Pacific Health Dialog 2002 Vol.9(1):115-118 Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors’ Congress, 2002 Heather Young Leslie Ph.D. Univ. of Hawai‘i at Mânoa, hyleslie[at]hawaii.edu The first ever professional meeting of physicians indigenous to the various Pacific nations was held at the Hawai ‘i Prince Hotel, May 29 - June 2, 2002. It was a historic event, with significant potential for Pacific peoples, medical professionals and their clientele. This is a report of that conference. The conference had a multiple purpose: · To bring together indigenous Pacific physicians for the purpose of discussing scientific & professional issues of mutual interest; · To gauge potential for an organization which would transcend national boundaries; and · To hold a scientific meeting with a focus on issues of medical / public health significance to the various peoples of the Pacific region. Background: Conference organizers were: Dr. Martina Kamaka, ‘Ahahui ‘O Nau Kauka (Hawaiian doctors association), Dr. Peter Jensen, Te Ora, (Aotearoa/NZ), and Dr. Ngaire Brown, AIDA (Association of Indigenous Doctors of Australia). The conference followed several occasions in which members from one organization (eg: Te Ora) attended the scientific meeting of the other’s organization (eg: AIDA). At these meetings, various doctors had realized that despite national and inguistic differences, they were confronted with very similar medical, public health & professional development problems. At their regular local or even international professional meetings, these issues tended to be less widely experienced or addressed. For this reason, the heads of the three groups decided to try holding a common scientific meeting, and to discuss the potential and need for some sort of new professional organization. The meeting was advertized on their individual organization’s websites, through international media such as the Pacific Basin Medical Association (Yahoo group), and by direct recruitment, mostly by way of e- mail.The interim name for the conference was established as PRIDoC: Pacific Region Indigenous Doctor’s Congress. The Conference: Doctors attending the PRIDoC conference in Honolulu (May 29 - June 2 2002) were able to both network with colleagues from other nations and obtain Continuing Medical Education credits. The CME’s were organized through the Straub Foundation