About Us
About CASMET
The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists is an independent, non-governmental Association representing more than 1500 Medical Laboratory Professionals throughout the Caribbean, Central America and the Dutch Antilles.
The Aims and Objectives of the Association is as follows:
As a representative body: CASMET has the ability to make representation on behalf of its members with reference to matters of professional interest.
As an educational institution: CASMET provides avenues for the professional development of Medical Professionals by conducting examinations and certifications in the various disciplines of Medical Technology. Forums are also provided for the development and interchange of technical knowledge by the hosting of courses, meetings, lectures, scientific sessions and publications.
As an advisor: CASMET is available in an advisory and collaboratory capacity to educational institutions, funding agencies and Government Ministries for the development of the technical aspects of Medical Technology. CASMET can also provide information to Governments for the establishment of legislation to govern the legislation and registration of Laboratory professionals.
History of CASMET
The formation of the Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists first took birth in Jamaica in May 1953, when senior Technologists from the Department of Pathology, University of the West Indies, Mona, convened a meeting at the University’s compound. This meeting was chaired by Professor Kenneth R. Hill, (now deceased) and the aim of this meeting was to form an Association for Medical Technologists in Jamaica.
In December 1953 a second meeting was held. At this meeting the inauguration of the Association took place. Professor Kenneth R. Hill was elected as the first President while Dr. L.E. Arnold and Dr. L.S. Fox were elected as the first two vice-President. Mr. H. L. Fox was also elected as the first chairman of the Association.
Approximately eleven months later on September 28th, 1954 the members of the Association agreed to change the name of the Association to “The Society of Medical Technologists, (West Indies)”, since Technologists from other countries in the region were beginning to join the Society. This date is therefore recorded as the birth – date of the Society. The department of Pathology, University of the West Indies, Jamaica was the first designated headquarters of the Society. At an Annual General Meeting in 1959, the motto “Vitam Excolimus per Artes” (We save lives by our skill) was adopted. The Society’s crest was designed by Mr. Gool.
The main aims of the Society were to elevate Medical Technology in the English speaking Caribbean to a professional level and to provide for certification of the region’s Technologists. The drafting of the constitution and the preparation of examination syllabuses were therefore among the first activities embarked upon by the Society.
At its first official function in June 1955, held under the patronage of Mr. Phillip Sherlock (later Sir Phillip), the then Vice Principle of the University, the Society presented a number of honorary Diploma and Fellowship awards to foundation members from Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Society’s Constitution provided for the formation of Branches in member territories. The first of these Regional Branches was formed in Guyana in September 1955 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ignatius Singh and a formidable Branch for a number of years. In 1956, Mr. Oswald Young and Dr. Armeaud pioneered the formation of the Trinidad and Tobago Branch.
The decade of the sixties saw the formation of the Bahamas Branch in 1965 and the Barbados Branch in 1966. Mrs. Norma Allen was Chairperson of the Bahamas Branch, while the Barbados Branch was under the Chairmanship of Dr. Wilfrid dos Santos, Pathologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Bermuda, Grenada and St. Lucia attained Branch status in 1987, 1988 and 1990 respectively. At the time of their formation, these Branches were under the Chairmanship of Mrs. Maxine Dixon, Ms. June Salhab and Mr. Alexis Gerva respectively.
Barbados and Jamaica served as “caretaker” Branches for those islands in the region that did not have Branch status. Barbados had responsibility for Trinidad, Guyana and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, while Jamaica was responsible for Belize, Turks and Caicos Island and the Cayman Islands.
In November 1956, Professor G. Bras succeeded Professor Hill as the Society’s President. For the next seventeen years, Pathologists continued to hold the Society’s top posts until 1973 when the constitution was amended to allow Fellows of the Society to hold the office of President.
In 1956, the Society had its first official representation overseas when five (5) Technologists attended the 20 Annual Convention of the North American Society of Medical Technologists in Quebec City Canada. Since then the Society/Association has been represented at the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologist’s (LAMLT’s) Conference in 1961, 1966,1970 and 1982. Additionally, representations were made at the Institute of Medical Laboratory technologists (IMLT’s) conferences in 1966, 1978 and 1980. At the IAMLT conference, Mrs. Faith Gorousingh of Jamaica presented a paper entitled “The role of frozen sections in a developing country”
The Society was accepted as a member of the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists in 1960. At its Annual General Meeting in July, the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology unanimously adopted a resolution making Diplomates and Fellows of the Society eligible for exemption from the intermediate examination of the institute thus making it possible for holders to proceed to the Finial Examinations of the Institute. In February 1967, the Medical Technicians Board in England gave recognition to the Diploma of the Society for the purpose of state registration.
One of the Society’s main objections of certification of Technologists became a reality in December 1957 when candidates sat and passed the first examination at the Intermediate level. In 1959, two candidates took the first Diploma examinations. One of them, Mr. Victor Elliott passed thus becoming the Society’s first Diplomate by examination Higher (Advanced) examinations for the Fellowship qualification were introduced in 1966 and later Fellowships were made available by the route of thesis.
The 1960’s saw the establishment of one-year training courses run by the Development of Pathology, UWI, Jamaica under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). These courses catered to technologists from the majority of Caribbean countries. The chief architects of these training courses were Dr. I.J. Golding, then Senior Lecture in Chemical Pathology, UWI and a past Vice President, Ms. I. Morris, Mr. G. Khan and Dr. V. McGeachy. Miss Morris and Mr. G. Khan both served as supervisors of training.
Examinations at Intermediate and Diploma levels were held in June and December of each year until 1966. Thereafter, Intermediate examinations continued to be held bi-annually, but Diploma examinations were held once yearly. Originally, that sitting was held in July, but it was later changed to November.
In Jamaica, the passage of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act in 1965 was an important landmark in the history of the registered to practice their profession. In 1969 it was decided that the Certificate qualification would be the qualifying point for registration. Similar legislation, the Paramedical Act, was passed in Barbados in 1946.
The decade of the seventies was marked by a number of historic events and achievements in the history of the society. At the Annual General Meeting of 1970, four distinguished members of the Society were made Honorary Fellows. They were the then President, Professor G. Bras, the two Vice-Presidents professor L.S Grant and Dr. D. Walter and Dr. M.S. Ragbeer, who served for many years as Chairman of the Training Committee.
In 1973, the Constitution was amended to allow Fellows of the Society to hold the office of President, an office for which only Pathologists had been eligible previously. The first Fellow to be elected to the post of President was Mrs. Barbara White, who unfortunately demitted office after three months. Other Jamaican Technologists holding the Presidency between 1973 and 1979 were Mr. Ivan Aldred and Mr. Victor Elliot.
In October 1977, Barbados hosted a meeting of senior officers from the Branches and other members territories. Two significant developments resulted from this historic meeting, which was chaired by the then President of the Society, Mr. Victor Elliot. Firstly, a motion was made to have the name of the Society changed from “ The Society of Medical technologists (West Indies)” to “ The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists. It was also proposed that the Executives of the Society be decentralized, allowing Presidents and other executive officers to be elected from members of Branches other than the Jamaican Branch.
From the inception of the Association, all Annual General Meetings were held in Jamaica, even through there were three other regional branches. In October 1979 for the first time the Annual General Meeting was held outside of Jamaica. This meeting was held in the Bahamas and hosted by the members of the Bahamas Branch. This meeting saw the largest attendance of delegates at a Society A.G.M. It was here that for the first time persons representing other Branches outside Jamaica were elected to the Regional Council.
At this meeting in the Bahamas, the name change from “The Society of Medical Technologists (West Indies). “ to “ The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists” took place. The first decentralized executive was under the Presidency of Ms. Barbara White of Jamaican and comprised officers from Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, and Jamaican.
In May 1980, at the first Regional Meeting of the new executives in Jamaica, a motion was passed to adopt the acronym “CASMET” for The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists. Another significant landmark in the Association’s history was the signing of an “affiliation” agreement with the American Medical Technologists (AMT) at the Biennial General Meeting in Miami, Florida in October 1989. Mr. James Mackey and Mr. William Robbins, the then Presidents of CASMET and AMT respectively, signed on behalf of the two Associations. As a result, an amendment was made to AMT bylaw which allows CASMET to function as an international Society within AMT.
On March 26th, 1996, the Trinidad and Tobago Branch was reformed. This reformation took place after the Trinidadians contingent to the BGM in Freeport, Bahamas was asked to host the 1997 BGM. Two other Medical Technology Associations also were reformed after many years of dormancy. These were the St. Lucia Association in Suriname. Both these Associations have applied for Branch status within CASMET.
At the BGM in Trinidad, in November 1997, the Trinidad Branch was officially appointed “caretaker” Branch for Suriname, Guyana and Curacao/Aruba, thus lightening the load on the Barbados Branch.
On July 1st 1999, the Professionals Supplementary to Medicine Act was approved in the Bahamas, thus stipulating that Medical Technologists had to be registered with an Association to practice in the Bahamas.
Another recent milestone that was achieved was the rewriting of the constitution that governed the Association. It was found that there were two different constitution in circulation and that many amendments needed to be made to accommodate the changes that were taking place in the field of Medical Technology. This review of the constitution took place at two Regional Council Meeting in Jamaica (1998) and Nassau, Freeport (1999). The proposed changes will be presented to the General Membership at the BGM in Curacao for ratification.
Prepared by Mr. Victor Farrell and Mrs. S. Baboolal
Historical Events at a Glance
1953 - First meeting of Technologist to form an Association in Jamaica.
1953 - Inauguration of the Association for Medical Laboratory Technicians in Jamaican.
1954 - Change of name from “ The Caribbean Association for Medical Laboratory Technicians in Jamaica” to “ The Society of Medical Technologist (W.I).”
1955 - Formation of the first Regional Branch in Guyana.
1956 - Formation of the second Regional Branch in Trinidad and Tobago.
1957 - 1st Examination held by the Society (Intermediate Certificate).
1957 - 1st Diploma Examination held.
1958 - Agreement of motto” Vitam Excolimus per Artes.”
1964 - Society gained membership from the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists (IAMLT)
1965 - Formation of the third Regional Branch in the Bahamas.
1966 - Formation of the fourth Regional Branch in Barbados.
1973 - Amendment of constitution to allow Fellows of the Society to be eligible for nomination to the post of President of the Society.
1977 - Motion made to change the name from “The Society of Medical technologists (W.I) to “ The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists.”
1977 - Proposal submitted for the decentralization of executive officers i.e. officers can be elected from members of Branches other than Jamaica.
1977 - 1st Educators Congress held in Antigua.
1979 - By vote the name was changed to “ The Caribbean Association of medical Technologists”.
1979 - Officers and branch representatives chosen from Branches for the first time.
1979 - 1st AGM to be held outside Jamaica (Bahamas).
1980 - A motion was put forward to adopt the professional abbreviation of “CASMET”.
1981 - The Barbados Branch officially designed “caretaker” Branch for island of the Eastern Caribbean.
1985 - Introduction of uniforms for official events.
1987 - First Biennial General meeting held in Barbados (Meeting were previously held annually).
1988 - Formation of the Bermuda Branch.
1988 - Formation of the Grenada Branch.
1989 - An “affiliate agreement” signed with AMT allowing CASMET to function as an international society within AMT.
1996 - Reformation of the Trinidad and Tobago Branch.
1998 - Review and change of the examination fees.
Review of the existing constitution.
The CASMET website was developed by Trini Webmaster
The Aims and Objectives of the Association is as follows:
As a representative body: CASMET has the ability to make representation on behalf of its members with reference to matters of professional interest.
As an educational institution: CASMET provides avenues for the professional development of Medical Professionals by conducting examinations and certifications in the various disciplines of Medical Technology. Forums are also provided for the development and interchange of technical knowledge by the hosting of courses, meetings, lectures, scientific sessions and publications.
As an advisor: CASMET is available in an advisory and collaboratory capacity to educational institutions, funding agencies and Government Ministries for the development of the technical aspects of Medical Technology. CASMET can also provide information to Governments for the establishment of legislation to govern the legislation and registration of Laboratory professionals.
History of CASMET
The formation of the Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists first took birth in Jamaica in May 1953, when senior Technologists from the Department of Pathology, University of the West Indies, Mona, convened a meeting at the University’s compound. This meeting was chaired by Professor Kenneth R. Hill, (now deceased) and the aim of this meeting was to form an Association for Medical Technologists in Jamaica.
In December 1953 a second meeting was held. At this meeting the inauguration of the Association took place. Professor Kenneth R. Hill was elected as the first President while Dr. L.E. Arnold and Dr. L.S. Fox were elected as the first two vice-President. Mr. H. L. Fox was also elected as the first chairman of the Association.
Approximately eleven months later on September 28th, 1954 the members of the Association agreed to change the name of the Association to “The Society of Medical Technologists, (West Indies)”, since Technologists from other countries in the region were beginning to join the Society. This date is therefore recorded as the birth – date of the Society. The department of Pathology, University of the West Indies, Jamaica was the first designated headquarters of the Society. At an Annual General Meeting in 1959, the motto “Vitam Excolimus per Artes” (We save lives by our skill) was adopted. The Society’s crest was designed by Mr. Gool.
The main aims of the Society were to elevate Medical Technology in the English speaking Caribbean to a professional level and to provide for certification of the region’s Technologists. The drafting of the constitution and the preparation of examination syllabuses were therefore among the first activities embarked upon by the Society.
At its first official function in June 1955, held under the patronage of Mr. Phillip Sherlock (later Sir Phillip), the then Vice Principle of the University, the Society presented a number of honorary Diploma and Fellowship awards to foundation members from Jamaica, Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Society’s Constitution provided for the formation of Branches in member territories. The first of these Regional Branches was formed in Guyana in September 1955 under the Chairmanship of Mr. Ignatius Singh and a formidable Branch for a number of years. In 1956, Mr. Oswald Young and Dr. Armeaud pioneered the formation of the Trinidad and Tobago Branch.
The decade of the sixties saw the formation of the Bahamas Branch in 1965 and the Barbados Branch in 1966. Mrs. Norma Allen was Chairperson of the Bahamas Branch, while the Barbados Branch was under the Chairmanship of Dr. Wilfrid dos Santos, Pathologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
Bermuda, Grenada and St. Lucia attained Branch status in 1987, 1988 and 1990 respectively. At the time of their formation, these Branches were under the Chairmanship of Mrs. Maxine Dixon, Ms. June Salhab and Mr. Alexis Gerva respectively.
Barbados and Jamaica served as “caretaker” Branches for those islands in the region that did not have Branch status. Barbados had responsibility for Trinidad, Guyana and the islands of the Eastern Caribbean, while Jamaica was responsible for Belize, Turks and Caicos Island and the Cayman Islands.
In November 1956, Professor G. Bras succeeded Professor Hill as the Society’s President. For the next seventeen years, Pathologists continued to hold the Society’s top posts until 1973 when the constitution was amended to allow Fellows of the Society to hold the office of President.
In 1956, the Society had its first official representation overseas when five (5) Technologists attended the 20 Annual Convention of the North American Society of Medical Technologists in Quebec City Canada. Since then the Society/Association has been represented at the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologist’s (LAMLT’s) Conference in 1961, 1966,1970 and 1982. Additionally, representations were made at the Institute of Medical Laboratory technologists (IMLT’s) conferences in 1966, 1978 and 1980. At the IAMLT conference, Mrs. Faith Gorousingh of Jamaica presented a paper entitled “The role of frozen sections in a developing country”
The Society was accepted as a member of the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists in 1960. At its Annual General Meeting in July, the Institute of Medical Laboratory Technology unanimously adopted a resolution making Diplomates and Fellows of the Society eligible for exemption from the intermediate examination of the institute thus making it possible for holders to proceed to the Finial Examinations of the Institute. In February 1967, the Medical Technicians Board in England gave recognition to the Diploma of the Society for the purpose of state registration.
One of the Society’s main objections of certification of Technologists became a reality in December 1957 when candidates sat and passed the first examination at the Intermediate level. In 1959, two candidates took the first Diploma examinations. One of them, Mr. Victor Elliott passed thus becoming the Society’s first Diplomate by examination Higher (Advanced) examinations for the Fellowship qualification were introduced in 1966 and later Fellowships were made available by the route of thesis.
The 1960’s saw the establishment of one-year training courses run by the Development of Pathology, UWI, Jamaica under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO). These courses catered to technologists from the majority of Caribbean countries. The chief architects of these training courses were Dr. I.J. Golding, then Senior Lecture in Chemical Pathology, UWI and a past Vice President, Ms. I. Morris, Mr. G. Khan and Dr. V. McGeachy. Miss Morris and Mr. G. Khan both served as supervisors of training.
Examinations at Intermediate and Diploma levels were held in June and December of each year until 1966. Thereafter, Intermediate examinations continued to be held bi-annually, but Diploma examinations were held once yearly. Originally, that sitting was held in July, but it was later changed to November.
In Jamaica, the passage of the Professions Supplementary to Medicine Act in 1965 was an important landmark in the history of the registered to practice their profession. In 1969 it was decided that the Certificate qualification would be the qualifying point for registration. Similar legislation, the Paramedical Act, was passed in Barbados in 1946.
The decade of the seventies was marked by a number of historic events and achievements in the history of the society. At the Annual General Meeting of 1970, four distinguished members of the Society were made Honorary Fellows. They were the then President, Professor G. Bras, the two Vice-Presidents professor L.S Grant and Dr. D. Walter and Dr. M.S. Ragbeer, who served for many years as Chairman of the Training Committee.
In 1973, the Constitution was amended to allow Fellows of the Society to hold the office of President, an office for which only Pathologists had been eligible previously. The first Fellow to be elected to the post of President was Mrs. Barbara White, who unfortunately demitted office after three months. Other Jamaican Technologists holding the Presidency between 1973 and 1979 were Mr. Ivan Aldred and Mr. Victor Elliot.
In October 1977, Barbados hosted a meeting of senior officers from the Branches and other members territories. Two significant developments resulted from this historic meeting, which was chaired by the then President of the Society, Mr. Victor Elliot. Firstly, a motion was made to have the name of the Society changed from “ The Society of Medical technologists (West Indies)” to “ The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists. It was also proposed that the Executives of the Society be decentralized, allowing Presidents and other executive officers to be elected from members of Branches other than the Jamaican Branch.
From the inception of the Association, all Annual General Meetings were held in Jamaica, even through there were three other regional branches. In October 1979 for the first time the Annual General Meeting was held outside of Jamaica. This meeting was held in the Bahamas and hosted by the members of the Bahamas Branch. This meeting saw the largest attendance of delegates at a Society A.G.M. It was here that for the first time persons representing other Branches outside Jamaica were elected to the Regional Council.
At this meeting in the Bahamas, the name change from “The Society of Medical Technologists (West Indies). “ to “ The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists” took place. The first decentralized executive was under the Presidency of Ms. Barbara White of Jamaican and comprised officers from Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, and Jamaican.
In May 1980, at the first Regional Meeting of the new executives in Jamaica, a motion was passed to adopt the acronym “CASMET” for The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists. Another significant landmark in the Association’s history was the signing of an “affiliation” agreement with the American Medical Technologists (AMT) at the Biennial General Meeting in Miami, Florida in October 1989. Mr. James Mackey and Mr. William Robbins, the then Presidents of CASMET and AMT respectively, signed on behalf of the two Associations. As a result, an amendment was made to AMT bylaw which allows CASMET to function as an international Society within AMT.
On March 26th, 1996, the Trinidad and Tobago Branch was reformed. This reformation took place after the Trinidadians contingent to the BGM in Freeport, Bahamas was asked to host the 1997 BGM. Two other Medical Technology Associations also were reformed after many years of dormancy. These were the St. Lucia Association in Suriname. Both these Associations have applied for Branch status within CASMET.
At the BGM in Trinidad, in November 1997, the Trinidad Branch was officially appointed “caretaker” Branch for Suriname, Guyana and Curacao/Aruba, thus lightening the load on the Barbados Branch.
On July 1st 1999, the Professionals Supplementary to Medicine Act was approved in the Bahamas, thus stipulating that Medical Technologists had to be registered with an Association to practice in the Bahamas.
Another recent milestone that was achieved was the rewriting of the constitution that governed the Association. It was found that there were two different constitution in circulation and that many amendments needed to be made to accommodate the changes that were taking place in the field of Medical Technology. This review of the constitution took place at two Regional Council Meeting in Jamaica (1998) and Nassau, Freeport (1999). The proposed changes will be presented to the General Membership at the BGM in Curacao for ratification.
Prepared by Mr. Victor Farrell and Mrs. S. Baboolal
Historical Events at a Glance
1953 - First meeting of Technologist to form an Association in Jamaica.
1953 - Inauguration of the Association for Medical Laboratory Technicians in Jamaican.
1954 - Change of name from “ The Caribbean Association for Medical Laboratory Technicians in Jamaica” to “ The Society of Medical Technologist (W.I).”
1955 - Formation of the first Regional Branch in Guyana.
1956 - Formation of the second Regional Branch in Trinidad and Tobago.
1957 - 1st Examination held by the Society (Intermediate Certificate).
1957 - 1st Diploma Examination held.
1958 - Agreement of motto” Vitam Excolimus per Artes.”
1964 - Society gained membership from the International Association of Medical Laboratory Technologists (IAMLT)
1965 - Formation of the third Regional Branch in the Bahamas.
1966 - Formation of the fourth Regional Branch in Barbados.
1973 - Amendment of constitution to allow Fellows of the Society to be eligible for nomination to the post of President of the Society.
1977 - Motion made to change the name from “The Society of Medical technologists (W.I) to “ The Caribbean Association of Medical Technologists.”
1977 - Proposal submitted for the decentralization of executive officers i.e. officers can be elected from members of Branches other than Jamaica.
1977 - 1st Educators Congress held in Antigua.
1979 - By vote the name was changed to “ The Caribbean Association of medical Technologists”.
1979 - Officers and branch representatives chosen from Branches for the first time.
1979 - 1st AGM to be held outside Jamaica (Bahamas).
1980 - A motion was put forward to adopt the professional abbreviation of “CASMET”.
1981 - The Barbados Branch officially designed “caretaker” Branch for island of the Eastern Caribbean.
1985 - Introduction of uniforms for official events.
1987 - First Biennial General meeting held in Barbados (Meeting were previously held annually).
1988 - Formation of the Bermuda Branch.
1988 - Formation of the Grenada Branch.
1989 - An “affiliate agreement” signed with AMT allowing CASMET to function as an international society within AMT.
1996 - Reformation of the Trinidad and Tobago Branch.
1998 - Review and change of the examination fees.
Review of the existing constitution.
The CASMET website was developed by Trini Webmaster
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