An ordinary meeting of the Society was held on the 1st February 2006. In the Presidents absence the Vice President was in the chair. The minutes were taken as read. The Vice President then introduced an evening of ‘Southampton Doctors Around the World’. The first speaker was Dr Mark Tomson.

Dr Tomson is a yachting medical advisor and local GP who has travelled the world. In a wide ranging talk he described the many places he had been to, which included Umtata in South Africa where he saw the most distressing medicine of his career; lots of burns, fractures, talipes and TB. He was in Chile as medical officer to Op. Raleigh and showed some dramatic pictures of the San Rafael Glacier, the fastest moving in the world. He also described his visits to Borneo, Peru, Australia and his experiences as a cruise doctor. He then described his role as a yachting medical advisor in which he advises the organisers of ocean races about equipment and teaching the crews to deal with day to day medical problems and emergencies in remote oceanic environments. This can involve holding telephonic medical consultations with single handed around-the-world sailors in the Southern Ocean in the middle of surgery. His talk was beautifully illustrated.

The second speaker was Dr Alister Hutchin who gave a talk on the Galapagos Islands. He spoke briefly of their geography and geology, and their history with especial reference to Charles Darwin. He described the unique wildlife, some of which had provided Darwin with evidence for his theory of evolution.

The final speaker was Dr Alan Trickett who had visited the Denver Nutrition Project in Guatemala. Time was short so he gave a brief introduction to the project promising a full report at a later date.

There being no other business the Vice President closed the meeting at 11.00 pm.