SMPA Annual Report 2004

SMPA Annual report 2004

Dear colleagues

I’m glad to see today’s Lausanne meeting being realized, having many friends attracted and allowing vivid discussion about science and science politics. It is part of the main goals of the SMPA to ease scientific and social exchange within its members, to contribute to science politics and to integrate young researchers in ongoing debates. The business meeting of the SMPA itself is of only limited contribution to these main goals and shall therefore be kept short. When the SMPA is now meeting here in Lausanne, the society is reporting on its first year of existence. Therefore I would like to briefly review the main steps on the way from a strong idea, which was grown at Leuenberg 2002 by Luc Otten, to a real association, of which around 40% of Swiss MD-PhDs have already become members. The SMPA was elaborated by a taskforce in which Luc Otten, David Andel, Olivier Gaide, Lukas Jeker, myself, and Tobias Herzig have been active. The latter one, who unfortunately has meanwhile quit the MD-PhD program, will be honored today for his initial contribution to our society by being awarded the honorary member status.
The first highlight of the young SMPA history was the “Basel meeting” in fall 2003, where the newborn SMPA became officially approved, the board was elected and the strategy for the first business year elaborated. It was a particular pleasure, that with Prof. Annemarie Pieper, a philosopher of highest rank joined our first session and stimulated us with her talk about “Der perfekte Mensch”. The scientific session of the founding meeting was enriched by a talk of the Noble-prize winner Prof. Nüsslein-Volhardt, who presented us her very recent research data. Prof. Meier-Abt, the head of the MD-PhD program at the SAMS, to whom we owe many thanks for the initial support of the SMPA idea and its effort for the MD-PhDs in general, passed by to provide us with an update on the planned MD-PhD reform. Prof. Meier-Abt also invited the SMPA comment on the planned reform to reflect the needs and wishes of the directly involved people.
The elaboration of the “Comment to the reform of the Swiss MD-PhD program” became a main task of the board during the first SMPA business year. While we agreed with the planned reform in general, particularly the planned creation of a fused, “cheap” and not internationally compatible MD-PhD title has provoked substantial concerns. The question of the integration of the “Swiss postgraduate course in medicine” had to be addressed and the threat of continuously prolonged FMH curricula discussed. We thus suggested 1) to maintain the practice of a real double promotion with an independent, true PhD-curriculum that fulfills the criteria of a science faculty, 2) to create more practically oriented Master courses leading to e.g a Master of Clinical Sciences / Master of Biomedical Research. Such curricula should be in line with the Bolonga structures and integrate the current “Postgraduate course”. Third, we suggested, to recognize up to two years of the PhD formation for the FMH curriculum, depending on the field of work. This should ease the curriculum as a clinical scientist. Although we shared the need for a correction of the MD-PhD program towards the generation of more clinical scientists, we also recognized the importance of basic biomedical research for our research industry and aimed to warn from an overshooting correction of the MD-PhD program towards clinical research.
The comment paper has been submitted to all our members for review and once it has been approved, sent out to all Swiss medical and science faculties, the SNF and other public institutions. The echo has been very positive and many of our ideas have been integrated into the plans of the new Swiss MD-PhD curriculum.
Further activities of the SMPA constituted the organization of an open software course, lead by David Andel, that had unfortunately to be cancelled due to sub-threshold registration numbers, maybe due to that it was scheduled too close to the Leuenberg 2004. To the latter meeting, the SMPA has further contributed by providing potential speakers and topics for the workshop session. At the Leuenberg 2004 we also established first contact to Dr. Giger, member of the FMH board and responsible for the division “training / education” at the FMH. A worksheet outlining propositions how to adapt the FMH curricula for MD-PhDs has later been elaborated by the SMPA board and is currently being discussed by the FMH.

Dear colleagues, before I close, I would like to thank my friends for their tremendous efforts for the SMPA, which often have to be performed also in times when private schedule hardly allows: in particular I have to thank David Andel for providing the backbone of the society, its core: the internet platform and our wiki; Lukas Jeker, who is not only our treasurer, but provides input on all levels and is supporting our activities with persistence. Particular thanks go to the “Lausanne crew” who, lead by Luc Otten, has planned, organized and realized today’s marvelous meeting. With Sebastien Viatte, a member of this successful team is supposed to be elected as a fifth member to the SMPA board today.
Finally I would like to thank all our members for their input to the SMPA, their support by joining the SMPA - today’s Lausanne-Meeting shows, that the MD-PhD spirit is growing nicely.

David Winkler
Lausanne, 13.11.04