TGG AGM
The TGG AGM at this year’s BOC was held in the Sidlaw Auditorium of the Edinburgh International Conference Centre on Sunday September 13th.After a day of lectures as part of the main conference programme it was great to get the meeting started with a drinks reception which was very kindly sponsored by TOC. We had a record number of 130 TGG members attending and are still not sure if it was the lure of the drinks reception or our two invited guest speakers who drew in the crowds, perhaps a combination of both!
This AGM broke with tradition somewhat in that two eminent orthodontic speakers were invited to the AGM to speak on topical politically related subjects. The first was an excellent presentation by Helen Knight, chairperson of the COG on what a career as a hospital consultant might entail. She also discussed what she saw as the possible future of Hospital Based Orthodontics. It was partly a personal journey by Helen Knight describing her own career as she emphasised the career fulfilment, enjoyment and challenge that working in a hospital offers. The presentation left the audience feeling much more positive and inspired about a career in the Hospital Service.
The next presentation was by Professor Nigel Hunt who gave an entertaining and succinct account of the current state of play with proposed changes to orthodontic training. This is an area in which Professor Hunt has invested a great deal of time and effort in terms of rewriting the orthodontic curriculum. It is an ongoing issue and one which is likely to possibly have a significant effect on orthodontic training in the future but one that remains still unresolved. It was perhaps not surprising that the lecture generated much interest and several questions after the presentation.
Prof Hunt and Ms Knight were the invited speakers at the AGM.
Thereafter the main part of the meeting commenced. There were reports by Angus Pringle, Nazan Adali, Maryam Izadi, Noreen Akram, Sally Walker and Anjli Patel, all of whom had represented the TGG on various BOS committees throughout the year. There was also a report by Vikki Elton who as the MOrth/IMOrthrep reported on issues affecting members who may be taking these exams in the future. Finally there were reports from the TGG executive; Sadaf Khan (chairperson) updated members on TGG achievements through the year. Clare McNamara (secretary) acknowledged the hard work of the local representatives and updated the membership on the highest number of TGG registrants, now at 240. Jinesh Patel (treasurer) reported that the finances are of the group are in good order, having made a profit at both our meetings that will be passed on to the BOS to be invested in its charitable aims.
The TGG committee are most grateful to Peter McCallum and Spencer Nute for their assistance with the organisation of the meeting and facilitating all the arrangements with the venue.
Sadaf Khan and Clare McNamara
