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BOD_Minutes_2011_04_09

MINUTES OF THE
HUNGARIAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEETING – 12:00 PM, APRIL 9TH, 2011
HELMSLEY’S SANDCASTLE HOTEL, SARASOTA, FLORIDA
Voting BOD members present: total votes 8 (plus Presidential tie-breaker)
I. Somkuti, G. Baffy, G. Acs, A. Varga, T. Lajos, Z. Garami (by Skype), P. Leidl (by
Skype), I. Harangozo (in part by telephone)
Advisory Board President: T. Peredy
K. Kismartoni, A. Matolcsy, I. Krisztinicz, P. Petrusz
Alternates: E. Bodnar (by Skype, voting for Dr. T. Krisztinicz)
Also present: I. Stadler, A. Stadler, I. Mechtler (by Skype)
Before the start of the official BOD meeting Dr. Somkuti raised the question
whether attendance at the BOD meeting should be mandatory or whether we can
accomplish this by a conference call via the internet. He opened the topic for discussion.
All BOD members present emphasized that physical presence at all BOD meetings is
important and that everybody should make an effort to be present at all BOD meetings.
Dr. Matolcsy expressed his opinion that if somebody is elected to the BOD as a member
or alternate member, he/she should agree to be present at least on three out of four
meetings. Dr. Peredy noted that he expressed his opinion with regard to this matter in his
email to all BOD members and emphasized that our presence at the meetings is also
important because it helps foster our relationship with the Hotel. Dr. Petrusz reminded
the Board that our bylaws actually require officers and BOD members to be present at the
meetings and they only could be excused by the President. He also noted, that according
to the bylaws any BOD member who does not fulfill these requirements, forfeits his/her
membership in the BOD. In addition, he noted that our physical presence is important for
taking care of business and our personal relationships. He emphasized that although other
commitments may be acknowledged, this is a matter of personnel commitment to to our
purpose. He noted that although we should use the modern ways of communication
available to us today, we should not use them for an excuse for not to attend the meeting.
Dr. Matolcsy noted that in the past several BOD members had to resign because they
could not make the commitment to regularly attend the meetings. Dr. I. Stadler expressed
his opinion that our presence is important in planning the October meetings. Dr. Bodnar
noted that members permanently living outside the US should be an exception and the
BOD agreed. Dr. Garami expressed his opinion that we should also think about potential
conflicts of interest with other conferences we have to attend. He also noted that there
are unforeseen events, like funerals, that we have to attend and may present conflicts of
interest. He also expressed his opinion that by the use of modern technology he can
contribute to the meetings even if not physically present. Dr. Acs noted that he agrees
with Garami that some events, such as funerals, would qualify for an unexpected event2
and count as an excuse. he also noted that national or international conferences, the dates
of which are known in advance for several years, do not qualify as such, and BOD
members should state in October, when the date for the spring meeting is set, the dates
they are not available, so that we can set a date suitable for most members. Dr. Acs also
raised the question of quorum at the meeting. He noted that, since it has not been an issue
before and not stated in the bylaws, it is not clear whether members attending the BOD
meeting via telephone or internet and not physically present, would count in establishing
a quorum. He expressed is opinion that this issue should be discussed by the full BOD.
He suggested that at this time we make an exception for one time only, that BOD
members present via the internet can vote and count towards the quorum, but emphasized
that the BOD should revisit this issue in October and that in his opinion, quorum should
be established by the number of members physically present at the meeting. If additional
members may want to join by other means if unable to attend, it would be welcome. Dr.
Leidl also agreed that all members should make every effort to attend the meetings, but
noted that reasonable exceptions should be allowed as approved by the President. The
BOD agreed with Dr. Garami’s suggestions that we can have other meeting via Skype or
other means in addition to the regular BOD meetings, but our physical presence at the
BOD meetings is important. The BOD also emphasized that members present should be
thanked for their being present. Dr. Somkuti noted that he has heard from most BOD
members not present and that they all have legitimate reasons for not being able to
participate at this time. Nevertheless, this issue should be revisited at the BOD meeting in
October. Dr. Acs asked members to express their opinions in emails in the meantime with
regard to this issue in order to focus our discussion in October. It was also noted that all
members should notify the President and Secretary in not able to attend the meeting. Drs.
I. Krisztinicz and Somkuti raised the issue whether medical residents, whose schedule
prevents them from committing the time to be present at the meetings should be allowed
to serve as officers. The BOD will communicate with Dr. Paragh with regards to whether
he can commit the sufficient time to our society at this stage of is carrier. The BOD
agreed that that overwhelming opinion of the BOD is that everyone should make every
effort to be present at the meetings and the issue will be revisited at the October BOD
meeting. Dr. Acs asked all members to express their thoughts with regard to this issue in
email communications to all members in order to streamline the discussion at October
meeting.
I. Approval of Minutes
Quorum was established with 7 voting members present (three of them by Skype).
The Minutes of the October 2010 BOD meetings were approved with one minor
modification of the wording with regards to the program for the banquet in the October
29th, 2010 Minutes as suggested by Dr. Leidl. An updated version of these minutes will
be distributed among BOD members for their records.3
II. Presidential Address
Dr. Somkuti thanked everybody for their time coming to the BD meeting or being
present via the internet and for their tireless work. He has sent out a letter by regular mail
to BOD members regarding recent development. He has sent letters of thanks to Dr.
Hatchigian and Marta Ventila for their generous donations of $1,000 each. A letter of
clarification was sent to Dr. Suveges, the President of the MET regarding our
membership dues and Dr. Suveges confimed that our dues are for the calendar year 2011.
He noted that Dr. Ganz accepted our invitation to speak at the Memorial
cardiology Symposium on the upcoming October meeting. With the help of Dr. Garami,
he was also successful in recruiting Dr. Gerrold Lawrie, an internationally known
cardiothoracic surgeon from Baylor to speak at the meeting. He noted that numerous
other speakers are lining up for the meeting as well. Drs. A. and D. Tarnoki and Dr.
Bodnar have had significant exposure in the Hungarian media with regards to the antitobacco movement through the help of Dr. L. Mechtler. Through these efforts the HMAA
also had significant exposure in the media in Hungary. As we prepare for the 4th
Balatonfured Meeting, they have lined up a number of speakers including various
dignitaries, such as Jeff Lodinsky, US Consul General in Hungary, along with Dr. Marcel
Pop, Director of the International relations program at SOTE and Dr. Gabor Kovacs,
Presient of the Hungarian Society of Pulmonology, to participate at the meeting.
Communications regarding their efforts in inviting these guests to the Conference were
included in Dr. Somkuti’s letter. He encouraged all members to attend the Meeting. He
noted that he received a request from Drs. A. and D. Tarnoki that we support Dr. Veress‘
re-appointment at the Balatonfured Cardiology Hospital. The BOD decided that we will
write a letter directly to Dr. Veress to express our appreciation for his efforts in helping
the Balatonfured meeting and his support of the Hungary Chapter of the HMAA.
Dr. Somkuti reported that he had a conversation with Miklos Szocska, and that he
invited Mr. Szocska to attend the October meeting in Sarasota. Mrs. Szocska will look
into his ability to come. At the same time he noted that he will be in the US in September
at the United Nations and he stated that New York Consul of Hungary is very interested
in our Association and that he would like to introduce the Consul to our leadership in
New York at that time. Dr. Somkuti further reported that according to Dr. Harangozo, Dr.
Gyorgy Szele, his father in law, knows the US Ambassador of Hungary and that he will
inquire about the possibility of the Ambassador attending our meeting in October. Dr.
Varga noted that she attended a meeting of the Kossuth Club in Sarasota and that they
had the President of the American Hungarian Federation, Mr. Koszorus, give an excellent
talk. Mr. Koszorus told Dr. Varga that he has 18,000 contacts he emails regularly. She
suggested that it would be in our interest to contact him to increase our ability to make
contact with potential future members. Dr. Varga’s suggestion is to invite him to give a
talk on our October Meeting.
Dr. Somkuti asked members to redouble their efforts to recruit new members and
noted that he identified a potential new member just by chance, who have signed up to
attend our meeting. With regard to the website he asked Dr. Peredy to report on his
efforts to establish online registration. He further noted that parts of the website, i.e. the
Archives, are out of date. Dr. Garami responded that he would need copies of all issues of
the Archives he does not have in his possession at this time to accomplish this. Dr.4
Peredy reported that there are several services to provide online registration and he asked
the BOD whether we want to spend money on this service. Dr. Somkuti asked Dr. Peredy
to obtain quotes for such services, because we would like to establish online registration
as soon as possible before the October Meeting. The BOD agreed that in order to receive
the discounted rate at the Hotel, at least one member of a family should register for the
meeting. This would also mean that members should register for the meeting before being
able to make Hotel reservations, which could be addressed with the online registration.
At the time of online registration we should have the ability to book our hotel registration
as well. Dr. Baffy noted that he has looked in to this issue and that he came to this
meeting with a proposition for the BOD. He reported that he knows a person, Adam
Kornafeld, who is master in computer science, who proposed that he can maintain our
website and provide online payment and registration for us for a fee of about $20 per
month. He suggested that signing up for a PayPal service, which charges about 2-3% per
payment, would be the best option at our volume. Further, Mr. Kornafeld offered his help
at our registration desk. Dr. Baffy provided Mr. Kornafeld’s written proposition and his
CV for the BOD to review. The BOD decided that we should hire Mr. Kornafeld’s
services for online registration this year with the prospect of charging him with the
maintenance of our website if the services provided are satisfactory.
Dr. Lajos suggested that we should have the dates and times of BOD meetings on
our website and the BOD agreed. Dr. Somkuti encouraged members to email Dr. Garami
with suggestions regarding the website.
Dr. Somkuti reminded that BOD that the next meeting of the MET will be
September 23-26, 2011. Dr. Suveges has finished her term as President of the MET; the
new President is Dr. Kellermayer, Sr. He reported that that Dr. T. Krisztinicz was voted
in as the representative of the HMAA in the Board of the MET and he expressed interest
in attending the Meeting in Erdely in September with other members of the BOD. He
further reported that the HMAA has sent a birthday greeting to Anna Neni along with a
$500 contribution to her charity organization. Anna Neni has invited the BOD members
for a dinner this evening.
Dr. Somkuti reported that the Philadelphia Women’s Hungarian Auxiliary was the
recipient of a very generous donation from the estate of a Hungarian physician, Dr. Ilona
Ring, who recently passed away. With the help of Dr. Somkuti the Philadelphia Women’s
Hungarian Auxiliary awarded the HMAA a $20,000 grant. Dr. Somkuti briefly talked
about the life and work of Dr. Ring. The Philadelphia Women’s Hungarian Auxilary
proposed that we should establish a Dr. Ilona Ring Student Fund, which should be used
for the support of our student programs. A representative of the Philadelphia Women’s
Hungarian Auxiliary will attend our meeting in October to formally present us with the
check at the banquet. Dr. Matolcsy recommended that the Board should define how
exactly the money from this fund will be used. Dr. Peredy noted that we should keep the
activities this fund can support from those funded by the HAESF and this should be
restricted to activities not covered by the HAESF. Dr. I. Stadler suggested that we could
use these funds to support the Student Travel Award for the Balatonfured meeting. Dr.
Somkuti furher suggested that we can also attract Hungarian American medical student
from the US with an award as well.5
Dr. Somkuti asked for an update on the accreditation of the Hungarian medical
schools by the State of New York. A. Stadler reported that according to Dr. L. Mechtler
the University of Debrecen has already got its accreditation.
III. Secretary's report
Dr. Acs reported that he emailed BD members along with the Minutes of the last
BOD meeting a pdf file of the First Announcement for the October Meeting and asked
BOD members to forward the announcement to their contacts. He noted that he has sent
out an email with the announcement to approximately 150 Hungarian American
pathologist he identified in the membership list of the College of American Pathologists.
He provided the Board with a list of current officers and BOD members and noted that
this year nobodies term expires and that we are not scheduled to have elections this year.
In terms of the Student Travel Award, he reported that the student c onferences are being
held in the next few weeks in Hungary and we are expecting the abstract from the
applicants soon. The same committee will evaulate the abstract which did it last year. He
asked Dr. Harangozo to list the fund for the HMAA Hungarian Student Travel Award
separately under our assets, similar to the other funds we have, in order to better track the
funds available on the fund.
IV. Treasurer’s Report
Dr. Harangozo provided a written report for the Board and reported to the Board
via telephone. He reported that we have paid $2,500 in fees to accomplish our
incorporation and domestication in the state of Florida. He reported that Mr. Charles
Margetta is our new accountant and that he is working with Mr. Margetta on our tax
return for this year. He also noted that the current statement does not include this year’s
membership dues. A. Stadler noted that income and expense are roughly equal. She
further noted that in her opinion we pay a very high amount for food at the meeting,
which includes the daily breakfast and food for the BOD meetings. In order to reduce
costs, Dr. Somkuti suggested that we should have breakfast served in the conference
room instead of the restaurant, which would also increase attendance at the presentations.
We will have a discussion with the Hotel in this regard. Dr. Somkuti further suggested
that we should consider including some additional fees in the registration to cover the
breakfast, at least in part. A discussion was held about the cost of rooms for the students
and invited speakers. Dr. I. Krisztinicz emphasized that we should utilize Dr. Forbath’s
timeshare for 2-3 students for the October meeting. Dr. Varga and A. Stadler noted that
the banquet was booked for 123 persons and that many tickets were distributed, however,
only 70 people actually paid for the banquet tickets. The Board decided that we should
keep better track of who attends the banquet and limit the number of guests invited. In
order to better understand the issues Dr. Varga will provide a list of paying and nonpaying attendees for the banquet to Dr. Acs.6
In order to consolidate our bank accounts Agnes Stadler, administrative secretary
of the HMAA, was authorized by the Board to open a bank account under the name of the
Hungarian Medical Association of America. In order to accomplish this, the Minutes
reflect that the names, home addresses and telephone numbers of the current officers of
the HMAA are as follows:
1. President: Istvan Somkuti, MD
1875 Deer Run, Meadowbrook, PA 19046
(215) 850-8503
2. President-elect: Gyorgy Baffy, MD
5 Oland Lane, Southborough, MA 01772
(617) 461-3701
3. Secretary: Geza Acs, MD
16306 Ashington Park Drive, Tampa, FL 33647
(813) 972-9893
4. Treasurer: Ivan Harangozo, MD
15791 Hunton Lane, Haymarket, VA 20169
(703) 403-7410
The names of the members of the Board of Directors are as follows: Zsolt
Garami, MD, Thomas Krisztinicz, MD, Thomas Lajos, MD, Peter Leidl, MD, Istvan
Pirko, MD and Andrea Varga, MD.
Copies of the driver licenses of the officers were provided to A. Stadler. The
Board also decided that the following persons will be authorized to sign for the bank
account to be established: Agnes Stadler, Ivan Harangozo, MD, Geza Acs, MD and
Tamas Peredy, MD.
V. Program Report
Dr. Stadler has submitted a written report summarizing the evaluation of the 2010
Annual Scientific Meeting. He thanked all contributors, organizers and moderators for a
successful meeting. The 43rd Annual Meeting will be held October 23-28, 2011. The title
of the meeting will remain the same. As we discussed on the last BOD meeting, topics for
the 2011 Annual Meeting will focus on cardiology (Ganz Memorial Session), pediatrics,
family medicine, internal medicine, gastroenterology, neurology, oncology and surgery.
Dr. Stadler has mailed out the First Announcement a few weeks ago and he reported that
he received 30 responses so far. A discussion was held regarding the invitation of Dr.
Peter Ganz to the meeting and it was decided that Dr. Baffy and Dr. Stadler will
communicate with Dr. Ganz. Dr. Stadler has received several suggestions for invited
speakers for the meeting, including Drs. Lajos, Garami and Matolcsy. He also noted that
Dr. Olah will organize a session on Pediatrics. Dr. Matolcsy will organize a session on7
family practice with prominent speakers from Hungary and the US, with focus on the
newly established HMAA fellowship. Dr. Baffy will also organize a session on
gastroenterology. Dr. Stadler asked Dr. Garami to post the First Announcement and
Abstract Form on our website.
The Board held a discussion about the amount of contribution to travel and free
night at the Hotel we can offer to invited speakers. In order to being able to invite more
speakers and keep our solvency at the same time, on Dr. Somkuti’s suggestion the Board
decided that we can offer the following support for invited speakers: for speakers from
the US $350 for travel and two nights at the Hotel, and for speakers from abroad $500 for
travel and 3 nights at the Hotel, in addition to waiver of the registration fee and invitation
to the social events. This new allowance will not be retroactive for those invited speakers
we have already made a commitment to. The Board agreed that the total cost for invited
speakers should be $7-8,000. Suggestions for invited speakers should be submitted to Dr.
Stadler as soon as possible and the final decision will remain with the President and Dr.
Stadler. Dr. Somkuti also noted that we should let different members to invite guest
speakers every year.
With regard to the keynote speaker for the banquet, Dr. Matolcsy proposed that it
should be Dr. Peter Ganz and the Board agreed that we should ask him to talk about the
life and legacy of is father. The keynote speech at the banquet should not last more than
15-20 minutes. Communications to the proposed keynote speaker should reflect these
requirements. Dr. Baffy will communicate with Dr. Ganz in this regard. Dr. Somkuti
asked the BOD to allow him to invite next year’s keynote speaker.
Dr. Acs suggested that we should consider designating one day of the meeting on
a focused discussion and multidisciplinary update of a designated topic, such as diabetes,
hypertension, breast cancer, etc. The Board noted that we have had such session before
with great success. Dr. Acs noted that we could make this session understandable to our
diverse and multidisciplinary audience and that we could also explore the possibility to
open these session to the lay audience via perhaps the Kossuth Club, accompanied by the
a panel discussion based on questions from the audience. Issues regarding CME
accrediations were discussed and it was decided that we should clarify CME
requirements in this regard. The Board agreed that we may try putting together a session
along these lines for next year on a trial bases. Dr. Somkuti also suggested that on a trial
bases we could make our lectures open to anyone who’s paying a day’s registration fee.
Dr. Matolcsy disagreed and expressed concerns with regards to lay people attending our
scientific sessions. Dr. Acs noted that scientific conferences are open to anyone who pays
the registration fee without consideration for medical background.
VI. Social Program Planning Committee Report
With regards to the planning of the social program, Dr. Varga reported that she
has had discussions with Erika Klatyik. Dr. Varga noted that she has relocated to Sarasota
which will enable her to be more active in the planning of the social events. She has met
with the President and the Social Director of the Sarasota Yacht Club and it will be
possible for us to have our banquet at the new sarasota Yach Club. On the other hand, we
only can hold the banquet on Wednesday there. The cost for the dinner would be $65 per8
person and we would sell the tickets for $75. Since it is the middle of the week when
there are most attendees present, this would be an ideal time for the banquet. This would
also require the reorganization of the other programs. She reported that the Kocsma
Party went well, except that many more people attended than the number of people who
paid, and noted that we still owe some money to Erika for her expenses. Dr. Harangozo
was asked to send a check to Erika.
Dr. Varga has met with Eva Kisvarsanyi, President of the Kossuth Club. The
Kossuth Club will invite a pianist for the bicentennial celebration in October and she
proposed that we could co-sponsor this event to be held in the library on Thursday,
October 27, followed by a wine and cheese function after the concert.
Dr. Varga’s and Erika’s suggestion for the social program events is the following:
movie night on Monday, water polo and langos on Tuesday, Banquet at the Sarasota
Yacht Club on Wednesday, piano concert in the library and wine and cheese night at the
Salute on Thursday and Kocsma Party on Friday. The Board agreed with this suggestion.
Dr. Acs reminded the Board that the Hotel agreed that we can organize the Kocsma Party
here in the Hotel, except that they will have to buy the food and drinks from the sources
we provide to them. The Board would prefer to hold the Kocsma Party at an inside venue,
when we can also better control the doors. Dr. Varga asked that we budget $1,500 for the
Kocsma Party. Dr. Varga and Erika will look into other possible venues as well.
Dr. Varga suggested that we should put together a package deal for attendees for
all social events, which they could purchase at the time of registration. The cost of all
functions would be approximately $150, which would include the Banquet, Kocsma
Party and Thursday’s event. Attendees couls also buy tickets to nly some of these event at
a somewhat higher cost compared to the one included in the package deal. The Board
also agreed that we should identify ways to prevent non-paying people from attending the
social functions. The HMAA will only pay for the social functions for the invited guest,
but not for their family members.
The Hungarian festival will be held in Sarasota on October 8-9 and Dr. Varga
prosed that we should participate again at this function. Dr. Kismartoni will also help
manning our booth at this event. Dr. Varga noted that she has met three Hungarian
physicians in Sarasota who has not known about the HMAA, but are interested in getting
involved in the Association.
VII. Membership Report
Dr. S. Mechtler provided a written report for the Board. He apologized for not
sending out the invoices for membership dues yet, but he reported that he will send them
out next week. He has a total of 170 active members on his list, which is the highest
number in recent years.
VIII. Student Exchange Program
No report was received from Dr. L. Mechtler. Dr. Bodnar reported that we have
had the most successful year so far with regard to the number of applications for our9
fellowship program with 40 applicants with all four Hungarian Universities represented.
The success is attributed to the network and efforts of the Tarnoki twins as well as the
Balatonfured meeting. Dr. Peredy asked about the HAESF involvement in the
application process. According to Dr. Bodnar Ms. Szalay form the HAESF was present at
the interviews for the fellowship. Dr. I. Krisztinicz noted that there is a shortage of
positions for the students in Buffalo at the University and that they have difficulties in
securing credit for the students for their rotations. There are some issues with the
apartment with regards to the number of students it can accommodate. Following a
discussion and a motion by Dr. Peredy the BOD voted that we should increase the
contribution of the students to the monthly rent in Buffalo to $250 per month, restricted
to those students receiving a grant from HAESF. These rates will be in effect from the
next interview season. Dr. Garami was asked to include this requirement on the website.
IX. Publications Committee
Dr. Somkuti reminded members to mind the abstract submission deadlines. Last
year’s response rate was phenomenal and he would like to have a similar response rate
this year. Online registration for the meeting was discussed again and Dr. Baffy was
charged to accomplish this. The BOD decided that with the help of Mr. Kornafeld, Dr.
Baffy should go ahead and establish online registration an online payment for this year’s
meeting. Dr. Somkuti recommended that Dr. Pirko should take over responsibility for the
archives. He will discuss further with Dr. Pirko.
X. Awards Committee
In accordance with the recommendations of the last BOD meeting, in the name of
the Awards Committee Dr. Somkuti recommended that we award Drs. Forbath and Frater
with the Lifetime Membership Award this year. The BOD agreed independent of
knowledge of the Committee’s recommendations. Dr. Matolcsy suggested that we
should have defined criteria for the awards. Dr. Acs noted that the BOD could establish
several defined awards, i.e., Distinguished Service Award, President’s Award, etc. The
goal of the Lifetime Membership Award is simply to acknowledge the long term
commitment by some members to the Association.
Dr. Acs expressed his opinion that we should have a President’s Award and the
President should have the discretion to give an award to someone in every other year as
an outgoing President.
Dr. Acs also recommended that we should award membership certificates for
active members paying dues. The BOD agreed that we can distribute these certificates to
paying members at next year’s meeting. Dr. Acs asked Dr. S. Mechtler to provide him
with a list of active members in order to print membership certificates.10
XI. Public Relations
Dr. Matolcsy and Dr. Bodnar reported that a US Alumni Club meeting was held
in Budapest organized by the US Embassy and several societies were invited to
participate and give presentations about their programs and organizations. Drs. Bodnar,
Peredy and Matolcsy introduced the HMAA at that meeting and presented our antismoking efforts. Our presentation was very successful. Dr. Bodnar proposed that the
HMAA should join the US Alumni Club. Dr. Bodnar will obtain their bylaws so that we
can better understand their organization in order to make a decision in this regard. The
Board will revisit the issue in October.
Dr. Matolcsy has also met Dr. Pop from Semmelweis University, who asked
whether our society would be interested in developing a relationship with their Nursing
Program. Dr. Matolcsy had a meeting with Dr. Kellermayer Jr., who is interested in
offering exchange programs for American medical students in Hungary. Dr. Matolcsy
proposed that we should invite Ms. Sonny Olson from the Sarasota Hospital to the
Banquet in October.
XII. New England Chapter Report
Dr. Baffy reported that in December they had an “amazing” meeting with a
presentation by Albert Laszlo Barabas, a very prominent network physicist. More than 40
people participated at this very successful event. Unfortunately, they still have difficulties
in recruiting new members to the Association. A discussion was held about possible ways
to increase the number of new members.
XIII. Report from Hungary
Dr. Bodnar reported that the number of student applying for the exchange
program has increased significantly, thanks mostly to the work of Drs. A. and D. Tarnoki
and the increased exposure provided by the Balatonfured meeting. They have had several
lectures at the Rozsakert Medical Center, one of them given by Dr. Peredy. They are
planning the Balatonfured meeting. She reported that with the help of Drs. Akos Koller
and Istvan Fried they have secured significant financial support for the meeting,
including HUF 500,000 from Pfizer and HUF 300,000 support from the Hungarian
Society for Hypertension. Approximately 40 students will be supported by the Students’
Scientific Circle (TDK) form the universities at Pecs and Szeged. Discussions are
currently ongoing with the universities in Debrecen and Budapest in this regard. She
emphasized the importance of having the bylaws of the Hungary Chapter to be accepted
by the Hungarian authorities in order to be able to issue receipts. They are working on
this with the help of Dr. Csathy. Regarding their finances Dr. Bodnar reported that the
current assets of the Hungary Chapter are HUF 396,220. She has received the invoice for
the web support, which is HUF 16,000 per year.11
Dr. Somkuti noted that according to an email from Drs. A. and D. Tarnoki, we
need volunteers to review approximately 150-200 abstracts for the Balatonfured meeting.
Several BOD members volunteered to review 10-15 abstracts on the topic of their
respective fields of expertise. Drs. Peredy, Petrusz, Garami, Acs, Somkuti and Leidl
volunteered to review 15 abstracts each.
XIV. Report from Germany
Dr. Kovacs has submitted no report to the Board.
XV. Old Business
None.
XVI. New Business
None.
XVII. Items for Follow-Up
1. More frequent update of the website (Garami)
2. Online registration and payment (Baffy)
3. Moving breakfast to meeting room during the Scientific Meeting
4. Opening of new HMAA bank account (A. Stadler)
5. Decision whether to join the US Alumni Club (Bodnar, Matolcsy)
The date and time for the next Board Meeting will be October 24, 2001, 8 pm in
the conference room of the Helmsley Sandcastle Hotel.
Submitted by
Geza Acs, MD, PhD
Secretary
HMAA