Dear Colleagues,

If you have been to Sydney lately, you will notice a city under construction; everywhere there are the cranes reaching into the skies, trucks carting trailers of rubbish away from building sites from the old being knocked down, challenged and replaced with the new. This backdrop provides the inspiration for our 2017 ASM:

Surgery in O&G: Building it up, breaking it down.

Surgical gynaecology and obstetric procedures require a knowing brain, adroit hands, repetition to refine and the plasticity of experience to provide patients with perfect care. It is no longer acceptable to acquire a set of skills and stagnate at the completion of training with the constant change of procedures and the emergence of science to renew, replace and even remove entire surgical approaches into or out of our skill armamentarium.

Since only 15% of our professional lives are actually spent in training, what happens to the other 85%? How do we continue to acquire and refine procedural skills outside of ‘training’? How do we build new skillsets in a safe and dependable manner? And should credentialing of these skills (by whom, how often, with what outcomes and by what standards) be a requirement of registration in both the public and private sectors?

International Keynote speakers include Dr Kristen Matteson from Rhode Island USA, a member of the ACOG committee of gynaecology practice, author of large scale trials and systematic reviews for hysterectomy and benign gynaecological pathology whose passion for teaching and mentorship are nationally recognised. Professor Justin Clark from Birmingham UK who is world recognized expert in outpatient based care and hysteroscopic surgery, a prolific writer and teacher Justin will share his experience and advice. Finally Professor Malcolm Munro from UCLA USA whose expertise ranges from electrosurgery through to hysteroscopy, teaching methodology to gynaecological oncology (his formal training subspecialty).

Our international speakers will join an eminent Australasian contingent to take you on this provocative romp through the contemporary controversies facing our specialty. The incredibly popular new Interactive Hubs in an expanded form with greater choice, and skill acquisition will be a central feature of the new-look trade area.   We will also be hosting our black-tie gala dinner at the Hyatt Regency's Ballroom overlooking Darling Harbour for fine food and our Annual Awards ceremony including the graduation of AGES fellows and ASM awards.  The three artworks that have been created by Fiona Omeenyo and have graced the covers of our three meeting brochures for the previous year will be auctioned off, with all proceeds going to charity.  So, join us in Sydney in March 2017 to build up and break down all things surgery. Guaranteed better than a Meccano set…

A/Prof Jason Abbott
AGES Vice President
Conference Chair

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Advanced Trainee Workshop

Wednesday, 1st March 2017
0800 - 1700
Hyatt Regency, Sydney 

The annual AGES Advanced Trainee Workshop will comprise of both didactic and practical sessions facilitated by prominent local and international speakers to enhance and compliment the current two year national fellowship in Advanced Gynaecological Endoscopy. This workshop is only open to Trainees currently enrolled in the AGES Trainee Program.

RANZCOG Training Supervisors Workshop

Wednesday, 1st March 2017
0900 - 1630
Hyatt Regency. Sydney

Since 2008, the RANZCOG has been conducting Training Supervisor Workshops around Australia and New Zealand for RANZCOG Fellows who are supervisors in the FRANZCOG Training Program or who are interested in becoming supervisors. Senior RANZCOG trainees interested in becoming supervisors following elevation to Fellowship are also welcome to attend. The workshop is interactive and includes discussions, videos and role plays. Limited numbers - register now to avoid missing out!

Urology for the Gynaecologist Workshop

Wednesday, 1st March 2017
1300 - 1700
Kolling Institute, St Leonards Sydney

Prior to the ASM, AGES will be running a Urology Workshop suitable for Specialists as well as Trainees. The aim of the Workshop will be to familiarise participants with common urological procedures which are essential components now in Gynaecological Surgery. The workshop will comprise of short lectures on key topics such as cystoscopy, cystotomy and repair and ureteric catheterisation. A large component of the workshop will be a “hands-on” component, which will be mentored by experienced Gynaecologists.

This workshop will be aimed at those who wish to improve their current ability to perform these procedures as well as providing the theoretical background to the appropriate use of these interventions.

AGES is proud to once again announce the inaugural Interactive Hubs, held in conjunction with our Industry Partners. This year's Interactive Hubs will be hosted by AGES and the following:

- Stryker & Applied Medical

- Device Technologies

- Ethicon

- Karl Storz

The Interactive Hub is the AGES Society's response to the changing needs of our members and industry partners. Industry want more than to simply show their product on a stand, they want AGES members to use their product as it is intended - at least in a simulated manner. AGES Members have frequently commented that they want more hands on training; skill acquisition and technical improvement to see immediate changes in their clinical practice.

Whilst there are many workshops available to gynaecological surgeons, none have access to the skilled faculty of the AGES membership and the multitude of products that our industry partners want to showcase for improved patient care.

The Hub experience is a Members only experience, and registrations are now open! 

**Spaces will be limited. Pre-registration is essential. No additional costs. Available to AGES Members only. 

Geraldine Doogue is a renowned Australian journalist and broadcaster with a distinguished career in news and current affairs. She is presenter of the ABC National Radio program Saturday Extra and ABC Television’s Compass. Prior to this, she was the presenter of the ABC Radio National’s Life Matters.

In 2003, she was recognised with an Officer in the Order of Australia for services to the community and media. Geraldine is an outstanding Facilitator/MC. Her forte is facilitating panel discussions and is ideally suited to a progressive-minded audience

AGES Q&A Forum

Facilitated by Geraldine Doogue

What do our patients really think of us? Do we communicate as well as we think we do? If you have a bad social media review, is this a restriction to your practice and what can you do about it?

AGES presents an interactive panel like never before, where patients, consumer representatives, marketing gurus and the family of the women we care for have their say. About us.

Confronting, frank and personal, this is a session you simply cannot afford to miss. Directed by award winning journalist Geraldine Doogue, the panel will debate health issues that every gynaecological surgeon needs to know. From introducing yourself as a new surgeon to interacting with women and their families about complications, the panel will dissect the questions that are the cornerstone of our surgical practice.

With questions from the floor, you get to participate in what promises to be enlightening as we expose ourselves and our profession to those that really matter. Come interact with us in the New Age of AGES.”

Best Free Communication

Sponsored by AGES

Outstanding Video Presentation

Sponsored by Device Technologies

Best Digital Communications Presentation

Sponsored by AGES

Outstanding New Presenter

Sponsored by Ethicon

Outstanding Trainee Presentation - The Platinum Laparoscope Award

Sponsored by Stryker & AGES

AGES Traveling Fellowship 2017

Sponsored by Medtronic

AGES-AAGL Exchange Lecture Program 2017

Sponsored by AGES

The Australasian Gynaecological Endoscopy and Surgery (AGES) Society are proud to announce the annual AGES Society Art prize. 

Fiona Omeenyo, from the Lockhart River ‘Art Gang’, was the winner of the AGES Society Art Prize in 2016.

Fiona’s three (3) commissioned artworks, as seen below, were featured on the covers of the AGES Pelvic Floor Symposium 2016, AGES Focus Meeting 2016 and the AGES ASM 2017 brochures.

Fiona’s artworks will be auctioned off at the AGES XXVII ASM 2017 during the Black Tie Gala Awards Dinner, with the proceeds to be donated to Anti-Slavery Australia (www.antislavery.org.au), who are working tirelessly to abolish slavery at local, national and international levels. 

AGES is pleased to announce the winner of the AGES Society Art Prize for 2017 is Carrie Pitcher.

Carrie Pitcher is an emerging contemporary artist based in Melbourne, notable for her portraits, that are at once both representational and abstract.

Working with acrylic on canvas, she marries abstract expressionism: swathes of bold colour, and opportunistic mark making, with the narrative of the portrait.

Close-cropped composition and sheer scale create a feeling of intimacy, while layer upon layer of abstract colour impart dynamic energy as if projected across the motif—chosen for a particular quality that engages the artist’s aesthetic sensibility.

Exploring themes of feminine dynamism and identity, the figurative and the abstract are brought together in a body of work that expresses an undefined personal significance, an extension of the artist herself.

Carrie’s artworks will be distributed through various print media to a circulation of more than 6,000 doctors and health professionals. The artworks will be auctioned off at the AGES XXVIII ASM 2018.

AGES/RANZCOG Trainee Workshop 2017

17th & 18th June 2017

CTEC, Perth, Western Australia

AGES Focus Meeting 2017

13th & 14th October 2017

PARKROYAL on Pickering, Singapore

AGES Pelvic Floor Symposium & Workshop 2017

4th & 5th August 2017

Hilton, Adelaide, South Australia 

AGES Cadaveric Workshops 2017

MERF, Brisbane 2017