World experts in anaesthesia and pain medicine meet in Brisbane

17 May. 2017|News

Some of the world’s leading anaesthetists, pain specialists and other medical practitioners were among 2,000 delegates and attendees meeting at the Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) this week for the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM).

The 2017 conference celebrated the 25^th anniversary of ANZCA and its leadership in anaesthesia and the multi-disciplinary field of pain medicine.

A diverse and at times contentious range of topics were addressed at the conference including the obesity epidemic and possible legislation around the eating habits of Australians, the current debate surrounding the use of medicinal cannabis and a possible connection between the human senses and improved and better targeted clinical treatment for patients.

The ‘Think Big’ theme of this year’s meeting extended from the scientific content through to the social program and into technological areas and the 140 workshops and 40 concurrent sessions.

“The theme ‘Think Big’ was chosen by our Regional Organising Committee to discuss obesity, big data, big innovation, big technology and health care delivery in our big state,” said the convenor of the meeting and Brisbane anaesthetist, Dr Bridget Effeney. “We wanted to produce a diverse, multi-disciplinary program to demonstrate our local talent in clinical anaesthesia, pain medicine and research.”

Two of the key speakers at the conference were former Australian Governor General Dame Quentin Bryce AD CVO and BCEC Convention Advocate Professor Ian Frazer AC who was the closing ceremony principal speaker.

The “Think Big” theme was also evident in the program’s activities with pop-up simulation emergency events using full-on emergency services and enacting a live theatre scenario on stage with doctors, nurses and technicians.

Recognising the growing number of women anaesthetists (32 percent of qualified anaesthetists and 46 percent of trainees are women) a crèche was offered for the first time at an ANZCA meeting. This childcare facility was operated by Brisbane’s Charlton Brown agency.

The meeting has a tradition of successfully bringing together clinicians, science and industry to produce continual improvement in patient outcomes and safety with the 2017 conference attracting delegates from the healthcare sector, including major sponsors Seqirus, Edwards, Mundipharma and Pfizer.

BCEC General Manager, Bob O’Keeffe said the Centre was extremely pleased to welcome delegates and attendees to the ANZCA ASM 2017. “We have a strong medical and research focus at BCEC and events of this calibre continue to shine the spotlight on Brisbane’s reputation as a centre of science excellence and its capabilities for hosting world class conferences.”