Pre-Symposium Workshops: Friday 19th March

Morning Workshops

	WORKSHOP 1: Learning how to use physiological explanations for patients with persistent physical symptoms.
Time	8am - 12pm
Speaker	Hamish Wilson & John Dunbar
Overview	Many patients are significantly affected by recurring symptoms that don’t align well with organ-based pathology. Modern neuroscience shows how these mind body symptoms (chronic pain, irritable bowel syndrome, non-cardiac chest pain, persistent fatigue states and so on) are created and perpetuated by the central nervous system (CNS), which at an unconscious level, controls all body processes and sensations. The good news is that rather than feeling ineffective or pessimistic when preparing to consult with these patients, there are now useful explanations (eg ‘faulty internal alarm systems’) and an emerging air of optimism that recovery is possible. Our research group in Otago has developed an educational package for students and junior doctors, including the Persistent Symptoms Handbook and online demonstration videos. The handbook covers physiology, diagnostic criteria, various explanations and modern approaches to clinical management. This interactive workshop will provide some practical skills for GPs and other doctors.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $375 Workshop only Registration - $400
Catering	Morning tea provided

	WORKSHOP 2: Dermatoscopy - Tips and tricks
Time	9am - 12pm
Speaker	Amanda Oakley
Overview	This interactive three-hour workshop will help clinicians build confidence in recognising common skin lesions using both clinical examination and dermoscopy. Professor Amanda Oakley will consolidate the core clinical and dermoscopic features of common benign and malignant melanocytic and keratinocytic lesions and more, while highlighting the key patterns and features that help distinguish lesions requiring further assessment from those that can be managed with reassurance. The session will be highly practical, with plenty of opportunities to test and apply your knowledge using case examples and interactive Kahoot! quizzes. The focus will be on developing a systematic approach to assessing lesions and strengthening pattern recognition that can be applied in everyday clinical practice. Expect an engaging, practical session designed to sharpen your dermoscopy skills and increase confidence when faced with the skin lesions that regularly present in primary care.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $375 Workshop only Registration - $400
Catering	Morning tea provided

	WORKSHOP 3: Obesity and sleep apnoea
Time	9am - 12pm
Speaker	Kate Jones
Overview	Rationale/unmet need: OSA is common, under-diagnosed, and closely linked to obesity and cardiometabolic disease, yet primary care often anchors on risk factors rather than the symptom, functional and quality-of-life burden patients actually present with. The workshop addresses a practical gap: confident recognition, navigating the diagnostic pathway, and managing patients across the full therapeutic ladder, from CPAP and device/airway options through to weight management as disease modification, with treatment goals framed around what changes for the patient. Framework/Learning outcomes: Risk-stratify patients for OSA and recognise atypical presentations, including the obesity–OSA relationship. Explain the link between adiposity, upper-airway collapsibility and cardiometabolic disease. Navigate the diagnostic pathway: home sleep testing vs polysomnography, interpreting results, and referral. Construct a management plan across CPAP and adherence support, positional therapy, mandibular devices, surgical options, and weight management. Apply weight management as an OSA treatment lever, with realistic expectations and integration alongside CPAP. Recognise and track the symptom, functional and quality-of-life burden of OSA, including driving safety, and set patient-centred treatment goals using a patient-reported measure alongside the AHI.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $355 Workshop only Registration - $375
Catering	Morning tea provided
	Workshop supported by Lilly

	WORKSHOP 4: Written exposure therapy: a fresh approach to PTSD
Time	9am - 12pm
Speaker	Bruce Arroll
Overview	Traditionally, primary care has avoided PTSD as clinicians have felt they have few resources for treatment beyond medication and knowing that exposure therapies are more effective for patients. This is coupled with the fact that it takes, on average, 19 years for individuals to seek help for their traumatic experiences. There is also the time factor, where clinicians are afraid to open the can of worms due to time pressure. This leaves the patients with their can of worms unopened. A fresh approach is to use written exposure therapy (WET) therapy, which involves five sessions of writing about the trauma in detail and how it has affected your life. It is designed for non-psychologists and is very efficient and effective when patients complete all five sessions. There will be a discussion on how to do this in primary care. There are options such as HIPs or health coaches (HCs need indemnity) or clinic nurses. Some GPs and NPs may be interested in doing it as it is very satisfying to get patients through all five sessions.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $355 Workshop only Registration - $375
Catering	Morning tea provided

	WORKSHOP 5: Menopause 101
Time	9am - 11.30am
Speaker	Orna McGinn
Overview	A practical, interactive two-hour workshop designed for GPs and nurse practitioners who want a clear, confident approach to menopause care. Using case-based discussion, we will work through the essentials of assessing people presenting with possible perimenopause or menopause: recognising common and less obvious symptoms, taking a focused history, using questionnaires and symptom scores appropriately, and considering alternative or co-existing diagnoses. We will explore how to have an individualised discussion about treatment options, including the benefits and risks of menopausal hormone therapy (MHT), non-hormonal approaches, and lifestyle measures. Participants will work through common clinical scenarios, including when investigations are useful, choosing an initial management plan, and identifying situations that require additional assessment or referral. The emphasis will be on practical decision-making that can be applied immediately in everyday primary care.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $355 Workshop only Registration - $375
	Workshop supported by Bayer

Afternoon Workshops

	WORKSHOP 6: Stuck? Overwhelmed? Looping? Learn the Lightning Process® - it works.
Time	1pm - 4pm
Speaker	Jenny Oliver
Overview	An engaging, practical training just for you. Put into practise how to use your brain to makechanges in your body for a calmer, content, more energising Monday morning. You’ll learn how to ... Explain what the Lightning Process® (LP) is, why it works so quickly and how it’s used. Use an easy tool to make change in any moment and recircuit the brains predictive, habitual errors and patterns. Change the messaging! Reset and regulate into the parasympathetic nervous system and transition out of flight, fight, freeze - in the moment. Replace limiting beliefs with more useful ones Self coach by taming your inner voice and changing your language patterns. A game changer! Stay calm in specific areas of life – sleep, around others, in work situations, children, recreation. What to say and do. Recognise the factors keeping the brains alarm ON and quickly change this. Diagnose appropriately and learn phrases to say to patients in 15 minutes. Put all this into real life situations. Fast, sustainable change. The LP is based on the studies in psychoneuroimmunology, being the link between the central nervous system, endocrine system and immune system and the brain-mind-body connection.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $355 Workshop only Registration - $375
Catering	Afternoon tea provided
CPD Points	This workshop is not endorsed and approved for professional development by The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners.

	WORKSHOP 7: Skin Lesion Surgery
Time	1pm - 5pm
Speaker	Rajan Patel
Overview	In this session, Mr Rajan Patel - Head and Neck, Facial Plastics Surgeon - offers a practical demonstration of: Cryotherapy Local anaesthetic techniques Punch biopsy Curettage Shave excision Suturing techniques Tips and Tricks to optimise scar healing
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $465 Workshop only Registration - $485
Catering	Afternoon tea provided

	WORKSHOP 8: A brief, powerful approach: Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in treating depression and anxiety
Time	1pm - 4pm
Speaker	Bruce Arroll
Overview	Focused Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (FACT) is an intervention designed for use in primary care for common forms of distress such as depression and anxiety. It is an effective first step in treating those who feel stuck (a more patient-centred word than depression/anxiety) and avoids the occupational harms that can occur with those labels.) The workshop will also talk about when and where to use antidepressant medication, as well as teaching a number of rapid relaxation techniques which are very popular with patients. Bruce will show how to do behavioural activation, the most effective treatment for low mood, which has been shown to achieve remission in 46% of primary care patients one week after therapy. He will also demonstrate powerful interventions that can rapidly change behaviour. ACT is becoming the talk therapy that has rapidly increased in randomised controlled trials, with more than 1300 published. Participants will leave the course with skills in these interventions.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $355 Workshop only Registration - $375
Catering	Afternoon tea provided

	WORKSHOP 9: Abnormal Uterine Bleeding (AUB): Assessment, diagnosis and management
Time	1pm - 3.30pm
Speaker	Orna McGinn
Overview	A practical, guideline-based workshop for GPs and nurse practitioners who want a clear and structured approach to abnormal uterine bleeding in primary care. We will work through the assessment of AUB, including how to distinguish structural from non-structural causes, when investigation is required, and how to use and interpret ultrasound and endometrial sampling. The workshop will incorporate the new New Zealand AUB guidelines and focus on translating these into everyday clinical decision-making. Participants will also explore evidence-based medical and procedural management options, including use of the levonorgestrel IUS. The second half of the workshop is hands-on, with supervised practice using pelvic models. Participants will gain practical experience in performing endometrial biopsy using a Pipelle and in Mirena IUS insertion. The emphasis throughout is on building confidence in assessment, investigation and management, with practical skills that can be taken directly back into primary care.
Cost	Add onto Symposium Registration - $375 Workshop only Registration - $400
Catering	Afternoon tea provided
	Workshop supported by Bayer

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