With an increasingly complex surgical patient population, I’m passionate about leveraging the preoperative period as a critical public health opportunity. By collaborating with patients to optimise their health and well-being, we can not only reduce perioperative risks and enhance recovery but also promote long-term wellness beyond surgery. In addition to improving perioperative outcomes through evidence-based medicine, I strongly believe that perioperative medicine (POM) is vital in restoring humanism to healthcare.
I successfully established the first consultant-led high-risk preoperative clinic in the Australian Capital Territory almost a decade ago, and have actively encouraged more junior colleagues to pursue perioperative medicine qualifications. As a result, they now lead the clinic effectively and efficiently, ensuring patients receive comprehensive assessment and optimisation before elective procedures.
It has been a privilege to contribute to the evolution of POM in Australasia. Its transformation has been remarkable to witness, from a small group of like-minded individuals advocating for change in response to evolving demands to playing a key role in changing the POM landscape. I’ve also had the pleasure of being actively involved in the annual Perioperative Medicine SIG Meeting for many years, an event that has grown to the most attended POM meeting in the world. I’m excited about further supporting POM through multispecialty and multidisciplinary collaboration, both nationally and internationally via the POM Chapter Advocacy and Policy Committee.
Find out more about perioperative medicine
The Chapter of Perioperative Medicine has key strategic objectives to promote research, enhance professional development and oversee the quality of the perioperative medicine certification, whilst also fostering cross-specialty collaboration.
The Chapter of Perioperative Medicine Board reports to the ANZCA Council on developing and implementing an integrated perioperative care model and educational offerings for Australia and New Zealand, focusing on professional practice, clinical quality, and patient safety.
The ANZCA Course in Perioperative Medicine enables specialist doctors enhance their skills and knowledge in perioperative medicine.
The Perioperative Care Framework was developed by the Perioperative Care Working Group approved by ANZCA Council in December 2021, and updated in December 2023.
Perioperative medicine emphasises the importance of an integrated, planned, and personalised approach to patient care before, during, and after any surgical procedure involving anaesthesia. The goal is to improve the patient experience and outcomes, lower the occurrence of postoperative issues, decrease the number of days spent in the hospital, and minimize readmissions after surgery. We call this approach a "perioperative care model".