The relaxed Tasmanian lifestyle can mean that people in the Apple Isle are reluctant to get involved in advocacy, politics and striving for change. Not so for FACEM Juan Ascencio-Lane, who gained an exemption to sit on CAPP as soon as he qualified as a FACEM, avoiding the three years post-Fellowship rule that existed at the time.
'When I first went onto CAPP, I was one of the only Tasmanians on any of the groups within ACEM. But we have slowly been getting more representatives on the different working groups and we've got a little more buy-in over the past few years.'
As former Deputy Chair of the Trainee Committee, Juan has always had an interest in what's going on around the College and sharing that knowledge back to his colleagues. Joining CAPP was the logical next step for him in making an impact.
'There wasn't any one single reason, it was just to try and learn more and see what I can bring back.'
Juan enjoys the broad role that CAPP plays in advancing emergency medicine and getting an overview of everything, from environmental policy to bullying.
'It's a place where you can put forward ideas and innovations. No matter what aspect of the College, we work with groups and subgroups. It's not just about the medicine side of it.'
If you do have a particular passion, Juan says that CAPP can be a good forum to drive your area of interest. With members of CAPP sitting on other committees and working groups throughout the College, CAPP helps to support ideas coming through. For Juan, his experience in CAPP has helped to guide his work with the Rural, Regional and Remote (RRR) Committee.
'CAPP have been collaborating and working with the RRR committee to see how we can improve by getting more trainees and FACEMs out to those rural sites that are lacking.'
He is also proud of CAPP's work highlighting the community health aspect of climate change and the developing the Environmental Strategy.
'As physicians working in emergency medicine, we understand the importance of the environment on people's health.'
Juan is motivated by lifting the profile of emergency medicine across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand and says CAPP plays an important role in this.
'We oversee and guide the College in its moral and holistic views, and the direction of the medicine side.'
'You can put in as much or as little as you want, but it's a really good way of actually seeing what the College does behind the scenes. It gives you a voice.'
