HISTORY
The Scottish Microbiology Association was founded in 1992 by former presidents Dr. Gavin Lindsay and Dr. Jim McGavigan.
The following was written by Dr Frank Bone in 2013
The Scottish Microbiological Association began with its First Annual Meeting at the Stakis Dunblane Hydro Hotel on Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd October 1992. There were speakers from Cambridge, Belfast, Swan-sea and Bangor. The details of the Association’s further meetings have been adequately recorded in the newsletters of autumn 2002 by the first Meetings Secretary, Dr Ian Gould, and of 2003 by the second Meetings Secretary, Dr Bob Masterton. But these bald facts hide the real origins of the Association which I will try to outline and explain.
The main forces for the establishment of the SMA were Gavin Lindsay and Jim McGavigan. My part in the beginning of SMA was small but I can give an idea of the background of Scottish microbiology from which SMA arose.
When I first came to Scotland in 1970 I worked in the Central Microbiological Labo-ratories in the Western in Edinburgh (under Dr Cam Gould, Ian’s father).
Although there were meetings between microbiologists in the Lothian and Fife ar-eas, they were occasional, infrequent, and poorly attended by the academics.
So when I became a Consultant in Dumfries in 1974 it was a great but welcome surprise to find a well –established West of Scotland Clinical Microbiology Group (WSCMG) with medical, scientific and technical members meeting throughout the academic terms on the first Monday evening of the month, with Laboratories tak-ing turns as host.
From that base we formed regular audit group (copied from a group in East Anglia outlined by one of our speakers). A consultant and the equivalent chief or princi-pal scientist from the associated laboratories comprised the audit group, each laboratory agreeing to implement the standards as agreed by the group. I led the first topic (Urinary infection) with other consultants or scientists taking turns lead-ing on different topics.
Gavin Lindsay and Jim McGavigan, using contacts in the WSCMG, helped form the West of Scotland Surgical Infection Study Group. This encouraged various hospitals to participate in studies normally only available to large academic units. Cru-cially, during this period excellent relationships were formed with many pharma-ceutical companies and their representatives.
The absence of similar groups in Scotland was obvious from the many requests to attend meetings, to join the audit groups, and to join the research group (HMS Haslar and Hartlepool General Hospital being the most unusual).
It also became obvious that meaningful collaborations were inhibited by geography, and meetings with Scottish Microbiologists were just as likely to take place in London or Cologne as in Glasgow or Edinburgh! Members will be aware that exchanges of ideas are just as likely to arise from social activities at professional meetings as during the formal parts of the programme.
During a number of national (UK) meetings we were impressed by the way in which the Welsh Microbiological Association had developed with regular meetings in various loca-tions in Wales, and with Celtic meeting with the newly formed Irish Association. So we were de-lighted to receive an invitation from Tony Howard (the English Welsh President!) for some Scottish Microbiologists to attend the joint meeting in Cardiff in 1991. Gavin and Jim organised a coach (and Gavin led the singing!) to transport colleagues from the West of Scotland, and others flew from Aber-deen and Edinburgh.
The welcome we had was extraordinary, and there was clearly a genuine desire from the Welsh and Irish for a Scottish association to join them. There was a scientific section on the Friday evening and on the Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon was free time (Rugby World Cup Final on TV), and there was a dinner in the evening. There was a Welsh choir (song sheets provided!), and an Irish col-leen provided additional musical entertainment. The Scots faced embarrassment, not having anticipated and practiced, but a brave group led by Gavin roared out the well-known Scottish ballad “I’m a Little Teapot”. Gavin made a great teapot!
Suffice to say that the Welsh model of full membership for medical, scientific and technical professionals was adopted over the Irish model of only medical member-ship.
The driving force for the formation of the Association was always Gavin Lindsay (ably assisted by Jim McGavigan) and with his strong links across the UK and Europe he was the natural nomination for the first Chair. However, Gavin persuaded the rest of us that the new Association needed a figurehead of real national UK stature. Professor Heather Dick, recent Chair of the Scottish Affairs Committee of the Royal College of Pathology, and current member of the College Council, was the obvious candidate, and she happily accepted. I, as the retired Secretary of the Scottish Affairs Committee during her time, found it difficult to refuse the post of Deputy Chair (Scottish English Vice-Chair!).
From the outset our aim was to move meetings around the Health Board areas of Scotland, choosing hotels which could accommodate a large number of delegates, but also offer facilities for the important social events. After Dun-blane (Forth Valley – supported by SmithKline Beecham) we met at Erskine (Greater Glasgow – supported by SmithKline Beecham), Blackwaterfoot (Ayrshire and Arran – supported by Bayer UK, Roussel Laboratories, Schering-Plough Ltd, and again SmithKline Beecham), Peebles (Borders – supported by Bayer, Pharmax, Rous-sel, Schering-Plough, and once more SmithKline Beecham), and the first spring meeting in Dumfries (Dumfries and Galloway). Other venues followed, notably Aviemore (Highland) for our first hosted Tripartite meeting.
To allow for maximum attendance we took account of the medical staffs easier formal access to study leave and expenses. So we chose to subsidise the attendance of technical members from the funds generated by pharmaceutical displays, etc. It was also why Philip Ross suggested poster displays (and prizes), more likely to be attractive to younger members needing encouragement in their careers. As noted in the newsletters funds generated by the sponsorship of various meetings and es-pecially from our joint hosting of ECCMID in 2003 has left the Association in a healthy state over the years.
Its for others to judge whether we were successful, but I’m proud to have shared in building an Association which is outward looking, all inclusive, and national without being nationalistic.