http://www.aaca2014.com/

Dear colleagues,

Welcome to the 14th Asian Australasian Congress of Anaesthesiologists. We are delighted to announce that in 2014, the AACA will combine with the 4th Australasian Symposium on Ultrasound and Regional Anaesthesia (ASURA).

The AACA meeting can be thought of as an Asia-Pacific version of the World Congress of Anaesthesiologists, with delegates from not just the 23 member countries of our region, but from around the globe. The 14th AACA will be hosted by the New Zealand Society of Anaesthetists.

ASURA is now well established as Australasia's most popular regional anaesthesia meeting. It is convened by the Regional Anaesthesia Special Interest Group and is heading to Auckland, New Zealand for the first time in 2014.

The 2014 Combined AACA and ASURA will offer delegates an outstanding educational experience. Our theme of “Discovery, Understanding, Wisdom” reflects the process through which the specialty of anaesthesia and its doctors develop; Discovery through research, Understanding through study and learning, and Wisdom acquired by combining these with clinical experience. By combining two already strong meetings, we can offer even more from our scientific programme. AACA Scientific programme convenor Associate Professor Simon Mitchell has developed plans for an exciting mix of plenary sessions, lectures, small group meetings and workshops that will offer something for everyone. ASURA scientific programme convenor Darcy Price plans to capitalise on the large pool of visiting experts to produce a strong regional anaesthesia stream within the AACA meeting.

One of the great strengths of a large international meeting is the opportunity to meet and share experiences and challenges with other anaesthetists from across the region. To facilitate this, we are working to ensure delegates from all our member countries can attend.

The 2014 Combined AACA and ASURA is also about recreation and we have the benefit of one of the world’s most liveable cities, in one of the most scenic countries on the planet. Our social programme will showcase these attractions to complement the scientific and collegial components of the programme.

We look forward to sharing this unique event with you in 2014.