The Medical Women's International Association (MWIA) is an important international meeting to attend.  MWIA was founded in October 21, 1919 when women doctors were the minority. A recent history of MWIA (History of the Medical Women's International Association) has been written by Dr. Dorothy Ward and is well worth reading. The story reminds us of the importance of Esther Lovejoy, the first president of MWIA.   Esther Pohl Lovejoy was a physician, public health pioneer, suffrage activist, and a central figure in early efforts to organize international medical relief work. More of this history can be found on the AMWA website thanks to Dr. Anne Barlow Ramsay.

The 28^th International Congress was held in Muenster, Germany, a delightful city to visit and wander, but none of us had that much time. Essentially the city hasn't been rebuilt since the 1940's.  The town hall (rathaus) and the Citizen's Hall (Buergerhalle) was a delight to visit. This was the site when in 1648 the Peace of Westphalia was concluded.  Although some members took bus tours, most of us depended on accompanying friends and relatives to do the sightseeing.

The AMWA delegates to the MWIA Congress included: Eliza Chin MD, MPH (AMWA President), Claudia Morrissey, MD, MPH (MWIA VP for North America),  Diana J. Galindo, M.D.; Satty Gill Keswani, M.D.  Padmini (Mini ) Murthy MD, MPH, MS; and Jean L Fourcroy, M.D. PhD., MPH.  These delegates made six presentations with topics ranging from health care, violence, dementia, smoking and the health of athletes. The keynotes, short sessions and posters were all excellent. Key issues addressed were: gender strategies, adolescent sexuality, gender based war violence, addiction, plague and nutrition.  More information can be found on the conference website. The results of the General Assembly meetings will be available on the MWIA web site. 

It's not too early to plan ahead for the 29th International Congress of MWIA to be held in Korea in 2013.

References:

Congress 2010 - http://www.mwia2010.net/

MWIA -  http://mwia.webtop.de/

AMWA- http://www.amwa-doc.org/page3-9/AMWAHospitalService

Dorothy Ward - History of the Medical women's International Association. - Fledging Press 2010