Dr Cathy Ferguson

Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Surgeon;

Vice President, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Wellington, NZ



Cathy Ferguson is an Otolaryngologist, Head and Neck Surgeon from Wellington New Zealand. She has been a generally elected Councilor for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons for the past 7 years, and is currently the Vice President.

She has previously held the portfolios of Chair of the Professional Development and Standards Board, (which has oversight of the Professional Standards, Fellowship Services, Professional Development, Research and Academic Surgery and External Affairs portfolios), Chair of Professional Standards, Chair of Fellowship Services and Chair of The Post Fellowship Education ad Training Committee. She was NZ Censor for the College from 2009 – 2016, and prior to that served 9 years on the New Zealand National Board of the College, with 2 years as its Chair. She is currently an Examiner for the College in Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery.

Dr Ferguson was invited to become a member the RACS Expert Advisory Group (EAG) appointed by the College in 2015 to investigate and advise the College on the issues of discrimination, bullying and sexual harassment. 

From there an Action Plan has been developed to address the issues over the next few years. As part of this, Dr Ferguson was involved in a revision of the College’s Code of Conduct and a review of the College CPD program, as well as advising on the activities of the Education Board. She continues to champion the College ‘Lets Operate with Respect’ activities.


RACS/NZSHONS

Dr Ferguson will present a brief update on RACS activities for the year, and then spend some time discussing the RACS CPD program, in particular some discussion on the Reflective Practice component of the current CPD program, as well as signalling some proposed modifications to the program for the future.