Message from SASOP President

SASOP CONGRESS 2012

It is with pleasure that I invite you to attend, and participate in the SASOP National Congress to be held at the Cradle of Humankind in September this year. The organizers have been hard at work since 2010 and have been putting together a congress which promises to be unlike any other!

The year 2012 is a particularly significant one for SASOP, as we celebrate our 60th anniversary. The celebrations will culminate at the congress, and will provide an opportunity for us to reflect on how the practice of Psychiatry as a discipline in South Africa has evolved over the last sixty years. The choice of venue is not fortuitous, and will take us back to our origins, serving as the perfect backdrop for our chosen theme: Pride, Prejudice and Promises: From Origins to Outcomes.

This meeting will showcase developments in Psychiatry as we look at our (troubled) past, the challenges of today, and the promises that the future hold. The scientific program will be enriched by contributions from local and international faculty, including well planned pre-congress workshops. It will highlight the spectrum of interests of psychiatrists in South Africa across the board, and will serve as a platform for integration of knowledge and experience in many fields of interest, ranging from the biological, to the spiritual; from child and adolescent psychiatry to the psychiatry of Old Age.

I therefore look forward to welcoming you to this special meeting, in a very unique setting.

Dr Ian Westmore

President