SUSS October Journal Club: Women in Surgery

This month the SUSS Journal Club will focus on Women in Surgery. Despite advances in gender equality in other specialties and occupations, there is still a gender divide in surgical training in Australia. While 50% of medical graduates are women only 12% of surgeons are female. There are significant hurdles encountered by women before and during training including lack of female role models, lifestyle factors, and discrimination. 
 
Cynthia Chang will discuss these barriers and their effect on applications for surgery training. Meredith Bibbings will then present a paper investigating gender differences in operative autonomy during cardiothoracic surgery training. 
 
Join us at the RPA Institute for Academic Surgery on Wednesday 17th October at 6pm. 
 
Presenters and Papers: 
Cynthia Chang 
Peel, J. K., Schlachta, C. M., & Alkhamesi, N. A. (2018). A systematic review of the factors affecting choice of surgery as a career. Can J Surg, 61(1), 58-67. DOI:10.1503/cjs.008217
 
Meredith Bibbings
Meyerson, S. L., Sternbach, J. M., Zwischenberger, J. B., & Bender, E. M. (2017). The Effect of Gender on Resident Autonomy in the Operating room. J Surg Educ, 74(6), e111-e118. DOI:10.1016/j.jsurg.2017.06.014
Event Details:
Date: Wednesday 17 October 2018
Time: 6pm- 7pm
Venue: RPA Institute of Academic Surgery, Cnr Brown & Missenden Rd Camperdown 2050

Sharpy’s Surgical Revision Day 2018

This is an all-day intensive revision course on general surgery directed towards Year 3 and 4 medical students. It will be delivered by Dr Gary Sharp, a surgical registrar currently based in Dubbo – he will be flying in especially for this event! The day’s program will include a comprehensive review of general surgery with a focus on gastrointestinal surgical presentations, tailored to help stage 3 students prepare for the upcoming barrier exams.

Students from all stages are welcome, however, preference will be given to stage 3s.

Please register to secure your spot: https://goo.gl/forms/IwfCFgoo7yKwokqp2

SUSS Annual General Meeting 2018

Dear Members,

Notice is hereby given for the Annual General Meeting of the Sydney University Surgical Society which will be held on the 5th July 2018 at 6pm in New Law School Lecture Theatre 104, at the University of Sydney. The agenda will include:

1) President’s Report

2) Constitutional Amendments
All motions must be sent to the Society Secretary by 21st June (Deanna Lee, dlee5373@uni.sydney.edu.au). In the interests of time, only motions with notice will be considered at the meeting.

The current constitution is available on the SUSS website at: https://surgsoc.org.au/about-suss/

3) Elections
Nominations for positions will be taken from the floor or via proxy (see below). Candidates must be nominated by a third party, have their nomination seconded by another third party, and accept their nomination. Positions include and will be voted on in the following order:

Executive positions
1. President
2. Vice President
3. Secretary
4. Treasurer

Committee positions
5. Research Officer
6. Information, Communications and Technology (ICT) Officer
7. Skills Lab Coordinator
8. Community Officer
9. Stage 1 and 2 Representatives
10. Clinical School Representatives: 1 for each of Concord, RPA, Nepean, Northern, SAN, Westmead

We will be taking nominations from students who are unable to attend the event in person. However, if you can attend, please do so!

For a description of each position please see the SUSS constitution.

NB: In order to be nominated for, or elected to, the Presidential or Vice-Presidential positions, candidates must have previously served for a minimum of one year on the Council.

Process for nomination if you can’t attend:

Email the President, Stella Harris (shar2932@uni.sydney.edu.au) with your name, SMP Stage, the position you are running for, and *either* a written speech *or* a video file that can be read out or played at the AGM. In absentia nominations must be received before the 4th of July.

If you are sending a speech to be read out, please also include a passport-style photo of yourself, which will be displayed at the AGM so people know who they are voting for. Speeches should be no longer than 150 words for committee positions or 250 words for executive positions. Videos should be no longer than one minute for committee positions or two minutes for executive positions.

Please RSVP Via our Facebook event

Yours sincerely,

Stella Harris
President

Mental Illness, Burnout and Welfare in Surgery

Dr Mary Langcake

Dr Mary Langcake

MD, BSC(Hons; Biology & Immunology)

Director of Trauma at St George Hospital

Dr Lucy Wynter

Dr Lucy Wynter

MBBS, M. Bioethics, FRACP

Nephologist, SMP Wellbeing program designer.

Mental health is a topical issue in medicine, with many students, junior doctors, registrars and consultants experiencing burnout and suffering from mental illness. With suicide within the medical profession attracting the media spotlight in recent years, now is an important time to discuss mental health, how it affects us and what we can do to help ourselves and each other. This is especially true in surgery, with its demanding work hours and tough working conditions. This event is designed to discuss whether mental illness acts as a barrier to entering training programs and becoming a successful clinician.

 

Dr Mary Langcake is the Director of Trauma at St George Hospital and has been deployed as a military trauma surgeon with the RAAF in Afghanistan. She has a passion for training students and junior doctors and advocates for supporting those of us suffering from burnout and mental illness.

 

Dr Lucy Wynter is a nephrologist who has designed the Wellbeing Program for the SMP, an initiative to teach students about general wellbeing throughout medical training, destigmatise mental illness and help students of the Sydney Medical Program find help for ourselves and our friends.

 

 

Date: Friday 6th of July, 2018
Time: 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
Location: New Law School Lecture Theatre 024

Academic Surgery Symposium 2018

Sydney University Surgical Society and RPA Institute of Academic Surgery present… What is an Academic Surgeon?

The event will begin with an introduction to the field of academic surgery presented by Professor Paul Bannon. This discussion will include what it means to be an academic surgeon, an overview of the career pathway, and the balance of research and clinical practice.

Academic surgeons from the IAS will then discuss some of their innovative research projects, as well as any upcoming research opportunities for students looking to get involved.

Following the event please join us for light refreshments outside the Auditorium.

Speakers will include:

Prof Paul Bannon

Prof Paul Bannon

Professor & Chair of Cardiovascular Surgery Surgery, RPA; MMBBS, PhD (Medicine), FRACS

Prof. Bannon holds the Professorial Chair of Cardiothoracic Surgery as well as the Bosch Chair of Surgery at the University of Sydney, he is Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and a Co-Chair of the Institute of Academic Surgery. He is the Immediate Past President of The Australian & New Zealand Society of Cardiac & Thoracic Surgeons, and is actively involved in research as both the Chair of The Baird Institute for Applied Heart and Lung Surgical Research and a Co Editor-In-Chief of the Annals of Cardiothoracic Surgery.

A/Prof Sanjay Warrier

A/Prof Sanjay Warrier

A/Prof Academic Surgery Surgery; BSc (Med) MBBS FRACS MS

Dr. Warrier is a Breast Oncology and Oncoplastic Surgeon. In 2013 his work on Hedgehog signaling, in collaboration with Garvan Institute, won the Patron’s Prize at RPAH for best scientific oral presentation. He is the current Chairman of Post-Fellowship Training for BreastSurgANZ and the course co-ordinator for the Breast Surgical Graduate Certificate/Masters at the University of Sydney.

A/Prof Sydney Ch’ng

A/Prof Sydney Ch’ng

Associate Professor of Surgery (MBBS, PhD, FRACS)

Dr. Ch’ng is fully trained in both Plastic Surgery and Head and Neck Surgery. Her interests include facial skin cancers and advanced skin cancers requiring complex reconstruction.

She is the research lead for Plastic Surgery at RPA and has authored numerous scientific papers and book chapters.

Dr Cherry Koh

Dr Cherry Koh

MBBS(HONS) MS(COLORECTAL SURGERY) FRACS

Dr. Koh is a colorectal surgeon with diverse academic interest, including minimally invasive colorectal surgery, transanal resection techniques and pelvic exenteration for advanced pelvic malignancies.

She is the research lead for Colorectal Surgery at the IAS and RPA.

.

Event Details:

Wednesday 13 June, 6pm
KPEC Auditorium 4.1 Kerry Packer Education Centre, RPA
Please RSVP via our Facebook event

This should be an informative evening for anyone interested in pursuing a career in surgery or even clinical academia generally.

This event is open to students from all clinical schools and stages.

We hope to see you there!

SUSS May Journal Club: Trauma

After a short break, we return with the May SUSS Journal club theme of Trauma. 

Trauma is a common presentation to ED, often requiring surgical intervention. When managing a trauma case one not only needs to consider the immediate management of a patient but also the sequelae or conditions that this patient group is at risk of developing.

Both of the presenters this week will be considering the complications of trauma. Nick Skladnev will present a study on the utility of thromboelastography (TEG) in predicting venous thromboembolism (VTE). VTE including pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis is a common trauma complication and is often unpredictable as traditional plasma-based coagulation tests (PT, PTT, INR) are not predictive of VTE. TEG may present a more sensitive test for identifying at-risk patients.  Huon Murray will then present a case series of head trauma resulting in hypopituitarism, which is an increasingly recognised but easily missed complication following traumatic brain injury (TBI). This paper will identify the importance of early diagnosis and appropriate management of endocrine dysfunction in patients with major head injuries to improve morbidity and mortality.

Articles and presenters:
Nick Skladnev
Brill, J. B., Badiee, J., Zander, A. L., Wallace, J. D., Lewis, P. R., Sise, M. J., … & Shackford, S. R. (2017). The rate of deep vein thrombosis doubles in trauma patients with hypercoagulable thromboelastography. Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery, 83(3), 413-419.

Huon Murray
Khan, K., Saeed, S., Ramcharan, A., & Gray, S. (2018). A case series of closed head trauma with pituitary stalk disruption resulting in hypopituitarism. International journal of surgery case reports, 43, 69-71.

Date: Wednesday, May 23rd, 2018
Time: 6:00 – 7:00 pm
Venue: RPAH Institute of Academic Surgery
Topic: Trauma

RSVP via our Facebook event 


Hope you see you there!