Message from the President (2018 – 2020)
Assalamualaikum and Greetings to all,
First of all, I would like to thank everyone for giving me the opportunity to serve as the President of MSR from 2018 to 2020. MSR was formed in 1989 and in its early years, there was only a handful of rheumatologists and as time passes, the numbers have grown rapidly and now we have more than 100 rheumatologists and fellows.
MSR has established a solid foundation that is still growing and I am sure it will continue to grow. Management in Rheumatic disease has advanced tremendously over the past decades. This can be seen especially on the rapidly changing therapeutic options in most of the diseases, and with the use of biologic therapy and Treat to Target approach which will provide maximum benefit for the patients.
However, despite this rapid advancement, there is still room for improvement in terms of patient service, education of the general public, and facilities.
In order to keep pace with all the advancements in management, MSR have been actively involved in organising CMEs workshops and various educational program that would benefit the members and also other health care providers. Besides that bursaries are awarded to encourage members to attend rheumatology conferences and update their knowledge.
Rheumatologists have also advanced in the field of musculoskeletal ultrasound and many are now trained and this adds on as a tool for patients assessment besides improving patients’ confidence and compliance.
Finally I hope the excellent networking among public hospitals, private sector and the universities continues and this eventually would improve patient care as well as public awareness on rheumatic diseases.
Thank you
Dr Habibah Mohd Yusoof
