USANZ Trainee Week 2025 Wrap-Up

USANZ Trainee Week is the key event in the training calendar, and this year’s program, held at the Sydney Masonic Centre from 16–20 November, delivered a strong mix of education, networking, and collaboration.

Convenor Dr Scott Leslie developed a program that combined core clinical content with sessions on emerging issues. A highlight was the panel discussion on Artificial Intelligence, which examined its practical applications in medicine as well as its broader impact, providing Trainees with insight into both current practice and future trends.

We are grateful to the USANZ NSW Section members and invited medical experts for bringing their knowledge and experience to the program. Special thanks also to USANZ members Kevin Bax and Nick Buchan from New Zealand, and Matt Roberts from Queensland, for contributing their time and expertise.

This year’s uro-radiology content was developed through collaboration between the Board of Urology and ARGANZ (Abdominal Radiology Group of Australia and New Zealand), a subspecialty group within RANZCR. The partnership ensured the session was aligned with the urology curriculum and delivered by expert speakers.

We also acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors. Ipsen, our major sponsor, has been a long-standing supporter of Trainee Week and the Trainee Week Exchange Program, which enables SET Urology Trainees to attend international training meetings with the CUA, EAU, and UAA. We thank our sponsors, Astellas, Avant, and Johnson & Johnson, as well as our exhibitors, Ambu, Bayer, Cipla, Credabl, Endotherapeutics, Experien, Mundipharma, and Teleflex, and our Learning Lab partners—BXTA, Device Technologies, Olympus, and Teleflex.

This year saw the introduction of Learning Labs, offering hands-on training opportunities that added practical value for delegates and industry partners alike. Initiatives like these make Trainee Week not only informative but highly engaging.

Behind the scenes, Deborah Klein (Education & Training Manager) and Jenny Hislop (Senior Training Administrator) ensured the event ran smoothly. Thank you for your work in delivering a successful program.

Celebrating Excellence

Congratulations to Jennifer Xu and Gerard Bray, joint recipients of the Frank Gardiner Award for achieving the highest scores in the June SSE (Urology) examination, and to Jaspreet Singh, who achieved the highest score in the October examination.

Lydia and Gerard Bray	Lydia and Jennifer Xu	Lydia and Jaspreet Singh

 

Changeover of Trainee Representatives

The 2025 Urology Trainee Forum (UTF) was represented by Christian Robinson (NZ, Chair), Stuart Jackson (NSW/ACT), Liang Qu (VIC/TAS), Hannah Flynn (QLD), Jo Lynn Tan (SA), and Bradley Reynolds (WA). USANZ thanks all representatives for their commitment to advocating for Trainee interests and providing valuable feedback throughout the year. We particularly acknowledge the outgoing members, Christian, Liang, Jo Lynn, and Brad, for their significant contributions during their term. While Brad concludes his role as WA representative, he will continue to play an important part in Trainee advocacy, taking over from Christian as the Trainee Representative on the Board of Urology from February 2026. We also welcome the incoming 2026 representatives: Gavin Wei (VIC/TAS), Athul John (SA), Matt Chau (WA), and Christo Creffier (NZ).

Christan Robinson and Scott Leslie	Bradley Reynolds, Jo Lynn Tan, Liang Qu	L-R: Stuart Jackson, Athul John, Hannah Flynn, Brad Reynolds, Christo Creffier, Gavin Wei, Matt Chau

 

International Delegates

USANZ was proud to host Trainees from international urological associations, strengthening global connections and collaboration. Delegates joined us from:

Urological Association of Asia (UAA): Sajal Gupta (India), Yasmina Zahra Syadza (Indonesia), Sho Nonoyama (Japan), Thanakrit Visuthikosol (Thailand)

Canadian Urological Association (CUA): Charles Paco, Colin Davey

European Association of Urology (EAU): Cecilia De Klerk (South Africa), Aksel Vardanyan (Armenia)

British Section of Trainees (BSoT): Sabrina Rossi, Rory Ferguson

On behalf of USANZ, we would like to thank all international Trainees for joining us for the 2025 program. We hope you enjoyed your time in Sydney!

L to R – Christian Robinson (Trainee Representative), Sajal Gupta (UAA), Sho Nonoyama (UAA), Aksel Vardanyan (EAU), Yasmina Zahra Syadza (UAA), Thanakrit Visuthikosol (UAA), Scott Leslie (Convenor, Trainee Week), Charles Paco (CUA) Sabrina Rossi (BSoT), Cecilia De Klerk (EAU), Rory Ferguson (BSoT), Colin Davey (CUA)

Masters of the Uroverse – A Historic Win for New Zealand!

One of the most anticipated events of Trainee Week is the Masters of the Uroverse quiz, where regional teams, each joined by an international delegate, battle for bragging rights. This year’s teams were:

New Zealand: Tom Clarkson, Christo Creffier, Cindy Nguyen, Naveen Weeratunga, and Cecilia De Klerk (EAU)

New South Wales: Ramesh Shanmugasundaram, Isabella Williams, Bishoy Hanna, Stuart Jackson, and Sabrina Rossi (UK)

Queensland: Andrew Morton, William Harrison, William Yaxley, Mo Li, and Rory Ferguson (BSoT)

South Australia: Laurence Liu, Rowan David, Jo-Lynn Tan, Athul John, and Colin Davey (CUA)

Victoria: Sachin Perera, Jake Tempo, Liang Qu, Ellen O’Connor, and Charles Paco (CUA)

Western Australia: Mohammed Al-Zubaidi, Vidyasagar Chinni, Matt Chau, Brad Reynolds, and Sajal Gupta (UAA)

After a fiercely contested battle, New Zealand claimed victory for the first time since the competition began in 2014! Congratulations to the NZ team for finally securing their place on the trophy, a milestone achievement and a standout moment of the week.

The Winning AoNZ Team: (L-R) Cecilia De Clerk, Cindy Nguyen, Christo Creffier, Naveen Weeratunga, Tom Clarkson	The Team accepting the award: (L-R) Naveen Weeratunga, Tom Clarkson, Cecilia De Clerk, Cindy Nguyen and Christo Creffier