News in brief

Results of the 2022 RACS Council elections Congratulations to the following elected Councillors who take office at the conclusion of the RACS Annual General Meeting on Thursday, 5 May 2022. Thank you to all Fellows who participated in the elections process. President - Sally Langley Vice President - Chris Pyke Treasurer - Greg Witherow Censor-in-Chief - Adrian Anthony Chair, Professional Standards and Advocacy Committee - Andrew Hill Chair, Court of Examiners - Ray Sacks Chair, Health Policy & Advocacy - Mark Frydenberg Chair, Board Surgical Education and Training - Annette Holian Chair, Professional Standards - Kerin Fielding Chair, Fellowship Services - Christine Lai Chair, Professional Development - Jennifer Chambers Chair, Research and Academic Surgery - Henry Woo Chair, Surgical Audit - Owen Ung Chair, Global Health - John Crozier Chair, SIMG Assessment - Ruth Bollard Chair, Prevocational & Skills Education - Philip Morreau Chair, Annual Scientific Congress Planning & Review - Mark Ashton Deputy Treasurer - Rebecca Jack The ANZH Society Committee for 2022 and 2023

The Australia and New Zealand Hernia (ANZH) Society Committee for 2022 and 2023 has the following composition: David Wardill, Kellee Slater, Jonathan Koea, Anita Jacombs, Hairul Ahmed, Ross Roberts, Rod Jacobs, Harsha Chandaratna, Hugh McGregor, Ken Loi, SuMei Ho, Elan Kaplan, Alex Karatassas, Chrys Hensman and Jonathan Rice. The Executive will consist of Rod Jacobs, Chairman; David Wardill, Vice Chair; Harsha Chandaratna, Treasurer; and Ken Loi, Secretary. There will be five subcommittees, encompassing Education, Research, Industry, Engagement and the ANZH CQR. We encourage all surgeons who perform hernia repair to join ANZH and participate in redefining hernia surgery in Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia.

Visit anzhernia.org or email secretariat@anzhernia.org for more information.

First recipient of the RACS NSW Women in Surgery Award Congratulations to Associate Professor Amanda Dawson who is “very honoured” to be named the first recipient of the RACS inaugural NSW Women in Surgery Leadership award. RACS secures funding to increase surgical training in rural hospitals The College has secured $850,000 over two years to fund a project to investigate and address barriers to rural hospitals being accredited to carry out surgical training. “The project – Rural Accreditation: Addressing Barriers to Rural Specialist Training – is an important step towards understanding the unique characteristics of rural hospitals,” said Associate Professor Kerin Fielding, Chair, Rural Health Equity Strategy Committee. “It will also address reasons why RACS’ current training accreditation criteria and processes might not be as relevant to rural hospitals as they are to metropolitan hospitals.” RACS applied for this funding under the new Flexible Approach to Training in Expanded Settings (FATES) budget measure. “The funding will enable us to kickstart our work on RACS Rural Health Equity Strategy,” said Associate Professor Fielding. “The Strategy’s ‘Train for Rural’ component specifies the need for separate accreditation criteria for rural training post because of the unique value of rural training.” “To enable more rural hospitals to offer surgical training posts we will begin by researching barriers rural hospitals encounter when they apply for surgical training accreditation and carry out consultations to gather first-hand information.” RACS will publish a report on our findings and provide recommendations on areas that can be improved. RACS will partner with key stakeholders, such as regional training hubs, drawing on their wealth of experience.