Fellowship awardee, Dr Kacie Dickinson, recently participated in the 47th International Teaching Seminar on Cardiovascular Epidemiology in Nadi, Fiji.
The annual seminar provides important training in epidemiologic methods for young clinicians and scientists to equip them with skills to develop appropriate work in their own settings. Content included; the principles of epidemiology, methods of investigation, major findings of cardiovascular epidemiology, and the application of these to goals, strategies, and assessment of cardiovascular disease prevention programmes. A concurrent series of lectures on biostatistics added to this. Fellows then utilised different study designs to develop a research proposal to address the question of “Is processed food intake an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease?”
Program highlights were special guest lectures from Dr. Wendy Snowdon about the World Health Organisation’s STEPS work in the South Pacific Region and Dr Isimeli Tukana, National Adviser to the Fiji Ministry of Health on Wellbeing and Non-communicable Disease on the challenges of raising awareness of NCDs and national strategies for school food policy to address this. This seminar was made possible by many individuals and organisations with special acknowledgement in particular to host Professor Ian Rouse, his colleagues from Fiji National University and the seminar guest Faculty. This is an annual event at different places in the world and comes highly recommended!