The 56th RANZCO Congress graduation and awards ceremony was a glittering affair of gowns, pomp and ceremony. Welcoming everyone, RANZCO president Professor Peter McCluskey AO awarded RANZCO fellowships to 38 new graduates and 11 specialist international medical graduates (SIMGs), including 15 from New Zealand. Remember you are not alone, he said. “You're part of a strong, supportive RANZCO community. Look out for your peers, collaborate generously, lean on one another – collegiality is not a luxury in medicine, it’s our foundation... Lead with your hearts as well as your hands. Go forward with courage, with kindness and with open minds.”
Announcing this year’s award winners, new fellows will find none better if they are looking for inspirational role models, he said:
- Honorary Fellowship – Professor Robyn Jamieson, for her pioneering work in genetically determined eye disease.
- College Medal – Associate Professor Heather Mack AM and Dr David Kaufman.
- Distinguished Service Medal, recognising contributions to the college, ophthalmology or the community that exhibit such exceptional devotion of time, effort, thought and action as to set them apart from other contributions – Associate Professor Graham Wilson.
Distinguished Service Medal – A/Prof Graham Wilson
Reading his abridged citation, Dr Sheng Chiong Hong said his South Island colleague, A/Prof Graham Wilson, is not only a highly skilled clinician and surgeon but a transformative educator. “Being a pioneer of The Dunedin study, the Annual Dunedin RANZCO Advanced Clinical Examination (RACE) Course and the Sydney Microsurgical Courses, his contributions to research, registrar training and structured teaching programmes have raised the standards of education, ensuring that learning is not only rigorous but also deeply relevant to the evolving needs of modern eyecare.”
