Summer is over which means conference season gets underway in earnest.
After three years of covid-led disruption, 2023 is tipped to be a big year on the conference calendar and dermatology is no exception.
Health professionals around the country are expected to dust off their suitcases, many for the first time since 2019, to physically attend conferences in Australia and around the world.
The Australasian College of Dermatology will hold its 55th Annual Scientific Meeting at Sydney’s International Convention Centre from 27 to 29 May, and more than 1000 delegates are expected to attend in person.
The college’s Meetings & Events Oversight Group chair, Clinical Professor Gayle Fischer, who is playing a key role in bringing the meeting together, told Dermatology Republic it was going to be an exciting and informative conference.
“I’m looking forward to this particular meeting as being like a rebirth, revisiting getting back to our normal life,” she said.
Professor Gayle Fischer is a clinical and academic dermatologist with an interest in paediatric and gynaecological dermatology. She is also head of the Dermatology Department at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney.
The conference theme this year will be “Engage-Enhance-Elevate”, which aims to encapsulate the concept of collaboration, inclusiveness, diversity and the commitment to championing high standards and professionalism as individuals and a collective, she said.
“Engagement really is about making all the members feel that they’re a part of something important — we’ve all been on hold for a long time,” Professor Fischer said.
“It’s the biggest meeting of the year. It’s a great opportunity for everyone to meet, for older fellows to welcome new fellows. Back in the day when I was a young person, there was a real split between old and new people. Now, that doesn’t exist anymore.”
Apart from the camaraderie, there would be opportunities to learn about the latest developments in the specialty, from new drugs, to the use of artificial intelligence and targeted therapies, just to name a few.
“I’ve never been to one of these conferences where I came away not having learned something that I could use to help my patients or help myself,” Professor Fischer said.
“We take the responsibility of looking after the skin health of Australians seriously and we want to make sure that we’re up on the latest things. Things are changing very quickly in medicine, particularly with regard to newer drugs and artificial intelligence – these are two things that have really impacted dermatology.”
One of the things the college took away from last year’s conference survey was members’ interest in looking at the overlaps between dermatology and other specialties, in particular ophthalmology, rheumatology and immunology.
“We are having Professor Peter McCroskey, who’s an Australian expert, come to speak on ophthalmology and dermatology, and that will be a highlight,” Professor Fischer said.
She will also chair a plenary session on transgender medicine.
“I think it’s something we have to embrace,” she said. “This is really an emerging field, and we have some great speakers. I’m going to be giving a short talk on genital issues in transgender patients. And we have another fabulous speaker from Perth who has been very involved in transgender medicine who really has an understanding of it, so I think it will be a fantastic session.”
Another highlight would be a presentation from an Indian-based speaker who would be talking about skin of colour.
“That’s also a great and emerging field, and we’ve got [Dr] Michelle Rodrigues, who is very passionate about that and has been organising that session,” Professor Fischer said.
The college is offering a travel grant to eligible Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students and junior doctors to encourage them to attend the conference.
Professor Fischer said the college’s young fellows were also playing an important role in bringing the conference together.
“We have found young people who have an interest in topic areas to lead their own sessions, and are getting them to organise that session, invite speakers and so forth,” she said.
“It worked very well last year, and I think it will again this year — these young people are just bringing in a huge amount of energy and enthusiasm which is great for the college.”
For more information about the conference see here.
The Skin Cancer College Australasia is also holding its annual Australasian Skin Cancer Congress in May. The conference will be held at The Star, Gold Coast from 19-21 May, and the theme is “New Horizons”.
The final program is still being finalised, but will include sessions on cybersecurity, tips for GP skin cancer specialists, skin cancer medicine in the future, new and emerging therapies, treatments and diagnostics, and practice management.
Confirmed speakers include The University of Sydney researcher Professor Pascale Guitera, director of the Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Dermatology Department at the Melanoma Institute of Australia; Professor Peter Soyer, inaugural chair and director of the Dermatology Research Centre, The University of Queensland Diamantina Institute and director of the Dermatology Department at the Princess Alexandra Hospital; and Associate Professor Alex Menzies, a medical oncologist and associate professor of Melanoma Medical Oncology at the Melanoma Institute Australia, The University of Sydney and Royal North Shore and Mater hospitals.
For more information about the college’s conference see here.
