Surgical News | Volume 21 | Issue 04
Celebrating the art of surgery – in a time of disruption
It was a great disappointment to everyone when we had to cancel the Annual Scientific Congress (ASC) in 2020. However, unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures and it was pleasing to see that the lockdown instituted across our two countries led to a flattening of the COVID-19 curve, and in New Zealand and some Australian states and territories complete eradication. COVID-19 is undoubtedly the biggest disruptor that our community has experienced in our lifetime. It has not only caused an unbelievable number of deaths around the world, it has made us rethink the way we interact with each other, the way we work and the way we socialise. Our community responses in trying to contain the virus have made us consider, as a society, what it is we value, and how we can best protect and support the vulnerable among us. Lockdown has taken us from being almost unbearably busy and forced us to be quiet. Restrictions on elective operating make us consider what it means to be a surgeon, and who we are if we are not operating. As the College reflected on the broad impact of COVID-19 on our surgical community it seemed our planned theme, ‘Celebrating the art of surgery’, was just as relevant as it was in planning for 2020. To survive the changes personally, and as a Fellowship, we have had to find creative ways to adapt our practices, support
our patients and provide care to our communities. We have had to reconsider how and where we deliver care. We have constantly needed to be agile and adapt – as the landscape changed, sometimes daily. We had to rely on the art of what we do, not just the science of what we do. We have had to ‘Celebrate the art of surgery – in a time of disruption’. It was with great confidence and optimism in June that we started to plan for an even bigger and better ASC back in Melbourne for 2021. However, within a few weeks the number of COVID-19 cases in Melbourne started to rise exponentially. Our plans needed to change again, reminding us what a disruptor this virus is and how agile we need to be. Just as we have had to adapt our practices and our personal lives to this COVID-19 disruption, we have had to adapt the ASC. The ASC 2021 will be completely different to any we have ever held. While we will attempt to have an on-site presence in Melbourne, it is almost assured now that we will not be able to have 2500 people in one place. Therefore, we are looking to set up ‘hubs’ around Melbourne and in other metro and regional centres, where smaller groups can get together and participate in sessions virtually. RACS is looking forward to welcoming presentations from our colleagues and friends at Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh and, even more so,
we hope to welcome them in person. While we hope we will be able to travel in a New Zealand-Australia ‘bubble’ there is no assurance that borders will be open, so we need to prepare for our international speakers to contribute virtually. It may be that all our speakers will need to present virtually. We need to re-examine how many days we offer, as we are all now aware of the new phenomenon of Zoom fatigue. We will need to look at how we can recreate the networking and catch-up opportunities we all enjoy, and what the cost of the congress should be. There is much to be done and we will try our best to keep you informed as we work through these issues. We look forward to ‘seeing’ you somehow, in some way, in May, as we celebrate the art of what we do, and how we have dealt with, and are dealing with, a time of disruption.
Professor Wendy Brown 2021 ASC Convener
Associate Professor Sebastian King 2021 ASC Scientific Convener
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