Developing a Career and Skills in Academic Surgery Course 2022

The upcoming 13th Annual Developing a Career and Skills (DCAS) course will be held on Monday 2 May 2022, leading into the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The course will be delivered in a hybrid format to include virtual sessions to give everyone an opportunity to attend this exciting course in person or online. All sessions will be available both online and in person to allow delegates the opportunity to attend from wherever they are located. We will provide the delegates with an exciting range of informative topics that promise to engage and inspire. We are pleased to have assembled an exceptional faculty from Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the United States who will share personal experience and tips on what it takes to start, develop and continue a productive career in academic surgery. We look forward to renewing acquaintances with our American colleagues from the Association for Academic Surgery, whose continued support for our DCAS course deserves special acknowledgement. The program will begin with a session exploring the academic career—from developing research questions, developing productive mentor-mentee relationships and advice on supervising surgical higher degree students. Other sessions will include New Directions and Challenges in Surgical Academia and Present Tools for Academic Output. Highlights from the program include Hot Topic speaker, Dr Eric Levi, presenting on the topic of Burnout and Mental Health in Academic Medicine. The keynote presentation, Building and Succeeding in an Academic Career will be delivered by Professor Mark Smithers from the University of Queensland. Two concurrent workshops will cater to those new to research or academic surgery. The session Finding My Fit will cover a few different types of research. For those looking to develop their career, Surgical Research Funding will navigate successful grant writing and locating research funding. Previous attendees—from medical students to department heads — frequently describe the course as inspirational, transformational, and well targeted to every level. Faculty regularly comment on how satisfying it is to see attendees benefit from the experience. For SET Trainees in General Surgery, attendance at this course is acknowledged by General Surgeons Australia as equivalent to attending one compulsory Trainees’ Day. We invite you to attend the DCAS Course, in person in Brisbane or in a virtual space in May 2022. You will be impressed and inspired. Research is about continuous improvement and progress, so come and be part of this course. Further details including registration, costs and the provisional program can be found on the DCAS website at: www. tinyurl.com/dcas2022

Associate Professor Jonathan Karpelowsky – Co-Chair