As the year races through the Summer months towards Autumn there have already been a few notable events for PiCSA in 2023.

This is our first year as a registered charity, which will increase our capability to benefit the Australian public and our members. The bulk of the footwork for this change was done by Dean Metwally, who consulted extensively with our lawyers and worked with the Board to make the required adjustments to our constitution.

Dean sadly has had to step down from his position as Chair. As the new Chairperson of Professionals in Cardiac Sciences Australia (PiCSA), I want to publicly express my gratitude for Dean: He did an enormous amount of work for PiCSA (all voluntary) and will be greatly missed. I wish him all the very best.

PiCSA provides education, advocacy and representation for our profession throughout Australia, and is dedicated to improving the quality and safety of the services we provide. Our new website (www.picsa.org.au) is up and running to assist with this process. This website will continue to be refined and developed and will now allow members the option of selecting auto-renewal (i.e., auto-payment) of their fees each year.

To broaden our reach and reputation, our new website will feature more content for non-members, including previously restricted core documents, such as our official ECG protocol. We hope to benefit the wider healthcare community by making this information easily accessible. Additionally, we have invited the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) to consider endorsing or collaborating on certain guidelines and position statements.

The PiCSA board is actively exploring the need for courses and qualifications that are currently unavailable in Australia. We are in discussions with Australian education providers and our counterparts in New Zealand to improve access and affordability of quality education programs for the present and future Cardiac Physiology workforce.