Tweets were flying round the country last week from the Oxford MWF meeting, Aspects of Pain, reporting on "a room full of kickass women". It was certainly a buzzing meeting with over 100 people attending. You can read Helen MacMullen's excellent report on the website. The Oxford team, with Kate Chalmers at the helm, did a fantastic job and we are all very grateful to everyone involved. Highlights included Peggy Frith on Athena SWAN awards, Jane Moore on Chronic Pelvic Pain, Raymond Tallis on Assisted Dying, Mike Sharpe on Chronic Fatigue as well as our prize winning student essay writer and student abstract presenters.
We welcome two new officers, Prof Parveen Kumar as Vice President and Dr Charlotte Gath as Treasurer.
Parveen will be known to almost every medical student as the co author of the classic textbook, Kumar and Clark. Apart from that, she is an amazing role model for female medics, and has reached the top echelons of the medical establishments, including the Royal College of Physicians, the Royal Society of Medicine and the BMA, to name a few! However, she remains down to earth, approachable, and full of tips. Some of Parveen's comments: "The best tip I can give to doctors is to work hard, be honest and show humility" and "It's important to have fun; if you're not having fun then forget it and leave. Medicine is difficult enough anyway and if you have fun you'll hopefully have a super career".
Charlotte is a longstanding member of MWF and is a GP, member of CCG and involved in teaching at 
Warwick Medical School.
We thank Prof Jean McEwan very much for her lively contributions over the last year, and are very grateful for the innovative ideas she has brought to MWF as an Vice President. She is standing down owing to other commitments but continues as a member.
For a summary of the Oxford meeting from Helen MacMullen click here.
