Ever moving forwards

At the RCSEd we strive to champion the highest standards of surgical and dental practice, with patient safety at the forefront of what we do. It is my pleasure to share details of my year so far and to look at how we are working towards this important goal, as I have many opportunities to represent the College at a host of regional and international events throughout the calendar year, both run by the College and organised by our friends and colleagues from across the world.

In February I attended the IAGES Meeting in Coimbatore, India, where I delivered the Professor Udwadia Oration on ‘Avoiding bile duct injury during laparoscopic cholecystectomy’. Professor Udwadia was an Indian surgeon who undertook the first laparoscopic cholecystectomy in India and went on to write a book on the topic. He had many associations with the College and unfortunately passed away just before the IAGES conference took place. However, it was a great honour to deliver this oration in his honour to many of his friends and colleagues.

Later that month we held a successful Regional Forum in Belfast – my first as President of the College. During the forum we introduced our NOTSS course and presented a programme that included contributions from RCSEd Vice-President Clare McNaught, RCSEd Council Member and Chair of the Patient Safety Group Anna Paisley, two Foundation trainees from Northern Ireland and ex-international Irish rugby player Tommy Bowe. Clare shared a message during her talk that resonated with me: ‘use your privilege to benefit others’. As you read this, we will have just returned from the Kuala Lumpur forum and are now looking forward to our next forum in Aberdeen later this year.

Continuing to further ties and strengthen our relations with the international healthcare community, March commenced with a visit to London to meet the cultural attaché at the Egyptian Embassy to discuss our surgical and dental activities in Egypt. This has been followed up with further meetings with government officials from the Ministry of Education and Scientific Research.

Surgeons in training represent the future of surgery, so I was honoured to travel to Liverpool to attend the 47th Annual ASiT Conference. It was great to meet colleagues in the early stages of their career to learn more about their aspirations, concerns and how the College can support them. I enjoyed seeing the RCSEd stand full of attendees looking to have a chat or try their hand at winning one of our esteemed Eddie the Unicorn plushies.

From 16 to 26 March we had planned a visit to Hong Kong to attend various examination diets and meetings. Unexpectedly, I became unwell within 12 hours of arriving in Hong Kong, requiring emergency admission to hospital. I am grateful for the prompt assessment and management of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital team during this time. I would like to extend my gratitude to my wife and eldest son, who both travelled out to Hong Kong as soon as possible to be with me, and to the RCSEd travelling team for their care. A big thank you also to all in the College who helped continue communications and activities during my period of illness. After two weeks in the ICU, I was able to transfer back to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh for a period of recuperation, after which I had a slow, phased return to my presidential duties. I am hugely grateful for the two Vice-Presidents, Clare McNaught and Tim Graham, who covered my diary commitments and responsibilities during this time. I am happy to confirm that I am fully back to normal duties.

Heralding change

My first activity after returning to work was to host the Joint Surgical Colleges Meeting at the RCSEd with the Presidents, Vice-Presidents and CEOs of the four Colleges, together with the three joint Intercollegiate Chairs. This included a strategy afternoon considering topics such as future workforce requirements, optimising the cost of training and assessment, effective intercollegiate collaboration and maintaining professional standards. 

As we all know, there is still a lot of work to be done to improve gender equality in the workplace. The end of April saw the hugely successful AoMRC Women in Leadership Conference taking place between the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh and the RCSEd. This inaugural conference drew together an international collection of experts, inspiring role models and disruptors to celebrate women in leadership. Sessions looked at the gender pay gap in medicine, how to be an effective ally and more. It was a real inspiration to witness an event celebrating the achievements of women across the healthcare community and beyond – I hope to see more events like this over the coming years.

In May I attended the Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland International Surgical Congress in Harrogate. The meeting was a wonderful few days of plenary sessions and symposia on ‘the changing face of surgery’. It was a pleasure to introduce Vice-President Clare McNaught, who delivered the Sir Robert Shields lecture on the topic of Equality and Diversity, together with eponymous lectures for our three sister colleges, also delivered by women surgeons, a first for ASGBI. We also had a joint RCSEd Council and Senior Leadership Team strategy day in May, where we discussed future plans and ambitions for the College. Before long, it was time for the Edinburgh Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine Conference. Hosted by the College, this was a prestigious two-day event that brought together a host of prominent surgeons, physiotherapists and psychologists from the sporting world. Held in collaboration with Edinburgh Orthopaedics and the University of Edinburgh, the event welcomed experts from nine countries in the field of sports medicine. It was great to see speakers who have worked with organisations such as the International Olympic Committee, NBA, NFL and more travel from all across the world to deliver conversation-sparking sessions.

Robots and royalty

Robotics continues to be an area of development in healthcare and I am keen to ensure the College is at the forefront of this evolution, and supports the education and training of the next generation of surgeons who have safe robotic surgical skills. We continue to work collaboratively with a range of stakeholders and partners, and will look to expand this both domestically and internationally. In July I spoke at the Association of Coloproctology of Great Britain and Ireland’s 2023 Annual Meeting about ‘Developing a structured robotic training programme for Scotland’.

I had the great privilege of attending the National Service of Thanksgiving and Dedication for His Majesty King Charles III at St. Giles’ Cathedral. It was a memorable and historic day celebrating our Patron, and I was delighted to be joined by Kirsty Mozolowski, past Trainees’ Committee Member, who represented the College in the People’s Procession. During the service it was fantastic to witness Dr Srihari Vallabhajosula, Fellow of the College, blessing the King while acting as an honorary priest for the Hindu Temple of Scotland.

Highlighting opportunities for education is at the forefront of what we do as a College. We recently hosted the Confederation of Postgraduate Schools of Surgery meeting and had an excellent discussion on novel education and training initiatives. I then attended the graduation ceremony for our Edinburgh Surgery Online graduates at the University of Edinburgh, which was followed by a reception in the College’s Playfair Hall. A big congratulations to the class of 2023 for their achievements.

It has been a busy and challenging year so far. There is lots going on at the College and further afield for the remainder of the year, which I will look forward to revealing in the December issue.

Professor Rowan Parks

presidentpa@rcsed.ac.uk