Rehabilitation Medicine
Society of
Australia and New Zealand

RMSANZ is the professional body for rehabilitation physicians and trainees in Australia & New Zealand and offers a stimulating, supportive and collegial environment of professional development, continuing education, policy review and encouragement of teaching and research.

Latest News

ISPRM Photos

Were you there?
ISPRM Congress 2024, photos available here


RMSANZ Director Nominations 2024

The 2024 Annual General Meeting of Rehabilitation Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand Ltd (RMSANZ) (the AGM) will be held on 27 November 2024. Nominations are invited for candidates to be appointed as Directors at the AGM and also for the position of President-Elect (and Director, if not already an elected Director) of RMSANZ.

RMSANZ currently has ten (10) directors. The terms of five (5) of those Directors, Drs Zoe Adey-Wakeling, Richard Seemann, Brian Zeman, Kelly Dungey and Alaeldin Elmalik, expire at the AGM in accordance with RMSANZ’s constitution. Accordingly, there will be five (5) vacant Director positions to be filled at the AGM. Dr Adey-Wakeling will have completed her permitted term under RMSANZ’s constitution and therefore will not be standing for re- election. Dr Seemann has decided not to stand for re-election. Each of Drs Zeman, Dungey and Elmalik, being eligible, has indicated his/her intention to stand for re-election as a Director at the AGM. Nominations are invited from other candidates to fill the five (5) vacant Director positions at the AGM. If two or less nominations are received from other candidates Drs Zeman, Dungey and Elmalik will be declared elected at the AGM, together with any other nominee(s). If more than two other nominations are received a poll will be held at the AGM for the five vacant Director positions.

To be eligible for election as a Director and/or President-Elect a person must be an Ordinary Member of RMSANZ. An ordinary member is defined in clause 3.1.1(a) of RMSANZ’s constitution. Clause 3.1.1(a) provides that any Fellow of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians who practices as a Rehabilitation Physician (as defined in the RMSANZ constitution) is eligible to apply for membership of RMSANZ as an Ordinary Member.

Nominations for Directors and/or President Elect must be submitted on the prescribed form which can be obtained here:

Director Nomination
President Elect Nomination

Nominations must be signed by two (2) other Ordinary Members and contain a consent to act signed by the person nominated, and must be left with, or posted or transmitted to reach, the Association Manager of RMSANZ no later than 5.00 pm AEDT on Thursday, 24 October 2024.

The initial term of office of a person elected as a Director at the AGM is two (2) years.


Australian and New Zealand Stroke Organisation Mentor Award 2024

Nominations are now open

Are you a member of ANZSO, have you thought about nominating.

For further information, click here.


RACP Surveys

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) is currently promoting two surveys to collect valuable feedback from supervisors and trainees. Use your voice to make a difference to the future of the medical profession by completing either the Supervisor Voices Survey or the Medical Training Survey.
RACP supervisors – Complete the 2024 Supervisor Voices Survey
All RACP Supervisors and educational leaders are invited to participate in the 2024 Supervisor Voices Survey. This survey will provide an opportunity for supervisors to tell the RACP about contemporary supervision challenges, including workload, support needs, and capacity and capability to supervise.
Current trainees or eligible OTPs – Complete the 2024 Medical Training Survey
All doctors-in-training in Australia, including RACP trainees and Overseas Trained Physicians (OTPs) currently undertaking the Specialist Assessment Pathway, are eligible and encouraged to participate. This year’s survey will build on results from previous years and help the College monitor trends in training experiences over time.
If you are a current RACP trainee, do not miss this important opportunity to provide feedback. Your experiences will be used to enhance education and training experiences for you and other trainees.
How trainees can access the survey - A survey link is provided to trainees once they renew their medical registration with Ahpra.

Government response to violence against people with disability deeply disappointing

Today’s Federal, State and Territory government response to our four-and-a-half-year Disability Royal Commission is deeply disappointing and fails to respond to the scale of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation of people with disability.

National disability representative organisations have expressed significant concern that only 13 recommendations of 222 have been fully accepted, and that after nine months, so many recommendations remain still to be resolved across different levels of government.

Read more in this Media Release by People with a Disability Australia


New Curriculum for Rehabilitation Medicine Advanced Training

The College (RACP) is renewing the Basic and Advanced Training curricula. The new curricula will place an enhanced focus on competency-based training, supported by programmatic assessment approaches and provide clear learning goals and progression criteria against which trainees will be assessed.

Please click here to read more about the changes.


Encouraging Leadership in Rehabilitation Medicine: Recognise Your Potential

The RMSANZ annual scientific meeting in Sydney this year together with ISPRM was a massive success. Whether the preferred nomenclature was PM&R, physiatry or rehabilitation medicine, the meeting involved thought-leaders and changemakers in the field collaborating and contributing their amazing work and insights. With over 1500 delegates from all around the world in wide-ranging fields, there is no doubt the ripple effects of this meeting will be felt for many years to come.

The session on leadership in rehabilitation medicine reflected on the unique leadership qualities that rehabilitation professionals bring to the table. Despite being underrepresented in medical leadership positions worldwide, our skills and experiences equip us to excel in these roles. A distinguished panel including Australia’s own Professors Fary Khan, Andrew Cole and Dr Gaj Panagoda considered how we can lead both from within and from the front.

Read more insights from the Conference on Leadership in Rehabilitation Medicine here

#LeadershipInRehab #PhysiatryLeaders #MedicalLeadership #FutureLeaders



Image 1 - Dr Maria Paul with Dr Alex Ganora, collecting prize on behalf of Dr Jessica Smith (pictured in second photo)

Dr Alex Ganora Emerging Leadership Award

Congratulations to Dr Jessica Smith for winning the inaugural Dr Alex Ganora Emerging Leadership Award 2024.
There was an the exceptional field of nominees for the prize – namely - Dr Stephanie Lam (Private Practice SIG NSW), Dr Kavitha Muthukrishnan (Branch Chair, Victoria/Tasmania) and Dr Kelly Dungey (Board member from Qld).
RMSANZ are glad to announce that this award will now be awarded every year as part of the ASM, for more details watch for information in the RMSANZ newsletter!


15/4/2024

The Rehabilitation Medicine Society of Australia and New Zealand (RMSANZ) offers condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, during the tragic events in Sydney’s east over the weekend. We also wish to show support for the injured or traumatised in the April 13th attacks in Bondi Junction Sydney.

As rehabilitation physicians who care for individuals affected by trauma and their loved ones we empathise with survivors and the families who lost loved ones to this horrific event. Many members of the community including those living with disabilities may have been traumatised by witnessing events or being potential targets of violence and the RMSANZ acknowledges their varied responses to this tragedy. As rehabilitation physicians treating trauma, we know that survivors of this tragedy will have a difficult few weeks or months ahead.

We encourage those survivors in need to seek assistance through medical options as well as

Many members of our society and the teams they lead, live and work in the eastern suburbs of Sydney and will be involved in rehabilitating those injured. We support your efforts and encourage you to reach out for any assistance if necessary.

We congratulate members of the medical community and first responders as well as members of the community for their collective response in protecting the lives of those at risk.


Congratulations to Prof Steven Faux, awarded AM for service to Rehabilitation Medicine and to medical research

For Professor Steven Faux, Rehabilitation Medicine has been his passion for many years and working with people living with disabilities has certainly seemed to be much more of a joy than a job. Professor Faux seeks to advance the field of rehabilitation medicine through innovative research, state-of-the-art service delivery and multidisciplinary collaboration.
This year, his decades of remarkable contributions to Rehabilitation Medicine and medical research have been recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM).
In a recent interview, Professor Faux says, “This honour is much more for rehabilitation medicine and the dedicated work of rehabilitation teams that care for people living with disabilities. It’s important recognition and acknowledgement for a part of medicine and hospital care that is often overlooked and for me personally it draws attention to working with the most inspired and inspiring people you will ever meet – those among us that live with disabilities.”
Heartfelt congratulations to Professor Faux and we look forward to seeing the continued positive impact of his innovative research and compassionate care.
Professor Steven Faux is the President of RMSANZ and the scientific lead for this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting in Sydney, held in conjunction with the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM.

International Day of People with Disability

International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) is a United Nations observed day held on 3 December each year.

Message from Prof Steven Faux, President, RMSANZ

A disability action plan for an hospital. How does it work?

For more information on the Day and it's origins please click here

Join the RMSANZ

We look forward to welcoming you as a new member of RMSANZ to participate in a stimulating, supportive and collegial society that is dedicated to promote the growth and welfare of Rehabilitation Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians in Australia and New Zealand.  The membership fee for AFRM Fellows is $462, $121 for AFRM Trainees and $220 for Associate Memberships. (Retired Fellows join for free)

 

 

 

Events

The Society and its members regularly hold events throughout Australia and New Zealand. Some of the listed events may only be open to members of the RMSANZ, whilst others may be open to all interested parties. Please contact us with information about your event so that we can add it to our calendar.

 

 

 

 

 

Member Login

Please make sure that you visit the "Members Only" page on a regular basis to see what new items, resources and information have been added.

Do you want to contact another Member? You will find out what you need to do here as well.

Membership Renewals are due on 1 July