President's Blog
Dr Rachel Green 7th Edition, December 2024
Welcome readers to the President’s Blog Christmas edition.
I hope this edition finds our readers well and excited for some well-earned time off with families and friends. I am eagerly waiting for January when I will take a three-week leave of absence with Bruce and my two teenage daughters to Japow!! The snow is already falling, and we are getting excited for another great snow adventure. It’s been a very busy year personally and professionally for me. I would like to share a few of the recent achievements with you all.
I have recently returned from the AAGL congress in New Orleans. This is my third AAGL congress. Myself, along with Michael Wynn-Williams and Mary Sparksman, once again had the opportunity to meet with the AAGL board. We discussed our ongoing relationship with AAGL. We will continue the AGES/AAGL exchange lecture at the AGES ASM and AAGL congress for another year. We have secured sponsorship for the award from our industry partners, and we have been working towards funding for the AAGL recipient from their sponsors. This is an invaluable experience for the award recipients. I was able to attend Dr Avelyn Wong’s presentation at New Orleans—proudly flying the flag for AGES.
We also discussed education goals with AAGL including their EMIGS program. These conversations will continue with them as we look to the future development of the AATP. Next year, AGES will have a dedicated session at the AAGL congress. This is something the BSGE have had for some time. We will identify a theme and look for keen speakers next year.
The AAGL congress also gave us the opportunity to network with some of the other international societies. One of my goals as president was to strengthen our international ties. We had a productive meeting with the BSGE President, Dr Arvind Vashisht, and International Relations Chair, Dr Martin Hirsch. We hope to have more involvement with BSGE, ESGE, APAGE, and AAGL in the future. To this effect, I would like to draw your attention to the ASM program in Perth where we will have a dedicated session to our international society partners.
There were more than 40 delegates from AGES at the AAGL meeting. This must be a record of AGES attendances. This is a testament to our relationship with AAGL. Professor Alan Lam presented in the plenary session taking the M+M format to the US and expanding on the fallout for the surgeon when a complication occurs – the second victim. This theme was echoed through several of the sessions at the congress and I congratulate Professor Lam on his presentation.
New Orleans was a fabulous city, and I thoroughly enjoyed my travels.
So back to home soil. A week prior to my departure to America we held the Focus Meeting in Hobart. I extend my thanks to Kate Martin and Kirsten Connan and her local organising committee for this excellent meeting. It was a diverse program appealing to Gynaecologists, Obstetricians, and specialist GPs. The feedback from this meeting has been incredibly positive. Hobart was the perfect city for the Focus Meeting. We had a very memorable conference dinner at the stunning Frogmore Creek Winery.
The following week we also hosted the last webinar of the year–the Morbidity and Mortality webinar—in conjunction with Surgical Performance. Thank you to all our presenters for their cases and involvement in the webinar. The ongoing support from Professor Andreas Obermair is also much appreciated.
I would like to thank Avant the article attached to this Blog - Artificial Intelligence (AI): What you need to know.
As this year ends, I would like to share some highlights from AGES:
- We have hosted 3 meetings this year welcoming over 840 delegates to these meetings.
- We have provided you with the opportunity to achieve the following CPD points:
> 59.5 Educational Activities (EA),
> 2.5 Outcome Measurement (OM)
> 12 Performance Review (PR). - We have held 4 LAP-D courses with 144 attendees and faculty members
- We have hosted 6 webinars with 470 attendees
- We now have over 1000 AGES members
- We have had a hugely successful year as a Board and have finished the year in a very strong financial position having made a profit for the Society of the first time since COVID.
January will see nominations open for the Board. I welcome any questions you may have about the Board and what is involved to be part it. Being part of AGES has been an incredible opportunity for me, and I am so grateful and humble to be the President of this welcoming community. I have fulfilled my role in guiding this Board to success and I look forward to our strong future as AGES continues to grow and mature.
I look forward to seeing you at the AGES ASM, in Perth from Thursday 27th February to Saturday 1st March 2025! The theme is "Foundations, Finesse, Frontiers"
Merry Christmas dear readers…
Warmest Wishes,
Dr Rachel Green
AGES President
president@ages.com.au