as the scrumptious meal was being served by Elegante Caterers. An appeal was made for support of the Renal Dialysis Programme as the patient numbers were steadily increasing. A flyer was produced for the dinner and widely distributed, Alhamdulillah. Contributions were invited and R7000 was collected at the venue, Alhamdulillah.
Langa Clinic was highlighted as major project in Cape Town which needed ongoing support through volunteering time at the clinic. Our regular volunteers were acknowledged for their sterling service thusfar, Alhamdulillah. Delegates were informed about the forthcoming 36th Annual Convention to be hosted at Lagoon Beach Hotel, 30th April – 1st May 2016.
The IMA ladies were singled out for praise for arranging yet another successful event, Alhamdulillah.
