A very successful NZ CSANZ ASM in Rotorua, NZ – Congratulations to all!
Mā mātou, mō tatou. By Aotearoa, for Aotearoa.
By us, for all of us.
The theme for this year’s CSANZ’s annual scientific meeting is 75% in te reo. It started out as a statement of the obvious. With COVID and border restrictions, there was always just going to be us New Zealanders there, in person. It was always going to be a uniquely Aotearoa meeting.
As the program developed, it became clear that equity was going to be a major theme of the academic content. Equity is topical in New Zealand and it is clearly something that the New Zealand cardiac community is interested in. A significant number of the research presentations where in the broad area of equity and as such mā mātou, mō tatou became an equity statement.
There was of course the full range of cardiology covered. The structural and nursing themed sections in particular were a huge success and extremely well attended.
A/Prof Andrew Kerr was honoured with the New Zealand Cardiac Medal.
This medal is awarded to a member of the Cardiac Society who has made an outstanding contribution in New Zealand by making heart care better for New Zealanders. The medal was first awarded in 2019.
A warm congratulations to Prof Mark Webster being presented with the CSANZ Life Membership Award at the Meeting.
During the course of two and a half days, we had three overseas speakers, each Zooming in for a half hour plenary; Sarah Zaman from Sydney and Caroline Ho and John Teerlink from the United States. All three gave outstanding presentations.
The rest of the program was Aotearoa, New Zealanders presenting to New Zealanders.
This was by far the best attended Aotearoa scientific meeting ever.
It was very clear that after COVID-19 cancelled last year’s meeting, people wanted a chance to reconnect.
There were 430 delegates and 100 of our industry partners attending. The Gala dinner up at the Skyline Gondola was heavily oversubscribed. For the fortunate who got to attend, there was collegiality, excellent wine and food, and a fantastic band with attendees showing a range of abilities on the dance floor.
by Prof Paul Bridgman, CSANZ NZ Convenor
