Dr Guy Fisher to Present at RANZCOG Aotearoa New Zealand ASM 2026
Dr Guy Fisher will present at the RANZCOG Aotearoa New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) in Auckland in June 2026, as part of the national plenary session on endometriosis.
Dr Fisher has been invited to deliver a presentation titled "Sounding the depths: Endometriosis ultrasound scanning" in the plenary session "Endometriosis — winds of change" on Tuesday 17 June. The session brings together leading New Zealand specialists in endometriosis care, including Professor Cindy Farquhar, Dean of Research and Policy at RANZCOG, and Dr Michael Wynn-Williams, Lead of Minimally Invasive Gynaecological Surgery at Auckland City Hospital.
The presentation advances an argument that goes beyond the conventional role of ultrasound in endometriosis care. While specialist pelvic ultrasound is now well established as a diagnostic and surgical planning tool, Dr Fisher's talk proposes that — in the hands of a trained operator — the ultrasound consultation functions as something more: a patient counselling, validation, and treatment tool in itself.
For many women with endometriosis, the historical path to diagnosis has led through diagnostic laparoscopy — surgery performed not to treat, but simply to confirm. Specialist ultrasound challenges this model fundamentally. By providing accurate, non-invasive diagnosis, it removes the need for surgery as a diagnostic step entirely, reserving laparoscopy for its proper role: therapeutic intervention. Validated with a clear diagnosis, many patients can be managed effectively through non-surgical means — hormonal therapy, pain management, allied health support, and lifestyle — without ever requiring an operation. For those who do need surgery, the ultrasound findings ensure that when they go to theatre, there is a clear plan and therapeutic goal.
This shift — from surgery as a diagnostic tool to surgery as a the highest step in treatment, with clear therapeutic intent — has significant implications for how endometriosis care is structured and delivered in New Zealand. It also changes the nature of the clinical encounter itself. For many patients, the specialist ultrasound assessment is the first time they have seen direct visual evidence of a condition that has been present and painful — in some cases for a decade or more. That moment of validation, and the clarity it provides about diagnosis, management options, and realistic expectations, is itself part of the treatment.
Dr Fisher's presentation will explore how ultrasound findings shape not just surgical planning but the patient's understanding of their own condition — and how integrating this approach changes the consultation, the informed consent process, and the patient's readiness to engage with whatever management pathway follows.
Dr Fisher is the only gynaecologist in New Zealand to hold both the AGES-accredited Advanced Endoscopic Surgery Training Program (AATP) and the Diploma of Diagnostic Ultrasound (DDU), and performs specialist endometriosis ultrasound directly within consultations at his Auckland rooms at Fertility Associates, Ascot Central, Remuera.
The RANZCOG ASM is the premier annual scientific meeting for obstetricians and gynaecologists in Aotearoa New Zealand, drawing specialists, trainees, and researchers from across the country and internationally.