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The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) is responsible for the training, examination, and recertification of its fellows, who make up the great majority of the practicing specialist surgeons in Australia and New Zealand. One of the 16 Objects of the College is "To bring together the surgeons of Australia and New Zealand periodically for scientific discussion and practical demonstration of surgical subjects." In the furtherance of this object, there are many local and national meetings each year, but the highlight is the Annual Scientific Congress (ASC), held in each of the major cities on rotation, traditionally in the month of May, which is late autumn in the southern hemisphere. The structure of the Congress reflects the composition of the College, with participation to a varying degree of the 10 recognized divisions that represent general surgery and the surgical specialties and a series of linking activities designed to preserve the