On Saturday 15 November, the National Museum of Canberra hosted the ACT Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM), bringing together Fellows, SIMGs, SET Trainees and Junior Doctors for a full day of education and networking. Our theme, The cutting edge: driving breakthroughs in surgery, set the tone for a day of discussions on innovation, cultural safety and wellbeing. 

Prof Ray Sacks talking to attendees

Vice President Ray Sacks, FRACS opened the meeting with reflections on the College’s governance journey, emphasising unity.

'We are all the College—the College is us and we need to all come together and be a family.'

Melo Calarco on burnout and self care

Keynote and TEDx speaker Melo Calarco shared practical strategies for managing stress and burnout. In his presentation, Melo spoke about the importance of looking after ourselves. "It’s one thing to know what we need to do to look after ourselves but it’s another thing to actually do it.” 

Dr Samantha Khoo

With the theme in mind, throughout the day we heard from: 
•  Professor Charles Mosse, FRACS, whose presentation, A New Paradigm of Consent, discussed the persistent gap between what is communicated and what is understood by patients and how to assess whether your patient has truly understood. 
•  Professor Jas Samra, FRACS, delivered an engaging session on emerging technologies in surgical practice, highlighting how digital tools are reshaping patient care and surgical training. 
•  Dr Samantha Khoo, FRACS, with a thought-provoking talk on sustainability in healthcare, challenging attendees to consider the environmental impact of surgical practices. 
•  Cultural safety with Professor Yin Paradies. Attendees learned the importance of breaking down health inequities to improve patient care and outcomes and meeting their CAPE requirements. 

ACT ASM debate

The highlight for the day was a spirited debate on the greatest surgical innovation—asepsis and antibiotics versus anaesthetics and intensive care. 

The future of our profession was also shown, with poster and oral presentations. Congratulations to Dr Denna Fryer for Best Poster, Mr Samesh Gupta for Noel Tate Medical Student Presentation Award, and Mr Samuel Ngugi for Best Oral Presentation. 

Post event, a special dinner was held at the stunning Beltana Farm, offering attendees and sponsors a chance to relax and connect over a delicious meal. 

Special thanks to the ACT ASM convenors Dr Hazel Serrao-Brown, FRACS, and Dr Christopher Lim, FRACS, the ACT Committee for their support and the coordination of RACS staff. Thanks also to our sponsors of this event—your generous support helped make this event happen.