Pacific Refresher Courses

In the Pacific, distances are immense and professional isolation is a major problem. Refresher courses for anaesthetic staff help to address this problem and courses are held regularly in the South Pacific, Micronesia (northern Pacific) and, more recently, Papua New Guinea.

The courses in the South Pacific are held annually and are organised by the Pacific Society of Anaesthetists. The 2009 course was held in Vanuatu and the 2010 course will be held in Fiji. There are usually 20-30 delegates. The NZSA has supported these courses for a number of years by covering the expenses of visiting teachers from New Zealand and helping to provide locum cover so that Pacific anaesthetists can attend the meeting.

If you would like to help, please contact Wayne Morriss (wayne.morriss@cdhb.govt.nz).

Primary Trauma Care (PTC)

PTC is a 2-day course designed to teach basic trauma management to doctors and nurses working in resource-poor environments. The very first PTC course was held in Fiji in 1997 - since then the course has been taught in over 40 countries. In the Pacific, PTC has been taught in Fiji, Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Cook Islands, Palau, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati and Vanuatu.

The course uses a combination of lectures, skills stations, discussion groups and scenario teaching.  Some participants also take part in a one-day instructor course and responsibility for running courses is rapidly handed over to these local teachers.

Wayne Morriss is the PTC Pacific Coordinator. Opportunities to help with PTC come up from time to time. For more information, contact Wayne  (wayne.morriss@cdhb.govt.nz).

Refresher Course for 2012

Venue: TBA
Date: TBA
Theme: TBA