We organised our first seminar of 2023 on 25 February at Island A Ballroom, Shangri-La Singapore. The seminar entitled “Meet the Infectious Disease Specialists – Unmasking COVID-19: Topics for the Family Physicians” was presented by the following 3 speakers:
- Dr Lam Mun San – A Timeline for COVID-19 Infection
- Dr Shawn Vasoo – COVID-19 – Local Epidemiology and Treatment Guidelines
- Dr Julian Lim – Outpatient Antiviral Treatment – Family Physicians’ Perspective
After the opening address by Dr Wong Sin Yew, Dr Lam started off her talk and went through COVID-19 timeline of events globally and locally. She highlighted a few key events in Singapore and spoke briefly on bivalent vaccines. She ended her session by speaking on the “new normal” which incorporates more technology use and more awareness of disease prevention and hygiene. She concluded that the COVID-19 pandemic has evolved from “crisis to control” (transiting into endemic mode in most territories); and with many lessons learnt on pandemic management, vaccinology and human behaviour, we will hopefully be more prepared for the next pandemic.
Our next speaker, Dr Shawn Vasoo, provided a clinical update on COVID-19 and oral anti-virals. Dr Julian Lim, family physician, spoke about outpatient antiviral treatment. Both speakers shared statistics, data and case studies which were useful for the participants during their presentations.
Next up, there was a panel discussion on “Burning Questions on Future of COVID-19.” The speakers were joined by our guest speaker, Dr Chan Si Min, paediatrician infectious disease physician, for this discussion. Among the topics discussed were COVID-19 in children, COVID-19 vaccination for children and how the different healthcare sectors adapted to the evolving COVID-19 pandemic situation in Singapore.
The response and the feedback were positive for this seminar and many family physicians have requested for more topics on infectious diseases to be included for our future seminars.
We would like to thank Pfizer for providing the education grant for this event. We would also like to extend our gratitude to all our guest speakers for their informative presentations and assistance with CME for family physicians as well as to the 100 healthcare providers who graced our event.