SPUMS 44th Annual Scientific meeting

Palau Rock Islands

Palau Rock Islands

Breath-hold diving is gaining popularity as an underwater sport and is not without it’s dangers. But, the breath-hold diving fraternity seems to be doing very well in the sense that they are training and looking after the safety of their members. It isn’t a sport that you would like to participate in without team support. Dr. Neal Pollock gave an interesting talk on how the “free-divers”  support and look after their own.

Blindly relying on your dive computer, when most divers don’t even know what algorithms the computer is using, is scary. Completely relying on your dive computer for “safe” diving………….not a good idea! It is always important to remember that the dive computer is an external device, is not implanted in your body and therefore is not measuring your specific individual systems and organs. Dr. Neal Pollock stressed that it can at best provide you with mathematical profiles and strategies to keep you safer. You are still the master of your body and must ultimately decide what is safe for yourself on a given day, time and situation.

Dr. Neal Pollock was the keynote speaker at the 44th annual SPUMS Annual Scientific Meeting in Palau, Micronesia. He is the research director at DAN (Divers Alert Network) and Research Associate in the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Environmental Physiology at Duke University Medical Center.

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This year’s meeting of SPUMS (South Pacific Underwater Medicine Society) was held in Palau.

The convener of the meeting was Dr. Catherine Meehan and the current president of the society is Dr. David Smart.

The SPUMS meeting is currently the best meeting of it’s kind in the world. Attending a meeting in a tropical island location, is only one of the fringe benefits. It still has to be a worthwhile scientific meeting and this meeting certainly excelled in that department.

Some of the main “take home and rethink” topics were diabetics and diving and decompression table/programme selection. The topics and papers presented will be published in the Diving and Hyperbaric Medicine  journal of SPUMS and EUBS.

More is to follow about the other speakers and topics.

 

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Mexico taxes sugar drinks.

The fight against the excessive intake of sugar and artificial sweeteners is on.

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Mexico implemented a tax on sugary drinks in 2014 and  successfully implemented a “sin tax” on unhealthy sweetened foodstuff.

The tax does seem to work. The 10% tax had the effect of decreased sales by CocaCola of 6% in the first year and 12% in the following year.

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France brought in a similar tax on all soft drinks after the industry objected to a tax on those that are sugar-sweetened in 2011. That was a clever move!

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Many countries are in the process of trying to impose similar taxes but, obviously there is resistance from the industry. But, common sense will eventually prevail.

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Where to now?

Why are so many of todays youngsters battling to get jobs?

In my opinion, it’s because many of them have no set goals, in the way that previous generations had to have.

There are too many interesting ?career? options now days.

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Previous generations only had a few career options, so choices and goal setting was much less complicated.

 

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Why do they all say this? What’s the problem? Where did things go wrong? Where to now?

Many youngsters tend to study something interesting and think that once they  have this “interesting”  qualification, all the job opportunity doors will automatically open. Then the rude awakening:-   It doesn’t happen!

Why not?

You first need to set a goal.  If you don’t have a goal, you are like a small car roaming, on a large map, drifting around, going no-where. What’s more. Drifting around is expensive. The car has to be maintained, insured, fueled up and serviced, while it is on it’s way to nowhere.

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The goal must be specific and well defined, not fuzzy.

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You have to make a career choice. It must be specific.

You must visualize yourself 5, 10, 20 years from now. Set your goal.

Once you know where you are going, the road will become clear.

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Know where you want to go and only then decide what to study. Find out what are the best and right qualifications you need for you planned career and then see that you set yourself on the correct road to get there. Not the other way round. (you can’t first study something and then decide on a career).

Spend most of  your leisure and holiday time getting a solid foundation towards your goal.

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Be purposeful and structure your studies very specifically towards your future career.

Once you are on your road on a clear map, then, success cannot and will not elude you at the end.

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So, set your goals. Have a 5, 10 and 20 year plan.

 

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Put 110% effort into qualifying yourself towards a very, very specific career goal.

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Visualize your future.. Not a pie in the sky. It must be specific.

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Once you have arrived, are financially comfortable and have achieved your goal. Then you can start spending your time on all the other  interesting career options. You can the do those as sideline businesses or secondary career options. Then you have money and can finance your other interests at leisure.

But, don’t confuse yourself with all the nice options until you have reached your goal in your chosen career.

Once you have arrived, only then, can you live the interesting life.

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