2009 Annual Report - Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand

TA&E/Board of Urology report
John Miller
The last 12 months has continued to be a year of
change and increasing demands on the Board of
Urology and those involved in training. The ongoing
management of the Surgical Education and Training
Programme has continued to create challenges that
have consumed considerable time and energy.
I would like to acknowledge the difficult and superb
efforts of the former Board Chairman, Philip Sprott,
in terms of establishing many protocols that have
streamlined many of the Board’s processes and
procedures.
Board of Urology Membership
At this time, I would like to acknowledge the
substantial and valuable contributions of the
members of the Board of Urology whose terms
concluded in 2009:
Stephen Ruthven (NSW)
Stephen Mark (NZ)
Kym Horsell (SA)
Nigel Dunglison (Northern Section)
These members were replaced by:
Prem Rashid, NSW TA&E Chairperson
Andre Westenberg, NZ TA&E Chairperson
Mark Lloyd, SA TA&E Chairperson
Peter Mactaggart, Northern Section TA&E
Chairperson
Philip Dundee was also a valued and enthusiastic
contributor to the Board in his role as trainee
representative over the last two years and I thank
him for his efforts. In 2010 we will welcome onto the
Board a new Trainee Representative, Alexandra
Hockings, a SET4 trainee from WA.
I am extremely grateful for the continuing dedication
and commitment from all members of the Board and
others who have provided their guidance, knowledge
and input throughout the year. Our achievements
over the last 12 months are testament to this
combined effort.
Trainees
At the end of 2009, there were 126 trainees
participating in the SET Programme in Urology. The
distribution was as follows:
SET 1: 18
SET 2: 16
SET 3: 23
SET 4: 21
SET 5: 19
SET 6: 22
Interruption: 4
Fulltime Research: 3
Selection
Urology continued to attract a large number
of applicants with 114 applications processed.
Applications were processed via a urology specific
online application and assessment system accessible
from the USANZ website. The Board of Urology
utilsed the College referees report which streamlined
the workload involved in the distribution and return
of referees reports. As applicants needed to be
interviewed by two separate panels, all interviews
were held in Sydney.
The Board appointed the following 19 new trainees
who will commence in 2010.
• SET 1
NZ – Imran Ali, James Johnston
VIC – Kevin Chu, Briony Norris, Nieroshan
Rajarubendra, Nikhil Sapre, Mahesha Weerakoon
QLD – Anuj Gupta, Kieran Hart
NSW – Gregory Kiss, Petar Penkov, Amanda Tan
• SET 3
NSW – Stuart Collins, Norbert Doeuk, Kesley Pedler,
Mariolyn Raj, Richard Savdie
SA – Alexander Jay
NZ – Stefan Antoniou
The Board of Urology also appointed the following
five trainees, who have deferred commencing clinical
training in order to undertake full time research.
Urology maintains a high profile in research.
NZ - Arman Adam Kahokehr
VIC – Matthew Hong, Philip Tan, Anthony Ta
NSW – James Symons
Earlier in the year, the Education & Training Manager,
Victorian TA&E Chairperson and I participated in a
Selection Workshop at the College facilitated by an
international expert in selection. The current selection
processes across all specialties were discussed in
terms of validity, robustness and the ability to select
applicants with the best attributes to train.
32 Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009 www.usanz.org.au