Reflections on an inclusive congress

In March of last year, we made the difficult decision to cancel the 2020 Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Annual Scientific Meeting (ASC). However, amid COVID-19 restrictions, through the tremendous goodwill and hard work of a multitude of people, in 2021, we've had a very successful congress that has broken new ground in many ways. Thankfully, we had the unwavering support of Dr Tony Sparnon, our outgoing president, the College Council and RACS staff, led by our equally committed CEO, John Biviano. Lindy Moffat and her Conference and Events team, with leadership coming from Ally Chen, Binh Nguyen and Dr Liz McLeod, constantly amaze me with the incredible events they always deliver, and 2021 was on a scale like no other. Abderazzaq Noor and Tracey Volkmer rallied the communications team, who were enthusiastic, consistent supporters and tireless in disseminating information to members and other stakeholders using novel and innovative methods.

From the outset, RACS Council made a firm decision, and determined it was important to deliver our major continuing professional development RACS event of the year and convocate our Fellows. We must acknowledge the staunch support of the Aotearoa New Zealand and Australian state and territory offices. The managers and regional chairs, as well as society presidents, attended fortnightly working party meetings in the lead up for more than a year to develop the hubs concept.

Special recognition needs to go to Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ) who joined the RACS ASC for the first time. Professor Henry Woo did a remarkable job to pull together a program after the congress planning had already commenced. Thanks for being there USANZ!

We also acknowledge the great collaboration from the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh (RCSEd). It was a wonderful addition to our international engagement, which also extended to the Asia-Pacific region.

Trying to second guess what the environment would be like 12 months after the declared pandemic was challenging. We understood that our members would be yearning for the socialisation that occurs at a face-to-face meeting. And yet, the digital platform provided opportunities for the dispersal of information that wouldn't otherwise have been possible, and members did manage to congregate and socialise in smaller gatherings across the world.

Professor Wendy Brown and Associate Professor Sebastian King (Convener and Scientific Convener) and their 2021 Melbourne Section Conveners were remarkable. The various Section Conveners were exemplary in being able to reformat their programs to accommodate the new normal. We also need to acknowledge and thank our Perth colleagues who had already started planning ASC 2021 but stood aside to allow the Melbourne program to be delivered.

Although we couldn’t host our overseas faculty, we were able to have more international speakers than ever before. As usual, there was a feast of material and so much that I just couldn’t get to, although the digital platform remains open for later viewing. But there’s nothing like real time, and some of the highlights for me were the plenaries – the inspiring address by Mohamed Khadra, poet and playwright, and the amazing artistry of Chris Edwards, one of our surgeons turned sculptor. When the inevitable digital hiccup occurred, the show went on, and our President came to the stage and, right off the cuff, regaled the audience with his stories of cultivating his award-winning liliums. Another highlight was ‘The Art of Communication in a Crisis’ session with Dr Nick Coatsworth, the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and the RCSEd College President Professor Michael Griffin. Professor Brendan Murphy eloquently delivered the Syme oration at the convocation ceremony. We were honoured that he flew back from Canberra specifically to address our Fellowship in recognition of this special occasion.

Associate Professor Ramesh Nataraja organised an outstanding Global Health program that was inclusive and diverse. This was well demonstrated in the many combined sessions with the Directors section, surgical education, Paediatric Surgery, senior surgeons, Plastics and Reconstructive, younger Fellows, General Surgery, quality and safety in surgical practice and rural surgery.

The most confronting, gut wrenching, yet heartwarming moment was when Professor Zaw Wai Soe, a Myanmar orthopaedic surgeon, addressed the Global Health audience from a secret location. He spoke of the devastating situation during the military coup and the execution of young trainees and colleagues close to him, deemed dissidents by the military junta. Their unimaginable plight was made real for our audience in that session.

Meanwhile, our Pacific neighbours had access to our digital platform in their digital hubs and could be equally immersed in the interaction and involved throughout the program.

For the time, the hub concept has been the perfect solution and there will be learnings from this year that will no doubt carry through to future meetings. It's hoped that we will be able to have even greater engagement of a broader and larger number of members in years to come.

Professor Owen Ung Outgoing Chair ASC Conference and Events Incoming Chair Global Health