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Read on for a sum up of medcamp, a word from CommGlob, Surgsoc an AWSOME offer from Elsevier and more! YEAH BOI!!!

 Med Camp 2010 Wrap-Up

Only two words can describe this camp: YEAH BOI!!

This year’s camp served its purpose very well – as an excellent ice breaker. After the first two weeks were consumed with awkward introductions, graceless courting and the standard gaze/stare across the lecture rooms at that girl/guy who had tickled our first impression fancy, the first years were super amped to get into Medcamp and forget about Robert Opio and his damn G6PD deficiency.

After the short bus ride to Appin, we settled into our “cabins”, which could be best described as simple ... but effective. Following a quick photo sesh in our beautifully designed red t-shirts and the frantic cries of “add and tag me on facebook!,” friends were instantly made and we were ready to rip into the activities. The first night featured the hotly contested Trivia competition, and as we were slowly settling into our newly formed groups, the competitive juices were well and truly flowing. The highlights of the competition included the copious amounts of flesh and suggestive male dancing that would make a Kings Cross stripper turn green (not with STIs, but rather envy) in the newspaper modelling competition; and the human musical chairs, which provided 90% of the boys their first opportunity to have physical contact with the female kind. “A girl sitting on my lap ... that’s like second base right?” - Anonymous

The second day of camp started bright and early, with the battle scars of the previous night’s initiation battle still present. Once the flour encrusted into our scalps was washed away, we were ready to tackle the infamous Challenge valley. The warning of “make sure you bring crap clothes” suddenly seemed to make sense as we got down and dirty in mud and in water that probably had cholera in it; but if anything, the threat of major intestinal failure added to the whole fun of it. The rest of the day was filled with other awesome activities such as the Amazing Race and the rather cold, nipple erecting, water slide.

Then finally, the much anticipated Medcamp party had dawned upon us. The theme of “Superheroes vs. Villains” bought out some fantastic and well constructed costumes. Special mention to the brave guys who put fashion in front of the threat of hypothermia and came as Avatars in full body paint. Good effort guys!
The party was all in all a massive success. With inhibitions long left behind, the mingling well and truly stepped up ... well and truly.  Overall the music was amazing, the drinks were amazing and the number of people who passed out/vomited their body weight out was amazing. It’s safe to say the party became the highlight of the camp, and shall forever be (hazily) remembered.

The final day featured the trade-show, which for those who went a bit too hard the previous night, was an interesting wake up call. However the copious amounts of free products and entertainment by the wonderful sponsors became the metaphorical Berroca and in true UWS Med style we milked every pen, lolly and notebook. But all jokes aside, the tradeshow was very entertaining, educating and very much appreciated; so thank you to all the sponsors and speakers.

The camp finally ended with a few happy snaps and as the buses finally arrived to take us back home we were all exhausted yet satisfied from an absolutely awesome camp.

A couple of massive thankyous are in order. To Nat Vo and her crew of 2nd years ... thank you for your colossal efforts in organising such an AWESOME camp. You guys did an absolutely fantastic job. The staff at Cataract Park, whose food was SO delicious it would make Matt Prestons second chin jiggle with excitement, and to all the 1st years who attended and made this camp so enjoyable. THANK YOU!!

And now, we prepare for Medcamp 2011 ... YEAHHH BOIII!!!

From your lovely first year reps,

Jehan and Christina. =)

 Surgsoc

We are very excited about the beginnings of a group dedicated to the adrenalin, awesomeness and anatomy of surgery! It’s called the Surgical Society. We are a group of people who eat, drink and breathe all things surgery.

It started with a few of us in a staff room in Blacktown Hospital. And although our meetings remain in the modest location of Nando’s Liverpool, we are very proud of what we have done to lay the foundations, and are very excited about what we can do for our surgically-oriented colleagues.

So far, we brought a session about the pathways into surgery, and a discussion on the workforce situation in surgery with advice on which areas may be in high demand. This preceded our official launch in January, with guest speakers such as Dr Joe Lizzio (Hon. Secretary NSW RACS), Prof Bruce Barraclough, Prof Peter Zelas, and Prof Neil Merrett, over some classy food and a very entertaining video if I say so myself!

Our last event was a talk from two highly respected surgeons from the U.S., Dr Julie Ann Sosa, an endocrine/oncology surgeon from Yale, and Dr Dan Albo, a colorectal surgeon from Houston, in which interesting cases were presented to a great crowd of people, and food was enjoyed by all.

This year, our first year as a surgical society, we aim to bring you more, and strengthen the foundations for a group that will be very useful in educating, creating contacts, and creating opportunities such as research, conferences and electives in future years.

We are planning other educational opportunities, not the least of which is a career’s night in which we hope to gather surgeons from different background’s and fields to share their experiences with us, and an anatomy weekend (need we say more!) Other opportunities to hone our surgical skills are being planned to help us perform more confidently in theatres, and on the wards.

Our next planned event is a knot tying workshop, to practice an essential skill in theatre and A&E. We are planning this for the second week of May, so stay tuned for more details of this event in the very near future!

We are very grateful for the support we have had from colleagues in general, but specifically the UWSMS, who have been helping, and continue to help us in our aims to satisfy that hunger that exists in many of us for anything surgical.

Also, Prof Zelas’ determination and support has been imperative in our continuing growth, helping create opportunities for the society. Prof Merrett is also firmly supportive of our group and we thank him for that.

Well, you will be hearing more from us throughout the course of the year, so keep an ear out for the upcoming events and opportunities.  Also, there are opportunities for you to help, and your interest would be appreciated, so drop us an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you have any questions for us, suggestions, or are keen on getting involved. James Sant, our Campbelltown rep, is particularly keen for Campbelltown students to get involved, so please send him an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are from Campbelltown and keen to help.

Avedis Ekmejian (Surg Soc Secretary)

 Commglob

IF THERE ARE 2 THINGS YOU REMEMBER!

1. AUCTION NIGHT NEXT MONDAY 3RD APRIL

prof frankum & Dr. Nick Coatsworth hot property on the night. See FB event for more details (AUCTION NIGHT 2010)

2. COMMUNITY: the mentoring program at Robert Townson High will kick off on Monday 10th May- VOLUNTEER TO MENTOR local youths now!
shoot me an email at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you're interested & for more info.

Stay GhawSome UWS

A word from Elsevier... (about free stuff!!!)

Now Available – New edition Australian Publication
Hunt & Marshall’s Clinical Problems in Surgery 2e by Julian A Smith, Jane G Fox, Alan C Saunder & Ming Kon Yii (ISBN: 9780729538268, A$130.00)

This textbook discusses common problems encountered in the clinical practice of surgery and how to solve and treat them. The approach of the text will be to encourage diagnostic economy, and to this end students will be assisted to develop skills in pattern recognition, appreciation of the natural history and prognosis of individual problems and their causative diseases, and an ability to come to the core of the patient’s presenting problem, while maintaining an holistic approach to the unique requirements of the individual patient. The text is designed to help the student understand the questions raised at each level of the of the diagnostic, therapeutic and overall decision making tree and thereby to construct an appropriate pathway of management for each clinical problem. The 1st UWS student to email Annabel at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it with the Subject heading ‘Hunt & Marshall’s Clinical Problems in Surgery 2e’ by Smith, Fox, Saunder & Yii will WIN a copy of this great new book!

WE'RE ON FACEBOOK!!

Become a Fan of UWSMS on Facebook by the end of May to go into the draw to win a Littmann Classic Stethesope valued at $129!
 
Join today to stay up to date with all things Medsoc.