BE EXTRAORDINARY CPD - A doctor's continuing professional development & well-being retreat on bias, critical consciousness & cultural safety.

Are you ready for an extraordinarily great weekend away?

Would you like to learn more about your own bias, how to develop self-awareness, & how to optimise your cultural safety in medicine?

In need of an indulgent, fun & empowering break with like-minded medical colleagues?

Bring your CPD to life & complete your Medical Board of Australia requirements in a meaningful way with ease!

Make new friends & enjoy some much-needed R & R.

Give yourself a treat & turn your winter into something vibrant & exciting.

Join us next August 15th-17th, 2025 QT Hotel in the coastal beach city of Newcastle, NSW.

What to expect

A weekend of relaxation & restoration, laughter, smiles, connection, new friends & growth - enjoy learning from each other. Develop your skills for self-awareness & critical consciousness. Hear from expert, passionate speakers on well-being, bias in medicine, & cultural safety. Identify your own bias in medicine & find ways of optimising cultural safety in your practice. Enjoy conducting a professional conversation to review your performance as a doctor & complete your mandatory professional development plan. Conduct a cultural safety audit to leverage your practice. Be professionally supported & coached to complete up to 12 hours of CPD with 5 hours of reviewing performance, a professional conversation, completion of your professional development plan, & 5 hours of measuring outcomes on cultural safety. Be inspired & leave knowing yourself that little bit more masterfully. All activities are optional offerings. So, if you find yourself lost down a Newcastle Lane immersed in street art, don't despair; you are most welcome to skip sessions to suit your needs. We want you to feel at ease & free to do as you need.

You will learn

Self-awareness & critical consciousness skills for leadership & work as a doctor.
How to identify & manage your biases, prejudices, and assumptions, to leverage your medical practice.
What cultural safety is, why it is important for doctors & how to optimise it.
The 2025 Medical Board of Australia CPD requirements for doctors and how to meet them.

Inclusions

Talks on the 2025 CPD requirements, wellbeing skills & self-awareness, critical consciousness, bias, & cultural safety.
Participate in group CPD sessions designed to empower, & equip you with take-home skills for well-being, leadership, & cultural safety.
Up to 12 hours CPD with 5 hours of reviewing performance, a professional conversation, completion of your professional development plan, & 5 hours of measuring outcomes on cultural safety.
Mindfulness and self-care sessions are incorporated into all group CPD sessions.
Delegate handouts with CPD templates to complete & upload into your CPD home, along with take-home skills & other resources.
Enjoy daily heated yoga at Yoga Body Works, Newcastle's best and most cherished studio. You can amp up your flow and sweat it up or completely relax in the warmth of a child pose. At Yoga Body Works, there is no judgment, & everyone is welcome, including newbie beginner yogis.
Welcome drinks at Rooftop Bar QT Hotel, a private shopping experience at Wilson & Hunter, and wine tasting at Artisanal Cellars make the weekend a perfect balance of work & play.
All meals, bar breakfast, included - you will eat like a king. There will be afternoon & morning teas, lovely lunches, 3-course Friday night dinner at Jana QT, & banquet Saturday dinner at Oh My Pappa.
Please note accommodation, travel, parking & breakfasts are not included.

Continuning Professional Development

With attendance to the group CPD session & pre-reading/work, you will complete 12 hours total of CPD 5 hours of Reviewing Performance, including a professional conversation and the mandatory professional development plan, and 5 hours of Measuring Outcomes with a cultural safety audit. All activities embed wellbeing, cultural safety and professional behaviours. Attendance to all group sessions makes the minimum CPD requirements easy to complete. We don't want you to stress, & we do want more for you than a tick-box experience. Following the retreat, you will be set up with self-directed CPD activities to complete your minimum requirements effortlessly yet purposefully. Give yourself the gift of making CPD easy, useful & joyful.

Location

The stunning city of Newcastle centres around a harbour & a bounty of beautiful beaches and walking trails. It is a chilled alternative for a city getaway with just over half a million residents. Newcastle — or, as the locals call it — ‘Newy’, has seen an almighty resurgence over the last decade, with a new cafe, bar, or restaurant swinging open its doors every other week. This rival, dark horse city vying for your attention may be the Greater Hunter Region gem. The city is shrouded on two sides by bending runs of cream-coloured beaches. With some of NSW's best surfing beaches, two ocean baths, & kilometres of coastal tracks, you will be sure to get outdoors. The city centre is within walking distance of the coast & jam-packed with boutique shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, & even a few sneaky breweries. Whether you keep the weekend retreat just for you or choose to make a family holiday of it, you will be sure to find plenty to do & plan to return for more.

The Venue

Enriching the respected history of Newcastle’s East End, QT Newcastle is housed within the heritage-listed, 113-year-old David Jones building on Hunter Mall. Created with new beginnings and renewal at the forefront, every touch point soaks up the region’s majestic sand to sky. Designed by long-time QT collaborator Nic Graham, the hotel features 104 guest rooms and suites designed with the colours of the coast in mind, as well as a signature dining concept and a rooftop bar offering sweeping views at every vantage point.

Make your weekend winter getaway one of style and great rest! Stay at the unique boutique QT Hotel using the delegate discount code. Immerse yourself in otherworldly luxury, where new-age possibilities delight. The best part about QT is not all the quirky room treats; it is not the cozy robes & slippers; it isn't the warm & welcoming staff ready to jump through hoops for you; nor is it the free movies & well-stocked minibar with delish room service. The best part about the QT experience is the 5-star hotel standard comfy bed, mattress, & bedding in the cool, dark & quiet rooms. You will get a night's sleep to die for. Step into new rooms and find another phase of being, in a scene set for luxury intrigue. Recline by design, refresh your senses and rediscover the joy of indulgence.

Whether you choose to stay overnight at the hotel or just come for the day, QT Newcastle is a lovely place to be. Expect a spectrum of surprise through spaces where history and possibility live boldly in every detail.

To book using our delegate discount code visit QT Hotel Newcaslte and follow the steps:

1. Select your dates

2. Click BOOK

3. Click on “I HAVE A CODE’

4. In the “CORPORATE ID” field enter your corporate ID: QTNEWWEB

5. Click “CHECK ROOMS”

6. Your special rate will appear on the rates screen

What to bring

Just your lovely self, an open & curious mindset, & a willingness to have fun & relax. If you are up for it, pack your walking shoes, hat, & yoga gear. If you are an ocean swimmer & keen to brave the winter waters, bring your togs because the brilliant Newcastle Ocean Baths are only a walk away. Newcastle ranks as one of the best surf locations in NSW. If you can bring your board & steamer, the locals will make space for you on the waves at one of the many Newcastle beaches. The dress code at QT Hotel is smart casual, but feel free to glam things up at night just for fun if you like.

Program (subject to change)

Friday 15th - Friday Funday, settle in and settle down.

Join the optional well-being activities or kickback and start the afternoon drinks early, enjoying the spectacular rooftop view of Newcastle Harbour at Rooftop QT

2 pm: Arrival at the fabulous QT Hotel Newcastle Newcastle. Check into your room if you are staying or hang in our private room where all the action will happen.
230 pm afternoon tea - meet your new friends over a bit of coffee & cake.
3 pm: Restless after your travels? Stretch your legs with an optional coastal walk from the hotel to Town Beach. Find your bearings and get to know Sydney's most relaxed beach city - even in the cooler months, Newcastle Harbour shines, and the beaches are beautiful. Keep walking along the coast for as long as your legs fancy or join us back at the hotel.
4 pm: Have a play at Yoga Body Works, Newcastle, where sweat meets zen. If you have not tried heated yoga during winter, you are in for a treat!
If yoga is not your thing, enjoy a private shopping experience with bubbles at one of Newcastle's best clothes shops, Wilson & Hunter, just around the corner from QT. The Wilson & Hunter experience is grounded in the philosophy that all women deserve to feel fantastic, both throughout the shopping experience and every time they wear their purchases. The staff are knowledgeable, approachable, and fun. Current brands include Alemais, Alessandra, Bec and Bridge, Blanca, Devotion Twins, Layer/d, Nude Lucy, Alias Mae, Silk Laundry, Up! Pants, The Upside, East Axe, Peter Lang and Balyck, Fazeek and House of Nunu.
6 pm: Celebrate the start of the retreat by joining us for welcome drinks at Rooftop QT. Nine floors up, the jewel in the crown of QT Newcastle is the Rooftop at QT. A refreshing wisp of gin and whisky delight greets you atop fresh views of the Harbour and the coast.
7 pm: Indulge in a three-course meal at QT's impressive Jana Restaurant. Explore Newcastle's surroundings through plate and palate, paired with drops of local provenance as you wine and refine at Jana’s table. A neighbourhood favourite, we gather like old friends at tables blessed with crisp local produce. Simplicity and sustainability are nestled in Newcastle, where Jana’s scents and secrets spill from the open kitchen straight through to a relaxed setting for diners to unwind. Nose to tail and cheek to cheek, this is down-to-earth dining at its best.

Saturday 16th - 4.5 hours Reviewing Performance

10 am: Group CPD session: Formal welcome, 2025 CPD requirements, mindfulness, self-compassion & critical consciousness for leadership
1115 am: Morning tea break
1130 am: Group CPD session: reviewing your biases in medicine (webinar Dr Kirsty Forrest)
1 pm: lunch at QT Hotel
2 pm: Group CPD session: Professional conversation & complete your professional development plan
4 pm: Optional heated yoga at Yoga Body Works
6 pm: Hunter Valley wine tasting at Artisanal Cellars
7 pm: Banquet share dinner at Oh My Pappa. If you are looking for a roller coaster ride of taste, you will love this meal. The chef at Oh My Papa believes food feeds the soul. They encourage a shared style of dining. Oh My Papa is an intimate gathering where people eat, drink and be merry.

Sunday 17th - 4.5 hours Measuring Outcomes

10 am: Group CPD session: Cultural Safety in Medicine (Sarah Boyne)
1115 am: Morning tea break
1130 am: Group CPD session: Cultural Safety Audit Part 1
1 pm: lunch at QT Hotel
2 pm: Group CPD session: Cultural Safety Audit Part 2
330pm: Close
4 pm: Optional heated yoga at Yoga Body Works

Guest speakers

Sarah Boyne has over 25 years of working experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health at the Local, State-wide and National levels, building the community, workforce capacity and resilience. She has developed primary, secondary and tertiary clinical and non-clinical care levels in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health services across urban, rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Sarah has co-designed and developed a number of Cultural Safety principles and frameworks by engaging Knowledge Holders, asking them, "What is cultural Safety? and "What does cultural safety look like for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workforce?". Sarah has consulted on and developed best practice community engagement principles for conducting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander consultations in a culturally safe and appropriate way. At Be Extraordinary CPD, Sarah will share her rich cultural knowledge of cultural safety, why it is crucial in medicine & how you can optimise it in your practice as a doctor. Her warm & charismatic presenting style is entertaining, endearing & highly engaging. You will love connecting with Sarah.

Professor Kirsty Forrest is Dean of Medicine at Bond University and Treasurer of the Executive Committee of Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (MDANZ). Kirsty is a Consultant Anesthetist at Gold Coast University Hospital and a Fellow of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA). She is the Chair of the Education, Development and Evaluation Committee and the Professional Practice Research Network of ANZCA. Her research focus is Medical Education, and she is co-author and editor of several best-selling medical textbooks, including ‘Understanding Medical Education: Evidence, Theory and Practice’ and ‘Healthcare Simulation at a Glance.'

The Host

Dr Susannah Ward is a Specialist Physician of Rehabilitation Medicine. She was awarded the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) fellowship Basmajian Prize in 2018. She has a special interest in wellbeing and is passionate about holistic health. She has been involved in research piloting wellness and mindfulness sessions in hospitals and was awarded the Advancement in Medicine Grant with Avant in 2018. She enjoys medical writing with several publications on health professional wellness and is a published author of the self-help book Mastering Real Wellness. In addition to her clinical work, she founded Ataraxia Collective, a health and wellness business offering doctor CPD & wellbeing retreats, well-being workshops and a blog. She is an accredited yoga teacher RYT200 with Yoga Alliance. She was a board director for the RACP 2016-2018 and is the Chair of the Member Health & Wellbeing Committee (RACP), Chair of RACP Wellbeing Advocates, & director for Mood Active a NFP that promotes exercise as a mental health intervention. Dr Ward hopes to encourage a compassionate and mindful medical culture that supports holistic health for patients and health professionals.

hello@ataraxiacollective.com

* PLEASE NOTE ATTENDANCE TO RETREAT ACTIVITIES ARE STRICTLY FOR DELEGATES ONLY. YOU ARE WELCOME TO TRAVEL & STAY WITH FAMILY & FRIENDS, BUT ALL RETREAT OFFERINGS ARE FOR THE GUEST DOCTORS ONLY. ALL ACTIVITIES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE & OPTIONAL SO IF YOU PREFER TO SKIP A SESSION OR GROUP MEAL JUST LET US KNOW. ANY QUESTIONS? FLICK US A MESSAGE HELLO@ATARAXIACOLLECTIVE.COM.AU