For Senior Registered Nurse Jeremy Rigney attending last year's Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Perth was an experience he is not likely to forget.
Mr Rigney, who works in the Cairns Hospital Emergency department, attended the ASM as the recipient of the 2018 ACEM Foundation Conference Grant.
The ACEM Foundation Conference Grant is to support Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori medical practitioners, medical students and other health professionals in attending the ACEM Winter Symposium or the ASM.
Apply now
Applications for the 2019 ACEM Foundation Conference Grant are now open.
Details are on the ACEM website.
Applications close March 3.
The 2019 ACEM Winter Symposium will be held from 30 April – 3 May in Rotorua, New Zealand.
This year's ASM will be held from 17 November – 21 November in Tasmania.
Great expectations
Mr Rigney said working as a Registered Nurse, he knew he was attending a conference of "high standard". "I felt uncomfortable initially because of this," he said "I was fortunate to meet Dr Max Raos who was the previous year's recipient while at the conference and I am thankful for his support.
"I really enjoyed the week, I have learnt many things and it has driven me to research the topics discussed."
Mr Rigney said he enjoyed attending a toxicology workshop during the meeting. "Toxicologists Dr Jason Armstrong and Dr Jessamine Soderstrom spoke about cardiotoxicity drugs and overdoses such as TCAs, Digoxin and current changes to practice," Mr Rigney said.
"The key message [in attending the meeting] for me was to always work towards a goal, push my educational boundaries and help others when they need to achieve this."
Mr Rigney said it was a privilege to attend the meeting.
"I wanted to experience education that I didn't have access to in my current role. I achieved this greater than what I expected and I am very thankful for the opportunity," he said.
"Attending has benefitted myself, my colleagues and importantly my patients. I have been able to share the information with my colleagues and this has been put into practice to treat our patients with current evidence-based practice. It has also encouraged my colleagues to look into their own learning and improve their own practice."
