Page 6 - ANZCP Gazette NOVEMBER 2022

In writing this President’s message I would like to start by acknowledging my gratitude for the support and ongoing work of the ANZCP executive and ANZBP as we continue to face a challenging climate in the Healthcare space while persevering to move forward as a profession.
There are several positions up for nomination and I would encourage the membership to please consider getting involved. We welcome volunteers. Any questions or enquiries can be passed on to our wonderful administrative officer, Andrea Hunt. [admin@anzcp.org].
The first ‘Australasian’ cohort of the online two- year Master of Science in Extracorporeal Science (MS-ECS) via the Medical University of South Carolina in the USA (MUSC) got underway with coursework commencing August 2022. I have a trainee in this first cohort and have had the privilege of observing some of the coursework and online lectures and tutorials – and am very happy with the progress and feedback from our trainee.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend the Perfusion Downunder meeting in Queenstown this year where a phenomenal program, both academic and social, occurred, with the reuniting of many colleagues and friends face to face being a special long overdue bonus! [Perfusion Downunder | PDU | Winter Meeting perfusiondownunder.com].
Planning is also underway for the 2023 ASM being held in Sydney, NSW. More details to follow.
In the meantime, excitement is building for the 2022 3SCTS meeting in Cairns November 16–19. I encourage the membership to register and attend what will be a fantastic meeting – the program is available to view via information on anzcp.org as well as 3SCTS. [www.3scts.com].
One highlight is that we are honouring three very worthy colleagues with ‘Life Memberships’ at this year’s Perfusion dinner: Jane Ottens, Clarke Thuys, and Alison Horton. We congratulate them and thank them for their service.
As a perfusion manager I have faced the most difficult time yet as far as maintaining staffing levels, including backfilling of a parental leave and recruiting for a vacant permanent role.
As a small paediatric unit, we participate in training – we have our second trainee underway, with our first trainee still with us after seven years. However, when it comes to recruiting an experienced CCP, we have not been successful within Australia and have had to recruit internationally. I believe this speaks to the issues many of us are facing – succession planning and training of local staff has not kept up with demand.
Further upcoming retirements and even ‘the great resignation’ – a term coined since COVID arrived on our shores where people reassess their lives and futures and decide to try a new career direction or even go part-time, only leads me to prioritise workforce planning and to try to raise awareness, not only locally but nationally, of the need to build a robust Clinical Perfusion workforce for now and the future. As a college we are always looking at significant issues that affect us all and endeavouring to come up with real solutions.
On a more positive note, I had a recent visit from new graduate Courtney Adams (Waikato Hospital, NZ), who spent three days with us observing paediatric cases and ECLS, and has also visited multiple different units across New Zealand and Australia. She has given me greater faith that the future is bright and will be in good hands with the new generation, if we continue to mentor and pass on valuable knowledge and encouragement.
My own mentor Tim Willcox once summed it up after I asked him as part of a questionnaire I had to do for coursework ‘how do you perfuse?’ His answer says it all and is something we can all aspire to: “with care, flair and expertise”.
Hope to see many of you at 3SCTS and the ASM 2023 in Sydney and wish you all a safe and happy end to 2022.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Carla Zazulak CCP, FANZCP
3 NOVEMBER 2022 | www.anzcp.org