PSA Annual Refresher Course
The Pacific Society of Anaesthetists (PSA) Annual Refresher Course is a comprehensive educational event for anaesthetists and intensivists in the Pacific Islands. The course will feature country updates, ultrasound training workshops, presentations on pain services, and more. Don’t miss this opportunity to network and keep up with the latest advances in anaesthesia.
2025 course details coming soon.
ASA Sereima Bale Pacific Fellowship Program
The Sereima Bale Pacific Fellowship continues to provide anaesthesia training support in the Pacific. Selected fellows receive financial support from the ASA and Fiji National University (FNU) to work in Suva for three months. The Colonial War Memorial Hospital in Suva is the major teaching hospital in Fiji which is a central training hub for trainees from across the Pacific. The fellowship aims to support education and training by;
- Facilitating the delivery of the FNU curriculum for both the Anaesthetic Diploma (1-year course) and the Masters of Anaesthesia program (4-year course)
- Providing clinical supervision in the operating theatre
- Augmenting exam preparation (written and vivas)
- Providing mentoring and support for quality improvement projects
Since the fellowship’s establishment in 2003, fellows have contributed in diverse ways to these goals.
East Timor Fellowship program
This is three month position based in Dili, East Timor – timing by mutual agreement.
Description: Clinical and curriculum-based teaching of East Timor anaesthesia non-specialists at Hospital Nacional Guido Valdares (HNGV) (Dili, East Timor). Clinical anaesthesia at HNGV.
Appointees must be:
- Fellow of Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (FANZCA); or
- Successfully completed the ANZCA Fellowship examination and in final year of ANZCA training
- Have experience working in developing countries; and/or has completed a course in remote area anaesthesia (e.g. Real World Anaesthesia Course or equivalent)
Download Position Description.
Essential Pain Management program
The Essential Pain Management (EPM) program is a multidisciplinary educational program initially designed for health workers in low and middle-income countries. It is also now being used in a number of high-income country universities (including 13 medical schools in the UK, Australia and New Zealand). It has been developed to improve pain management worldwide by working with health workers at a local level to:
- Improve pain knowledge
- Provide a simple framework for managing pain
- Address pain management barriers
- Train local health care workers to teach EPM
The first program was in Lae, Papua New Guinea in 2010. In 2016 EPM was introduced into the curriculum of the University of PNG medical school.
EPM online in English was launched in 2021 in recognition of the challenges of delivering face to face education in the context of Covid-19. The module has been accessed from 122 countries and more than 4260 participants have commenced the course with an average progress of 80%. The EPM online Spanish version was launched in 2023.
As of 2024 EPM has been introduced in to 63 countries and there has been significant uptake in Africa and Latin America in the last couple of years. EPM has been introduced into the undergraduate medical curriculum in South Africa and governments have shown support for EPM training in both Uruguay and Bolivia.
Ongoing efforts are being made to demonstrate how effective EPM is in providing education, changing attitudes and behaviour.
EPM is funded by a number of organisations including the ASA, ANZCA, IASP, WFSA, DFAT, RACS and Interplast.
For further information, please contact the ASA.
Solomon Islands Anaesthetic Training Centre (SI ATC)
Region: Honiara, Solomon Islands Project commenced December 2015 – funding initially for five years with possible extension for a further five years.
A collaborative project of the Anaesthetic Department of the National Referral Hospital (NRH) and the ASA to formally establish an Anaesthetic Training Centre for Registrars in the Solomon Islands (SI) at the NRH. The purpose is to train Anaesthetists prior to entering into a formal postgraduate Anaesthetic Training Progra at either the Fiji School of Medicine (FSM) under the Fiji National University (FNU) in Suva or the Medical Faculty of the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in Port Moresby.
Micronesia Anaesthetic Refresher Course (MARC)
Region: Federated States of Micronesia, Palau and Marshalls
Details: Following another successful Course, the Palau Ministry of Health issued a media release &
Biennial meeting since 1994. The MARC has provided educational support in a region chronically under-resourced in anaesthetic skillsets It has been instrumental in the formation of the Micronesian Anaesthesia Society and the promotion of safe anaesthesia in the region.
2025 Volunteer locumming opportunity in the Pacific Region
Interested in providing volunteer locum cover in the Pacific region in 2025?
All fellows and provisional fellows are welcome to express their interest in providing volunteer, unpaid, locum cover during the Pacific Society of Anaesthetists’ Meeting in 2025.
The PSA meeting will be held 18 – 25 August 2025. You will need to be available from midday on Saturday 16th August to around 5pm on Saturday 23rd. Plus 1-2 days travel time either side.
Every year the Pacific Society of Anaesthetists (PSA) holds a meeting in the Pacific for anaesthetists from across the region (including Australia and NZ) to attend. Working as a locum during the meeting allows our Pacific-based colleagues and trainees to attend this annual meeting, which is often their only opportunity to attend a conference and a great chance to network with fellow Pacific colleagues.
Every year the Pacific Society of Anaesthetists (PSA) holds a meeting in the Pacific for anaesthetists from across the region (including Australia and NZ) to attend. Working as a locum during the meeting allows our Pacific-based colleagues and trainees to attend this annual meeting, which is often their only opportunity to attend a conference and a great chance to network with fellow Pacific colleagues.
Each year the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists’ Global Health Committee (GHC) support the PSA by coordinating this locum cover during the meeting.
For 2025, the GHC has had requests for locums in Lautoka, Labasa and Suva in Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Kiribati, Niue, Cook Islands, East Timor and the Soloman Islands. Please note Vanuatu, Kiribati, Niue, and Tuvalu may require more leave to allow extra time for travel.
You will be expected to cover theatre work and participate in an on call roster. In some instances, an ICU may also need to be covered and by completing this form we are also asking if this is something you are comfortable doing.
The GHC has a large alumni of previous locums and will provide support for you by:
- Organising your locum team to balance skill sets. The GHC try to create teams to include people with paediatric anaesthesia experience and LMIC experience so there is plenty of local knowledge and support within the team.
- Providing orientation guides for the hospitals where possible.
- Providing a Certificate of participation for CME reimbursement and ANZCA CPD.
Providing locum cover in the Pacific is a recognised CPD activity under the knowledge and skills section of the ANZCA CPD program.
Knowledge and Skills: Global Development. The broadening of your knowledge and skills via contribution to work and teaching in low- and middle-income countries for example Anaesthesia global development work. Evidence: Correspondence confirming participation in overseas aid commitment.
If you would like to help in 2025, please fill in the EOI form on the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists’ website