Adelaide Convention Centre proudly supports the Future Leaders Scholarship Program, providing ten (10) Australian award recipients the opportunity to continue their growth through attending the AuSAE Live Celebrating Associations virtual event and ACE2021.

Meet Susie Obeid

Strategic Programs Manager 

 Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA)

About your association?

AOA is the peak professional organisation for orthopaedic surgery in Australia and is a not for profit organisation with just over 1800 members, consisting of most specialist orthopaedic surgeons and trainees (registrars) in Australian hospitals and spanning all orthopaedic subspecialties.

In addition to providing high-quality specialist education, training and continuing professional development for Australian orthopaedic surgeons, AOA is the leading authority in the provision of orthopaedic information to the community and is committed to ensuring the highest possible standard of orthopaedic care.

What does it mean to you to be a Future Leaders Scholarship recipient in partnership with the Adelaide Convention Centre?

I am honoured and proud to be a scholarship recipient and participate in the AuSAE LIVE and ACE2021 events and thank the Adelaide Convention Centre for providing such wonderful opportunities and investing in future talent.  I am someone who continuously strives to keep professionally and personally developing myself and believe that this opportunity will contribute to these goals.

I look forward to also using this opportunity to learn from those who are highly regarded and respected in their areas of expertise.

What I like about my job:

The primary aim of my role is to provide high-level executive and project support services to the Chief Executive Officer, including developing and implementing strategies to support the achievement of the Australian Orthopaedic Association’s strategic and operational objectives.

Now with the explanation out of the way, I can definitely say that the diversity of work within my portfolio appears in my top three favourite things about my role - I enjoy working on multiple projects at a time and no two days are the same.

Managing such a diverse portfolio means that I also work with a variety of amazing individuals who I am continuously learning from. AOA members are a joy to deal with and are deeply appreciative of the work that the staff does; there is mutual understanding and respect regarding the symbiotic relationship we have with one another.

What I am most proud of at our association:

The culture! Having worked in a variety of organisations ranging from aged health care to advertising, I have learned that culture of the organisation plays an enormous role in job satisfaction.

I am immensely proud to work for an association whose primary focus is not only to patients through the advancement of orthopaedic surgery but has also integrated an ethical framework into its decision making and governance process.

We should always be guided by the phrase ‘what is the right thing to do?’ and I believe AOA does this very well.

How have you managed to keep connected and engaged with other members during the COVID19 pandemic?

We are all aware of the challenges and disruptions COVID19 has introduced to 2020.  However, what has also appeared is the way in which individuals have purposefully reached out to check in with one another.

Our members have harnessed their collective intelligence to assist those in other states with extended lock down periods who may be suffering personally and financially. In addition, AOA like many other organisations has had to reinvent the way in which it delivers its services to the members and subsequently the community. 

In a very short period of time we have been able to deliver traditional face-to-face educational meetings online and have developed a number of services that would have otherwise been unavailable pre-COVID19.

What have you missed most about meeting face to face?

The implementation and use of video teleconferencing platforms has been an amazing way to connect with members and colleagues, however, the absence of face-to-face meetings has highlighted how much of the way we communicate and connect with one another is non-verbal.

Particularly as the way conversations and chance meetings happen organically at face-to-face meetings - trying to replicate this online often means a lot of scheduling.

I don’t believe people will take face-to-face meetings for granted again as they are slowly reintroduced.

What I am most looking forward to in the AuSAE Live program:

I am most looking forward to meeting other professionals, sharing experiences and learning from one another.

I am also excited to virtually participate in the activities including the LIVE HACKATHON the Future Leaders are hosting during the exhibition for which I am a contributor; and all the sessions planned throughout the program. 

I’m looking forward to being stimulated by ideas, challenge my own biases and finish the experience feeling inspired.

Connect with Susie via LinkedIn and learn more about all this years recipients via the website.