President's Blog
Dr Rachel Green 2nd Edition. July 2023
Welcome readers to the second blog from me- the AGES president.
We are now well into winter with warm clothes and short days. Personally, for me it is my favourite time of year. I can finally get my warm running gear out and have a break from the brutally hot days of Queensland summer. Being born and raised in the UK, I do find exercising in the Queensland summer much harder. It’s also half way through the year and the EOFY is nearly upon us. Something all our members who run a private practice are all too aware of.
We will shortly be heading to Bangkok for the FOCUS meeting. This is the first time we are partnering with AAGL to bring you a joint education event. We have strived hard over the last few years to form relationships with other societies, thus allowing collegiality across the world. This allows us to learn from the experience of other nations and share our knowledge with them. This is a great opportunity for AGES members to combine travel and education.
Planning is underway for our October meeting. This would usually be a dedicated pelvic floor meeting, but the AGES board have decided to move away from this format for this year. This meeting will be “Striving to Thrive: Beyond the Pelvic Floor”. It is certainly an exciting collection of presentations from some very new and innovative speakers. We will head to the ever-popular city of Melbourne for this meeting. This is a new formula for AGES, and we welcome any feedback the membership has regarding this.
I have the pleasure of chairing next year’s ASM on the Gold Coast. The local organising committee have had 2 meetings so far and the program development is progressing well. This conference will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and there will be a range of accommodation options at the adjoining Casino complex. This venue will be an ideal destination for families and the young at heart with great facilities including the beach and world class shopping just a few steps away. The Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre is a large venue with excellent space for session and sponsors. I hope you will be able to join us as we strive to make this the biggest ASM to date.
Caterina Ang and Shamitha Kathurisinghe recently brought the trainee workshop to RACS in Melbourne. This 2-day event was a huge success with the trainees, including both hands-on and theoretical sessions. This workshop is always a sell-out event and we encourage training supervisors to motivate their more junior trainees to attend next year’s workshop. The workshop next year will be held in Perth to allow the WA trainees some more exposure and encourage our Eastern seaboard trainees to travel. I thank all involved in this workshop, as many hours are required to bring this workshop to fruition.
Kate Martin is currently in Darwin and has used this opportunity to bring a MIGS workshop to the NT. Medtronic was kind enough to supply 10 laparoscopic trainers and a tru-clear trainer to this afternoon session. Kate partnered with some of The Royal Darwin Hospital’s senior staff to bring a workshop of skills acquisition including a hands-on training session with the Lap trainers. This was a great workshop for a more isolated State and I thank Kate and the Medtronic team for bringing it together.
Behind the scenes, the new AGES board are working hard to bring the strategic plan to action. The committees are starting to meet and plans are being drawn up to bring some meaningful changes to the society. We have many committees as a board and these are all able to be viewed on our website. I once again call on the AGES membership to get involved in your society. This is your society; the Board are merely your elected representatives that bring it all together. If there are comments or suggestions I welcome emails to president@ages.com.au.
This blog also contains a partner article from our Professional Development Alliance Partner Avant. I hope you enjoy reading it.
Regards,
Dr Rachel Green
President, AGES
president@ages.com.au
