Welcome to MOGA’s 30th Anniversary Celebrations  

I am delighted to welcome you to our Association’s 30th Anniversary Celebrations. These celebrations have great significance for MOGA as the peak professional body for medical oncologists in Australia as our anniversary also marks thirty years since the emergence of medical oncology as a speciality internationally.  It is hard to believe that medical oncology is only thirty years old and in that time Australia has developed the strong and robust professional medical oncology workforce to which we belong.  

I would like to acknowledge the enormous contribution that our members have and continue to make to the development of medical oncology in Australia. Over the last three decades our Association and medical oncology have undergone substantial changes and played an ever increasingly significant role in the treatment and management of cancer. Medical oncology in Australia is a vigorous, dynamic,  exciting and above all, challenging profession and our members are involved in a vast number of areas of practice including clinical care, cancer research (including biology, therapeutics, epidemiology and clinical outcomes research), health education, ethics and clinical teaching.

I look forward to celebrating the achievements of our Association and our shared profession with all our members, trainees and professional colleagues in Australia and around the globe throughout 2008-2009.

Happy Birthday to MOGA and medical oncology in Australia!

Associate Bogda Koczwara, Chairman MOGA since 2006

Celebrating 30 years of Medical Oncology In Australia

Birthday CakeCommencing at the Medical Oncology Group of Australia Annual Scientific Meeting 2008 in Christchurch, New Zealand, a series of activities will put medical oncology in the public spotlight.

  • The first changes to the website will be revealed on 9 August 2008 in Christchurch and will include a special 30th Anniversary page which will focus on the Association’s history and the history of medical oncology as well as highlighting long serving members and a gallery of images from the MOGA picture archive. 
  • In 2009, the entirely new website will go live on 2 March and will feature a new national members’ directory resource for members and consumers along with a range of additional features and resources.
  • An updated edition of the welcome guide called the Medical Oncology Trainee Handbook developed by a Working Group of specialty consultants will be published.
  • For third year trainees, a transitional exit survey will be released in order to gather data and feedback from trainees as they transition to consultants.  The results of the survey will be taken into consideration in planning future Trainee education and training activities. The study will also form the basis for a longer term evaluation and research program on Trainees in Medical Oncology in Australia and New Zealand.
  • The 30th Anniversary special film will focus on the past Chairs of the Association, each speaking briefly about their favourite memories as leaders of MOGA
  • A second film will be educational and will discuss the career of medical oncology. This film will be part of a national marketing campaign and will be used in promotional and recruitment activities for medical oncology in Australia and the Asia Pacific region.

Anniversary year celebrations will conclude at the 2009 Annual Scientific Meeting in Canberra.  This meeting will move away from the international collaboration of the 2008 meeting in Christchurch, by featuring a MOGA only meeting that will explore theme of the Epidemiology of Cancer.  A highlight of the 2009 Meeting will be an exhibition of selected photos from the 30th Anniversary Photographic Competition called Visions of Medical Oncology.

Anniversary Committee

Professor Ian Olver, Chair
A/Prof Bogda Koczwara, MOGA Chair
Professor Martin Tattersall
Ms Kay Francis, MOGA Executive Officer
Ms Franca Marine