Emergency Medicine Symposium

05/11/2025

𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐢𝐱𝐭𝐡 𝐒𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞: 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐥.

We’re honoured to have A/Prof Lai Heng Foong, Emergency Physician and Chair of the ACEM Public Health and Disaster Committee, join us in Da Nang this April. A clinician, educator, and advocate, she brings a depth of insight that bridges medicine, humanity, and culture.

In her talk, “Sharpen your Sixth Sense: Cultural Competency as a Diagnostic Tool,” she invites us to look beyond the surface of clinical presentations. In the rush of a busy emergency department, where competing demands can cloud our judgment, cultural nuances are too often overlooked—impacting First Nations and culturally and linguistically diverse patients disproportionately. This session hones our ability to build cultural bridges, deepen understanding, and improve patient outcomes through true diagnostic empathy.

🌏 Join us in Da Nang, Vietnam — April 13–15, 2026
Three days of real-world learning, meaningful conversations, and connections that stay with you long after the conference ends.

🔗 Conference details and registration link in the comments.

24/10/2025

𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐀𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐀𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: 𝐕𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦-𝐒𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐄𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐲 𝐏𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬

We’ve all mastered the anatomically and physiologically difficult airway— but let’s face it, sometimes the real challenge begins after the tube goes in.

Join us for an Emergency Physician’s practical take on managing the toughest ventilation scenarios in the ED. What do you do when the vent starts alarming at 11pm and everyone looks to you for answers?

We’ll revisit first principles, then dive into real-world cases to help you troubleshoot with confidence and guide your sickest patients safely through their most critical period.

Severe asthma, multilobar pneumonia, BMI >50, ARDS? Challenge accepted.

When is too much PEEP harmful? How can we optimise for hypoxia, hypercarbia, and high airway pressures?

Come ready to sharpen your ventilator instincts—and leave ready for anything that breathes (or stops).

16/10/2025

𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝟒 – 𝐓𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐬, 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐁𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬

𝘼𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙤𝙣 𝙋𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙮 – 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙡 𝘽𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙨 𝙏𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙨𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣

Community-Based Tourism in Vietnam is changing futures with every visitor

In rural Vietnam, the most powerful development tool isn’t money or tech.
It’s hospitality.

With Action on Poverty’s Community-Based Tourism program, villagers welcome travellers into their homes — and use that revenue to:

Build roads
Fund water systems
Invest in education
Preserve cultural traditions passed down for generations

This is tourism done right — inclusive, regenerative, and community-led.

And it reminds us: sometimes, the smallest decision (where you stay) can create the largest ripple.

You don’t have to be born into poverty to care about its consequences. You just have to believe that access should never depend on location.

When you join the EM Symposium, you’re helping ensure the benefits of healthcare, economy, and education go further than the people in the room.

Join us at Da Nang in 2026

https://www.emergencymedicinesymposium.com.au/

01/10/2025

🟩 Week 2 – The Village That Stopped Waiting

𝙋𝙖𝙡𝙢𝙚𝙧𝙖 – 𝙁𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙡 𝙩𝙤 𝙋𝙪𝙩𝙝𝙪𝙠𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙮𝙞𝙧𝙪𝙥𝙥𝙪:

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝘽𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙨

For the past three years, thanks to the generosity of our delegates,
the Emergency Medicine Symposium has quietly supported a rural Sri Lankan village named 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹 — a place once shaped by scarcity, now sustained by strength.

Through our partnership with Palmera, the women of Theravil built something remarkable.

They raised livestock.
Started peanut farms.
Created savings groups under trees.
Taught each other how to lend, how to lead, how to build a life no longer dependent on anyone else.

Today, 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹 stands tall — not because the world changed around them,
but because they changed the world they could reach.

And while Palmera still returns — to listen, learn, and repeat the cycle with care —

𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗹 no longer needs our spotlight.
Because they’ve become the light for others.

Now, that light moves to a place where silence still lingers: 𝗣𝘂𝘁𝗵𝘂𝗸𝘂𝗱𝗶𝘆𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗽𝗽𝘂.

The final battlefield of Sri Lanka’s civil war.
A village where endings were written in loss — and now, beginnings are being rewritten in quiet resilience.

The women here are doing what Theravil did.
They’re gathering again.
Saving in circles.
Starting small businesses and rediscovering something that was almost lost:
The right to imagine a future.

This is what Palmera does — not just in these two villages, but across many.
This week, we simply pause to honour one story…
and the next it made possible.

𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐃𝐚 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐠
https://www.emergencymedicinesymposium.com.au

Next week, we’ll share the stories of Vanni Hope and Action on Poverty — and the quiet revolutions they’re building in lakes and villages across Asia.

27/09/2025

🟦 𝚆𝚎𝚎𝚔 𝟷 – 𝚆𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚆𝚎 𝙲𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝙵𝚛𝚘𝚖

𝘽𝙚𝙮𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙮𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙪𝙢 — A Series for Those Who Remember Where They Came From

Most of us didn’t grow up with emergency departments like the ones we work in now.
Some of us remember holding our breath through power cuts in crowded corridors.
Some remember the smell of dust before the monsoon, and the long drive our parents took to find a doctor.

We remember more than just medicine.
We remember the gap.

And that’s why this symposium is different.

Over the next 4 weeks, we’ll share stories from places that feel eerily familiar:
Where women save in quiet circles because the bank won’t come.
Where fishing is not recreation, but survival.
Where hosting a stranger isn’t tourism — it’s dignity wrapped in rice and warmth.

These are the stories many of us grew up around.
And for others, they’re stories that stir something deeper:
A sense that you have more to give than just clinical skill.

This is Beyond the Symposium.
Not a brand. Not a tagline.
Just a quiet reminder — that even when you’ve made it…
You never forget the people who haven’t.

Join us in Da Nang
https://www.emergencymedicinesymposium.com.au/

11/09/2025

We were talking to one of our delegates recently, and they shared something that really touched us:

“𝘐’𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘶𝘱.

𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘺𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘶𝘮, 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘨𝘶𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘺 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦 — 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘐 𝘭𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘐 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭. 𝘐𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦.”

That, to us, is the essence of the Emergency Medicine Symposium.

It isn’t about entitlement. It isn’t about showcasing. It’s about humility, curiosity, and courage. When we let go of ego, the conversations deepen, the learning sticks, and the friendships last.

From Langkawi to Koh Samui to Cebu, this spirit has carried us forward. In 2026, it finds a new home:

📍 Sheraton Grand Danang, Vietnam
📅 13–15 April 2026

As many of you start planning your calendars and leave for next year, we invite you to hold these dates close. Not because it’s another event — but because it’s a chance to reconnect with yourself, your peers, and the heart of emergency medicine.

emergencymedicinesymposium.com.au

12/08/2025

The journey continues… to 𝗗𝗮 𝗡𝗮𝗻𝗴, 𝗩𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗻𝗮𝗺, 𝟭𝟯–𝟭𝟱 𝗔𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗹 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲.

Three days dedicated to the craft of emergency medicine.

Four immersive workshops shaped by those who live it every day.

Two days of sessions that bridge evidence with real-world application – the kind of knowledge that stays with you long after the last slide fades.

You’ll join an extraordinary faculty of practising FACEMs and a delegate community that understands the pressures, the decisions, and the moments that define our work.

And when the learning pauses, we’ll celebrate – with a cocktail party only we could host, a gala dinner that’s nothing short of spectacular, and family-friendly moments that bring the people who’ve carried us along for the ride into the heart of the experience.

At the end of it all, the net proceeds will go to two remarkable charities – turning our time together into something that will leave more than just memories.

𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙗𝙞𝙧𝙙 𝙧𝙚𝙜𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙞𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙤𝙥𝙚𝙣.

Link in the comments.

Be part of the next chapter.

Join us in Da Nang, Vietnam for Emergency Medicine Symposium (EMS) 2026 – April 13–15. A unique blend of cutting-edge emergency medicine, expert faculty, and unforgettable social experiences.

25/07/2025

“𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝘆 𝗠𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗦𝘆𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘂𝗺,”

- an emergency physician told us recently, “is that it doesn’t jump straight to ‘crack the chest, cut the neck, save the day’. It feels grounded – real clinicians talking to real clinicians. And the group that keeps coming back… it’s a very special kind.”

Those words stayed with us. As a faculty, they reminded us why this symposium exists – to keep things real, practical, and human.

When we sat together to shape the 2026 programme, that thought guided every choice:

𝓓𝓪𝔂 1 – Workshops: Kept deliberately small and hands-on, because the best learning happens in conversation.

𝓓𝓪𝔂 2 – Breathing & Resus: Designed around the quieter, tougher decisions – when to hold back, when to act, and how to truly understand physiology.

𝓓𝓪𝔂 3 – Paediatrics, Pain & Trauma: Focused on take-home pearls that make a difference on the next shift.

And beyond the academic sessions, the spirit of the symposium has always been about connection:

🍹 Cocktail Party – relaxed but still dressed to impress, outdoors with the beach breeze in the air.

💃 Gala Dinner – an evening of sophistication in the Grand Ballroom, with themed elegance, flowing dresses, and the kind of energy that feels more like a celebration.

This symposium has always been small, intimate, and special, and as we carry this spirit with us to Vietnam 2026, that will not change.

📅 13–15 April 2026 | Sheraton Grand
💡 18 CPD hours (2026 approval pending)

Swipe through the programme snapshots – this is the kind of emergency medicine that feels like home to us as clinicians.

https://www.emergencymedicinesymposium.com.au/programme-2026/