NZSA E-Zine 9 June 2021

9 June 2021

President's message

NZSA President Dr Sheila Hart

It's the big, not-to-be missed NZ anaesthesia event on our 2021 calendar. Registrations are now open for the Aotearoa New Zealand Anaesthesia Annual Scientitic Meeting - jointly hosted by the NZSA, ANZCA NZNC and NZATS. You can attend in person or online.

This year's ASM feels particularly special as we have not held the conference in the Garden City for many years. Christchurch has evolved in the face of adversity and we can't wait to showcase this modern, resilient and vibrant city.

The ASM theme Whakaora (To Heal): Our patients, Ourselves, Our City, Our Planet reflects the dynamic times we live in and the challenges we face looking after our patients and ourselves. Speaking of which, it was wonderful to support the Crazy Socks for Docs day last Friday (find out more in this E-Zine) to support awareness and action for doctors' mental health.

I look forward to welcoming you to our ASM and connecting with as many of you as possible! See you in October.

Aotearoa New Zealand Anaesthesia ASM - registrations open

Visit the ASM website to register. Regular updates on Twitter #NZASM21.

Registrations are open for the Aotearoa/New Zealand Anaesthesia Annual Scientific Meeting (27-30 October, Christchurch). Join us and be part of thought-provoking and exciting conversations about our specialty.

Our conference program will delve into topical issues including equity in medicine in Aotearoa, the Christchurch experience, perioperative essentials, and looking after ourselves.

The conference dinner will be held at the Christchurch Art Gallery Te Puna o Waiwhetū with a gourmet selection of South Island food and wines, and live music. We look forward to showcasing Ōtautahi Christchurch - whether you’re into biking, tramping, golfing or strolling through the city and gardens, there will be much to enjoy.

Mental health awareness and action

NZSA President Dr Sheila Hart put her best feet forward to support #crazysocks4docs day on 4 June. The campaign aims to raise awareness about mental health, and to encourage conversations and actions to support the wellbeing of doctors and other healthcare workers. Dr Hart says she commends the clinical leaders who have shared their mental health stories to help others.

Dr Geoff Toogood, an Australian Consultant Cardiologist who suffered from depression and anxiety, experienced first-hand stigma and discrimination at many levels. Once recovered he founded Crazy Socks 4 Docs Day in 2017. Geoff recently did an interview about the campaign and what changes are need to support doctors who are struggling with mental health. Listen to it here

End-of-Life Choice Act - update

If you missed our President's recent blog about the implementation of the End of Life Choice Act 2019 (the Act) and what it may mean for anaesthetists, we encourage you to read it here.

We also sent out a member survey asking for your views on assisted dying and where anaesthetists might fit in (survey closes this Friday). We have had an excellent number of responses to help guide our work and will provide a summary of results soon. Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts.

The Ministry of Health is leading the work program to implement the Act and to introduce an assisted dying service in New Zealand from 7 November 2021. The Ministry is providing guidance, information and training to support health professionals prepare for the introduction of assisted dying services. More here.

The first learning module about the Act and assisted dying is now available. This module aims to assist health professionals to develop a working knowledge of their roles and responsibilities under the Act, including conscientious objection. Resources, such as information sheets, are also available. We will keep members updated on resources and a forum being run in September by the Ministry to bring together health practitioners working in the provision of the assisted dying service.

Writ in Water exhibition and function

An art exhibition and social function to bring senior doctors together from across Auckland (18 September).

"We're hoping to help senior doctors to refocus their lives outside of medicine, rediscover their creativity, and catch up with friends and colleagues. It's been organised entirely by senior doctors in their own time. We're looking for doctors to exhibit their work and to provide musical performances for our event. See our website for more details - including purchasing tickets for this event. Even if you don’t wish to exhibit or perform we would still love to see you! Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any queries."

The Organising Committee
Drs Stacey Byers, Alex Kazemi and Jo Sinclair

Sustainability conference

The Sustainable Healthcare and Climate Health Aotearoa Conference (22-23 June) will be held in Wellington with conference hubs in Auckland and Christchurch (or full online option). Visit the website to view the program and register.

The conference theme Re-thinking Sustainable Health in Aotearoa will focus on regeneration and mitigation on day one, and adaptation and innovation on day two. Speakers will include Dr Rhys Jones on climate change research and innovation, Dr David Pencheon (University of Cambridge, UK) on a low carbon health sector, and India Logan-Riley on our future focus.

Support our Pacific colleagues - PACT

Learn more about our Global Health Committee here.

Contribute to supporting a sustainable anaesthesia workforce in the Pacific by donating the equivalent of one $5 coffee a week (or more). Your contribution will help to fund the cost of the Masters program for a Pacific trainee's education at the Fiji National University.

We've had a great response since this initiative (Pacific Anaesthesia Collaborative Training) was launched last year by the NZSA's Global Health Committee. We are thrilled to be supporting Dr Cecilia Vaai-Bartley who is currently studying for her Masters in Fiji.

We need more people to sign up to make this a reality for as many trainees as possible. We would appreciate you spreading the word to your family and colleagues. Donate here.

webAIRS

webAIRS will present a session on designing safe and efficient systems at the conjoint Australian Society of Anaesthetist's National Scientific Congress and Queensland ACE meeting on Sat 24 July. The conference (23-25 July) will be held in Brisbane (and virtually) and the theme is Collaboration in Challenging Times. More here

The webAIRs session will feature the talks below, followed by a panel discussion:

· Setting up STARS: Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Services, Dr David Sturgess and Dr Jessica Taylor.

· Using Bowtie Diagrams for Predicting, Preventing and Preparedness, Dr Martin Culwick, Dr Yasmin Endlich and Dr Stavros Prineas.

Are you contributing to quality anaesthesia? Visit the webAIRS website to register for this anaesthetic incident reporting system or email anztadc@anzca.edu.au

New-look Visiting Lectureship Series

Dr Nick Lightfoot and Dr Rob Burrell are preparing to inform and entertain you with the inaugural new-look Visiting Lectureship Series which will be online at 6pm on 2 September in a webinar format. The series was set up originally to get presentations out to the smaller regional hospitals. However, now that so many of us are webinar and Zoom savvy, courtesy of the year of COVID-19, the Aotearoa New Zealand Anaesthesia Education Committee (ANZAEC) has decided to give the whole country the opportunity to see our top researchers and presenters. Registration details to be advised.

Research. Is it worth it? Dr Lightfoot
Sustainable anaesthesia. Is it worth it? Dr Burrell

Nominations for Visiting Lectureships

Heads of departments are invited each year to nominate members of staff who have given an outstanding presentation at a CME session and are willing to present at two regional NZ centres in the following year.

Nominations for Visiting Lectureships for 2022 are now open. Forms to nominate a speaker or to express interest in hosting a lecture are available on the Aotearoa New Zealand Anaesthesia Education Committee (ANZAEC) website. Nominations close 30 September 2021.

Virtual World Congress 2021

In light of the ongoing impact of COVID, this year's World Congress of Anaesthesiologists (1-5 Sept 2021) will be entirely virtual. Without travel and accommodation expenses, WFSA aims to welcome the largest global community of anaesthesia and perioperative care providers ever assembled for a congress.
Learn more www.WCA2021.org and www.wfsahq.org

Events

For more NZ events visit the NZSA events page

For NZ + international events visit the ACE website

AQUA, 19-21 August 2021, Heritage Hotel, Queenstown
Registrations are open for this year's AQUA (Annual Queenstown Update in Anaesthesia). Speakers include Dr Wayne Morris (President-elect WFSA and member of the NZSA's Global Health Committee) on Global Anaesthesia: Why it Matters, and Professor Steve Munn on Pharmac and medical device purchasing. View program and register here

The 13th International Symposium on Pediatric Pain, 24-27 March 2022, The Cordis Hotel, Auckland
The conference theme is Diversity, Equity, Access. The vision is to enhance excellence in clinical practice for the management of children and young people in pain by showcasing influential knowledge and vanguard research www.ispp2022.nz

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Anaesthesia Continuing Education

The ACE website is a one-stop shop for anaesthesia events. Members convening conferences, workshops or meetings, which assist CPD requirements, are encouraged to add their event to the website.

The parent groups ANZCA, NZSA and ASA, host the site as members of the tripartite committee. Click here to add your event. Visit the ACE website and follow ACE on Twitter @ace_acecc