I am honoured and privileged to take on the role of the President of ANZTS.
The 2023 Trauma Conference was a great success and it was very encouraging to have such a diverse representation attend the conference and we had in excess of 300 delegates registration. This the most important activity undertaken by our Society and I would like to thank the Organising Committee members led by Grant Christey and Scientific Committee members led by Kate Martin supported by TAS staff Jieun Lee for many hours of hard work put in. The preconference workshop was well attended and the conference saw many stellar international and ANZ speakers share their experience and knowledge across all craft groups. We would like to acknowledge and congratulate Zsolt Balogh for delivering the Gordan Trinca lecture. At the Gala dinner various awards were announced and our congratulations go out to all the recipients (see our website for details ). The award ceremony is an annual feature at the Gala dinner of the conference and please look out for the announcement of the dates for nomination in 2024. If you know of a member deserving of an award in any of the categories please consider nominating them, view the nomination forms here.
At The AGM it was announced that the Board had ratified the use of post nominals MANZTS (Member ANZTS) and we hope our members will take pride in using it in their signatures.
Work in underway for formalising the qualifications and key attributes required across all craft groups to become an Associate or full Fellow of the Society. We would like to request any member interested in assisting us in developing these guidelines to contact us by email (admin@anzts.com.au).
Our efforts in formalising an MoU with various national and international organisations will continue following the success of completion of some of them this year. Being a small society our strength lies in working together with similar societies to not only share resources but also to be a stronger voice in promoting the prevention and care of our cohort of patients.
Congratulations to Kat Quick, Michael Noonan and Don Campbell on their election to the Board. Our Board has members with a wealth of experience and skills and I look forward to working with them during my term to carry forward all the work in progress. Details of the Board members are on our website (https://www.anzts.com.au). Together we will also be considering new initiatives that will further strengthen the Society.
I take this opportunity to request all members to consider becoming a member of a Committee. It is a good segway to also put forward yourselves for the election to the Board. Membership based organisations are only as sound and successful as the voluntary work and contribution made by members.
On behalf of the Board I would like to sincerely thank our outgoing President Helen Jowett for all the hard work and achievements during her presidency. There were a few key initiatives taken during her Presidency which has taken our Society to the next generation.
Being the last edition of the year I wish you and your family the very best during the festive season. Stay safe and may 2024 bring everyone joy, success and happiness.
Prof Dinesh Varma, FRANZCR
ANZTS President