Nominees

1. Anchal Lal (PGY 1)- I have been heavily involved in many volunteer organisations for the last 10 years including at a University level and charity organisations. I have been nominated volunteer of the year NSW twice in the last 3 years due to my leadership abilities and passion to make a difference in society. I am highly passionate about Surgery and would bring that passion to this role in making the Surgical Society an enjoyable and fulfilling experience for its members.

2. Charles Belling (PGY 9) - I have extensive experience with the issues pertaining to trainees.

Role Description

The President directly oversees the running of the Society and guides its vision and direction, being the official spokesperson and contact of the Society. The role includes liaising with all committee members in achieving their goal as well as liaising directly with the Department of Surgery and Western Sydney Surgical Skills Network for representation of junior and unaccredited trainees .

The role of President requires strong leadership skills, excellent communication skills and a dedication to represent and promote surgical personal and professional skills in line with Western Sydney Surgical Skills Network and RACS Surgical Competencies. 

The President role includes but is not limited to: 

1. Overseeing the administration and running of WSS

2. Ensure all Executive members fulfil their roles

3. Guide the vision and direction of WSS 

4. Chair meetings and oversee the Executive Body

5.  Guide and assist the Executive in their portfolios 

6. Closely liaise with other hospital departments, senior members of surgical departments and all other relevant representative bodies of the medical community 

For further information, please get in touch with Dr Evie Woodford at EvangelinePhoebe.Woodford@health.nsw.gov.au 

Nominees

1. Cheryl Jamsari (PGY 5) - This role provides the opportunity for me to support the Westmead Surgical Society and its members through well established events and as well as new initiatives that aim to improve morale and environment within the surgical fraternity. Given that I have held the secretary role this year, I believe I have good understanding on how the society runs, its strengths and weakness as well as ways to improve the society for benefit of the members.

Role Description

The Vice President is also required to fulfill the role of the President if a situation arose wherein the President was unable to uphold their role. Therefore, the Vice President is required to work closely with the President and provide assistance as needed in order to fulfil the President role as needed. 

The Vice President overseas wellbeing within the Society and acts as the Wellbeing Officer for the Committee. The Vice President should support all committee members through their roles and be approachable to provide assistance within the society. 

The Vice President role includes but is not limited to: 

1. Assist the President in all duties and management of the society

2. To act as President in their absence 

3. Manage and guide all subcommittees

4. Develop, maintain and implement all subcommittee portfolios

For further information, please get in touch with Dr Sai Muralidaran at Saimurooban.Muralidaran@health.nsw.gov.au

Nominees 

1. Christopher Bell (PGY 2) - I would like to nominate for this role as it will allow me to continue my contributions to this awesome society. I feel my experience as education officer this year and my experience during my internship as an education subcommittee member have afforded me the necessary teamwork and leadership experience to effectively perform this role.

2. Kah Ann Ho (PGY 5) - I am interested in joining the WSS as secretary because I see WSS as a group that supports its surgical members in training and ensuring a fun year ahead. I bring good vibes and efficient organisational skills.

Role Description

The secretarial role for the Westmead Surgical Society primarily involves administrative tasks such as organising and documenting for committee meetings, as well as distribution of emails/documents required for the smooth running of the Society. Whilst mostly administrative, it is a relatively low intensity position, allowing you to contribute and assist others in the executive committee, or pursue your own ideas about how to grow the Society. 

The Secretary role includes but is not limited to:

1. Responsible for the general administration of the society; this includes organising and coordinating meetings and keeping minutes

2. Works closely with other committee members to organise and coordinate society events and initiatives

3.  Manages society correspondence 

4. Works with Media and Communications Officer to manage Society Facebook page, Instagram and Website 

For further information, please get in touchwith Dr Cheryl Jamsari at giuletacherylsherena.jamsari@health.nsw.gov.au

Nominees

1. Christopher Bell (PGY 2) - I would like to nominate for this role as it will allow me to continue my contributions to this awesome society. I feel my experience as education officer this year and my experience during my internship as an education subcommittee member have afforded me the necessary teamwork and leadership experience to effectively perform this role.

Role Description

The treasurer role is a very important role within the Society and has been a great learning experience. Main responsibilities include overseeing all fiscal input and outputs of the Society. By doing, you will interact with other leaders within the Society to guide and support the Society’s multiple endeavours. Fiscal accountability, transparency and efficacy of the Society plays a big role which means developing important administrative skills and identifying potential savings and sources of income to allow the Society to operate at the most economically efficacious manner. A key aspect also involves developing future strategies to ensure the Society continues to be economically viable. 

The Treasurer role includes but are not limited to:

1. Ensure fiscal accountability, transparency and efficiency of Westmead Surgical Society (WSS)

2. Administrative duties relating to the finances of the Society, including reimbursements, sale of merchandise, the use of money for regular activities and generating invoices on behalf of WSS.

3. Coordinates bank account provision, taxation compliance and audit. The treasurer is an official signatory of the WSS bank account.

4. Oversee and audit the finances of all WSS committees.

5. Produce yearly financial reports that must be available to all members and affiliated parties 

For further information, please get in touch with Dr Bayan Minasian at Bayan.Minasian@health.nsw.gov.au

Nominees

1. Izzy Zappala (PGY 2) - Hello everyone! My name's Izzy and I will be applying for the Events and Charity Officer role for 2024! The concept of maintaining a healthy work/life balance is a familiar one in any surgeon's career and as the officer of events and charities, I hope to highlight the positive impact balance has on doctors. I believe engaging in social events and charities not only helps to develop great interpersonal and communicative skills but establishes great friendships within your career! I have had very reasonable experience organising social events and workshops during my time as a medical student assisting in medical student surgical conferences as well as university medical societies. I hope that if I am given the opportunity to work with the Westmead Surgical Society, I can help make a meaningful difference by encouraging community engagement and lifelong connections.

Role Description

The Events and Charity Officer oversees the organisation, promotion and execution of all social events within the Society as well as actively organising various charitable events throughout the clinical year. 

The Events and Charity Officer role includes but is not limited to:

1. Responsible for the organisation of all social, charity and fundraising events within the Westmead Surgical Society calendar. 

2. Co-ordinates the creation of event-specific organising teams.

3. Provides support, guidance and oversees event-specific organising teams.

4. Promote and publicise all events with the communication and medical officer.

5. Liaises closely with charity groups and maintains a working relationship between charity groups and WSS 

For further information, please get in contact with Dr Rowan Nulend at Rowan.KleinNulend@health.nsw.gov.au 

Nominees

1. Anchal Lal (PGY 1) - I am passionate about teaching, have taught all years of high school and university students for more than 10 years. I also hold a PhD in Ophthalmology and have been involved in academic supervision of research students. I recently completed a certificate IV in Assessment and Training to upskill as a Clinical Educator in St John Ambulance NSW

2. Harsham Choksi (PGY 1) - I would like to nominate for education support officer for 2024 because it will allow me to further expose myself to the wider surgical community with the opportunity to gain experience organising educational opportunities catering for trainees. I am hardworking and conscientious and with great organisational skills and a passion to help education whether it be peers or medical students. I would greatly appreciate consideration for the role.

Role Description

The Education Officer is a vital part of the Society team and is directly responsible for the continuing education and professional development of WSS through weekly teaching, research and mentoring opportunities 

Included in the role are tasks such as: 

1. Helping recruit and advertise for any existing/available teaching posts for unaccredited trainees

2. Helping advertise and coordinate current existing education initiatives. For example:

   • Consultant led – Tuesday 0700am teaching, Wednesday afternoon trauma teaching

   • Unaccredited Trainee led – GSSE teaching, Wednesday night Surgical Skills JMO teaching 

   • Organise yearly SET information night 

   • Organising currently running mentorship programs 

3. Liaising with Medical Schools to help establish opportunities for medical student teaching, lectures and events (e.g. suture workshops, OSCEs) 

4. Helping gather information/being attuned to the education and teaching needs for all WSS members in order to guide the creation and development of further initiatives 

Whilst this is a busy role requiring ongoing effort and dedication, it provides you with an excellent opportunity to build positive working relationships with your colleagues and senior staff.

For further information, please get in touch with Dr Christopher Bell at Christopher.Bell1@health.nsw.gov.au

Nominees

1. Melanie Tam (PGY 2) - I am deeply passionate about joining the Surgical Society Committee as the Communications and Media Officer, recognising the profound influence of adept information dissemination in our digital era. My love for content creation aligns perfectly with the goal of fostering and amplifying engagement among both existing and prospective members with an interest in surgery. My experience as an external PR officer for various school clubs, where I managed multiple social media platforms, combined with my experience as an editorial intern at Monocle Magazine, has equipped me with a rich skillset tailor-made for this role.

Role Description

The role of the Communications and Media Officer is to oversee the social media accounts (Facebook page and Instagram account), respond to enquiries made on the social media platforms and generate content to be posted on these platforms to promote various social, education and charitable events. The role further involves the maintenance of the Westmead Surgical Society website (https://surgsoc.westsurgtraining.net/home). This role involves closely working with the Education Officer and the Events and Charity Officer, as well as the general committee.

Role includes:

1. Responsible for distribution of information to society members and the general public

2. Creation and management of all social media accounts

3. Design and ongoing maintenance of official website

4. Promote events in conjunction with other Committee members 

For further information, please get in contact with Dr Sonia Nair at sonia.nair@health.nsw.gov.au