2009 Annual Report - Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand

President’s report
David Malouf
It gives me great pleasure to present to you the
President’s Report for 2009-2010. It has been
a challenging and exciting year for USANZ,
underpinned by the adoption of the revised
constitution and the implementation of the 2009-
2011 Strategic Plan.
The new constitution came into effect on 1 July
2009. The Executive was renamed the Board
of Directors, reflecting its revised contemporary
structure whilst acknowledging its fiduciary
responsibilities. The reduced size of the Board
maintains Section representation and allows the
appointment of up to two External Directors. The
newly established Board position of Policy Chair will
facilitate the development of policies in conjunction
with the Board and the general membership.
Any discussion of the strategic plan would be
incomplete without acknowledging the contribution
of the members of the old Executive, the many
“elders” of USANZ who contributed to weekend
workshops, and to Pat Bary and Alex Malley who
in concert oversaw the formulation of the plan. It
is a privilege to work with both of them, and Alex’s
decision to accept one of the External Director’s
positions whilst on leave from the role of CEO
has been to USANZ’s benefit. The leadership
model developed in recent years, involving regular
communication between the Past President, the
President and the Vice-President continues to serve
USANZ well, and the Board has welcomed the
contributions of Steve Ruthven in his role of Vice-
President. It is also timely to acknowledge the work
John Miller has already put in as the Chair of the
Board of Urology. It is one of the most challenging
and important positions within the organisation,
given our fundamental role as urological educators.
Our traditional alliances with the AUA, EAU and
BAUS have consolidated with regular dialogue and
meetings over the year. Many of the challenges we
face are also issues for our international colleagues,
and the exchange of ideas with regards to training,
education, policy and interaction with external
bodies benefits us all. We enter the third year of
affiliate membership of the Urological Association
of Asia (UAA) with an invitation to each of the
Presidents of the national societies of the UAA
Annual reports
to attend the Perth ASM. USANZ looks forward
to hosting the inaugural International Dinner at
the Perth ASM, and expects that it will become
a regular feature of the ASM program. There are
20,000 urologists within a few hours flying time of
our northern borders, and the opportunities for our
organisation through interaction with urologists in
Asia are substantial.
In 2009 the BJUI was formally adopted as the
USANZ journal. With this relationship comes a
dedicated Australasian editor, currently David Nicol,
whose role is to work with authors of manuscripts at
an early stage and to provide support and direction
to increase the likelihood of acceptance when
formally submitted to the BJUI review process.
Domestically USANZ has focused on building
relationships with those organisations who share
common interests and aspirations. Andrology
Australia, the Australia and New Zealand Urogenital
and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP), the
Faculty of Radiation Oncology Genito-urinary
Group (FROGG), the Australasian Brachytherapy
Group (ABG) and the urological nurses interact with
USANZ with regular dialogue and/or the exchange
of representatives.
USANZ remains well represented and well regarded
within RACS and Andrew Brooks has served us well
in his capacity as RACS representative standing in
for Helen O’Connell in 2009. Steve Ruthven serves
on the Post-Fellowship Education and Training
Committee (PFETC) and Pat Bary represents
USANZ on the Professional Development and
Standards Board (PDSB) as well as the Academy
of Surgical Educators Advisory Committee. The
contributions of these members and others to RACS
committees ensure that USANZ has a voice as
College policy is formulated.
One of the cornerstones of the Strategic Plan is
the development and implementation of a media
presence and a brand strategy for USANZ. The
Board of Directors has engaged a media consultant
who has worked successfully to position USANZ as
a proactive body and as the thought leader in our
domain. The release of the 2009 Position Statement
on PSA Testing and the USANZ contribution to the
Australian House of Representatives Roundtable
Forum into the sale and marketing of Impotence
Medications are the more obvious examples,
Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand | Annual Report 2009
www.usanz.org.au