News
New Zealand Branch News
Dr Gabes Lau Kia Ora. The Olympics have just finished. New Zealand and Australia both represented well—once again, the athletes have represented us exceptionally well on the sporting stage, but also in interviews, especially loved the interview with Ruby Tui on the BBC.
NZ ASM The first weekend in August saw the NZ membership heading to Wellington for a well-attended NZ ASM. The numbers: • total on-site delegates: 235 • total virtual delegates: 73 • total delegates: 308 • of those numbers there were 45 radiation oncologists. It was fantastic to see everyone there enjoying the speakers. Bar a couple of tech issues during Q&A all the virtual presentations from overseas speakers were well done and engaged the audience. And I think attendees learned a few things from their local colleagues as well. Ka pai! I’d like to recognise all the hard work done by trainees on their presentations and posters. They were of universally high quality and I think some senior members were humbled by the quality of the work. The winners were: • Hugh McHugh: Obex Medical Registrar Research Award • Kyle Grabowski: NZRET Poster Prize • April Xu-Holland: FRONNZ Prize. On behalf of the College (particularly the NZ membership), I would like to thank the organisers for all their hard work. Thanks, in particular, to the convenors: Nick Humphries, Nichola Naidoo, Lisa Sweetman and Ziad Thotathil. The 2022 NZ ASM will be
convened by Dunedin and take place in Queenstown 5−7 August 2022.
RANZCR’s NZ AGM 2021 and the new Taku Taku At the start of the Annual General Meeting, which takes place at the NZ ASM, Dr Dana Tipene-Hook and I introduced the College's Taku Taku to the NZ membership. The Taku Taku has been shared with the College by Dr Tipene-Hook who is the NZ Māori representative on the College’s Māori Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Executive Committee (MATEC). Ngā mihi Dana. A Taku Taku is a chant used to open a meeting. The Taku Taku will be used to open College meetings. I want to thank all the attendees who did the Taku Taku with us. For those who were not there, the Taku Taku and the English translation are below. The AGM was followed by Joe Feltham’s presentation on the new CPD programme. Thanks to the members for
TAKU TAKU | NEW ZEALAND Taki uru Taki uru Taki uru Kare-ao te puru haeata Ki uta noa Kia tau, ka tau Ki te muri-ahotanga O te puna wananga e.....i..... Prepare to activate, ready oneself! Feel the rippling and dawning of understanding approaching, reaching, achieving, connecting, settling down/settled, relaxing in order to connect to the ancestral collective knowledge pool or spring of knowledge
sticking around for that presentation— I’d like to encourage everyone to get familiar with the new requirements. There is information on the College’s website and the College staff will be available to offer support during the transition.
Committee meetings While in Wellington for the NZ ASM, I attended a number of governance meetings including: the NZ Branch Committee, New Zealand Radiation Oncology Executive (NZROE) and the New Zealand Radiology Education Trust (NZRET). • The NZ Branch discussed ongoing member concerns in regards to ethical referrals and the importance of arm’slength referral. The consultation phase on the Ethical Referrals document has recently closed. I understand there have been more than 40 responses— the majority of respondents were supportive of the Ethical Referrals Discussion Paper. • The NZROE was concerned with a number of issues but particularly the RO vivas —the ongoing COVID situation in Australia is jeopardising the running of those exams. • NZRET met face-to-face, and had a good discussion on funding for education and training related projects. The Trust will be introducing a more transparent and formal process for applying for funding but if any NZ members (CR and RO) are seeking funding in 2021 for research or an education project, I would encourage you to email trust@ranzcr.org.nz Kia kaha. Stay safe, vigilant and strong. Volume 17 No 4 | September 2021
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