Surgical Society

SurgSoc

From the President

From learning complex surgical skills to networking with local Canberra surgeons, the ANU Surgical Society strives to bring the world of surgery to students. For me, while I may be biased, this is one of the most exciting societies because it provides what is often the first real hands-on surgical experience for ANU Medical Students.

COVID-19 has put a spanner in the works for the past few years. This year, we are determined to bring you a handful of brilliant events: suturing workshops, the annual Women in Surgery event, a networking evening, and the ‘Golden Humerus’ pub trivia night, to name a few. By the end of the year, you will be a whizz with a scalpel and forceps, have conquered hand ties with both hands, have bested one of Canberra’s orthopaedic surgeons with your anatomy trivia knowledge, and have a solid idea what a career in surgery looks like.

We have an amazing, strong team who will represent your year and let you know when exciting opportunities and surgical conferences around the country are coming up. We will keep you up-to-date with the latest news in the world of surgery and what is happening with other Australian Surgical Societies.

I am very excited for what we have planned this year and we all look forward to seeing you at events.

– Veronique

From the Women in Surgery Officer

V here: your friendly neighbourhood feminist! Surgery is at a pivotal point for gender equity. Programs, leaders and (slowly) cultures are changing. Empowerment is everything and toxic competition is so *ugh* yesterday. Joining forces with peers and leaving the door open behind you is the only way we’ll see more women and non-binary folk in surgery.

We have had some brilliant initiatives in the last 12 months, spear-headed by our previous Women in Surgery and Women in Medicine officers – the wonderful Bridget Nielsen and May Erlinger – that I’m excited to build on in 2023. In addition to International Women’s Day events and other opportunities for mingling within and between years at ANU, we have a number of other events in the works. EMPoWER “Empowering and Motivating Pre-SET Women in surgERy” is a collaborative effort between Australasian Students’ Surgical Association (ASSA), Adelaide University Surgical Society (AUSS), Australian National University Surgical Society (ANUSS), and the Sydney University Surgical Society (SUSS), featuring key-note speakers, break out rooms and Q&A panels. It truly is such an empowering event and I always walk away brimming with new knowledge and motivation. We also had a fantastic Meet-A-Mentor event late in the year where students speed-dated female doctors interested in mentoring. This session was especially brilliant for connecting me with the ACT’s Women in Surgery group, who we are excited to collaborate further with this year!

Aside from all these exciting events, I’d like to be regarded as your go-to gal for any questions, complaints or discussions regarding the intersection of feminism and surgery! I am very approachable and always down for a chat. I want to build a community of fem-folk in ANUMS that look out for and lift each other up. We’re only going to tackle those disgusting gender stats in surgery if we help each other out!

Events in 2023

Semester 1:

  • How to Prepare for the GSSE
  • EMPoWER
  • Suturing Workshops
  • Surgical Anatomy Crash Course

Semester 2:

  • Symposium / Golden Humerus
  • Suturing Workshops
  • Surgical Anatomy Crash Course

Meet the Surgical Society Team

Veronique Price

Veronique Price

(she/her)
President

Will Jenkins

William Jenkins

(he/him)
Vice President

Edwin

Edwin Hur-Thompson

(he/him)
Secretary

Sameesh Gupta

Sameesh Gupta

(he/him)
Treasurer

Amber

Amber Williams

(she/her)
Women in Surgery Officer

Anon

TBD

(X/X)
Year 1 Representative

Saskia

Saskia Newman

(she/her)
Year 2 Representative

Anna

Anna Peace

(she/her)
Year 3 Representative

Pip Hodge 1

Pip Hodge

(she/her)
Year 4 Representative

Surgical Society

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