Triennial, travel and reflections: my final article as President

Professor Rowan Parks reflects on the end of his tenure as RCSEd President and revisits some significant College events from the past few months

By RCSEd President Professor Rowan Parks

This will be my last President’s Welcome for Surgeons’ News before I demit office in November, ending my three-year term as President. It has been an amazing privilege and honour to have served in this role and I will leave with many happy experiences and memories. 

It will likely take some time to fully reflect on what has been achieved over this time but, during my term, we have seen a huge surge in membership, made several key clinical and staff appointments, approved new laws and regulations and appointed a Shadow Trustee Board. We also launched a Surgical Education Research and Innovation (SERI) hub, released a new Code of Conduct, opened two new regional/international offices, launched a remarkable Women in Surgery Exhibition in our museum and signed numerous MoUs/MoAs. In addition, by the time of the AGM, we will have implemented a major governance reform. An amazing team effort.

I am absolutely delighted that Dr Clare McNaught has been elected as the next President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. This is a notable milestone in the rich heritage of our College as Clare will be the first female President in our 520-year history. Clare has served the College tirelessly for more than a decade, including as a member of Council, editor of Surgeons’ News, Honorary Secretary and Vice-President. She has a passion for everything the College stands for, including education and training, assessment, professional development, and maintenance of high-quality standards in surgical care. I wish her every success and trust that she will enjoy the experience as much as I have over the past three years. 

An illustrious event 

In my previous piece for this magazine, one of the events I highlighted that I was most looking forward to was the Triennial Conference, held in collaboration with the International Conference on Surgical Education and Training (ICOSET). Under the theme ‘A World of Innovation’, the 2025 Triennial conference took place from 4 to 6 June and was an outstanding scientific meeting, focusing on innovation in surgical education and training, service delivery and technological advances.

Attendees learned about a number of crucial concepts for surgeons, including strategies for building resilience and preventing burnout, leadership in austere environments, balancing humanity with the use of AI, learning from elite sports, as well as exploring how the College’s contribution to innovation has evolved over time.

I wish to pay tribute to Professor Alex Phillips, Director of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers, and Miss Anna Paisley, Chair of the ICOSET/Triennial Steering Group, who put together such a fantastic conference and social programme. All of the speakers were outstanding and the contributions from those who presented posters and short papers added to a remarkably educational and scientific event.

The social activities during the Triennial itinerary included a ceilidh (a traditional Scottish gathering including music and dancing) for all our international visitors and delegates, celebrating the College’s roots in Scotland and offering a unique opportunity to network and enjoy some fun with fellow attendees. After a busy few days, the week ended with the Triennial dinner, the memories of which will stay with me for the rest of my life. It was a fantastic evening and great to share with so many friends and colleagues from around the world. Feedback has been incredible, with great interaction, networking and opportunities to collaborate further with numerous international partners.

Final travels as President

Shortly afterwards, I represented the College at the annual scientific congress of the College of Surgeons, Academy of Medicine of Malaysia, which was held in the Borneo Convention Centre, Kuching. From there, I joined other office bearers and staff for a series of very productive meetings and activities in Cairo, Egypt. This included formalising many of our core activities in Egypt as well as a wonderful diploma ceremony, where we recognised and celebrated the success of more than 100 new diplomats.

June ended with a lot of College committee meetings and activities, the highlight of which was the launch of our Global CARE initiative, formerly known as the Global Surgery Foundation (GSF). Standing for ‘Creating Access to Resources and Education’, Global CARE works to provide sustainable surgical and dental care in communities that are otherwise unable to meet demand. Global CARE supports three main areas of activity: projects in low- and middle-income countries, individual training support and RCSEd-led educational activities. As of January 2025, £117,027 had been distributed across several exciting projects. To read more about the launch of Global CARE, turn to page 38.

In July, I attended the 50th anniversary meeting of the Royal College of Surgeons of Thailand. The meeting was held in Pattaya, Chonburi Province. I gave several talks and had the opportunity to engage with many of our friends and colleagues from Thailand during their golden anniversary celebrations. 

Partaking in College-led activities

This year’s Surgical Forum, with all the UK and Ireland Surgical Colleges, Specialty Associations and Trainee Organisations, was hosted by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The event focused on three main themes: wellbeing, AI and same-day emergency care surgery. The presentations were outstanding and the discussions were extremely stimulating and very thought-provoking. There is no doubt that AI will play an increasingly important role in future College activities, and the discussion around the potential benefits – but also the risks – was extremely helpful as we progress the appropriate development and use of such innovations. We continue to discuss the use of AI in the College, and its application to a wide range of activities will be closely monitored and assessed as we move forward.

As a College, we have put significant effort and resources into developing our SupportEd section on our website. I am grateful for the input of Council member Claire Edwards and others in developing this support hub, which provides useful resources and signposting for all members of the surgical team. It is split into two sections – one for individuals and one for organisations – and I would encourage all our members and Fellows to explore the website and resources available.

In the midst of a busy few months, it was great to get a short period of annual leave to enjoy some time at my favourite location, beautiful Loch Lomond in the west of Scotland. But things weren’t quiet for long. As I write this, I have just returned from a meeting of the Brazilian College of Surgeons in Rio de Janeiro, where I delivered several talks and was honoured to receive their International Honorary Membership. Next stop will be Malaysia for two diets of College exams, another international diploma ceremony in Kuala Lumpur, and the grand opening of our new office in Putrajaya, Malaysia. We are delighted that the official opening of the office will be undertaken by His Royal Highness Tuanku Muhriz Ibni Almarhum Tuanku Munawir. 

My diary for the last couple of months of my term are already packed with domestic and international activity but I am extremely hopeful that, by the time of the handover in November, we will have received final approval of our new governance arrangements and an updated Royal Charter. We will also have new Office Bearers and new additions to our College Council. 

Finally, I would like to pay tribute to a phenomenal Office Bearer team, a wonderful Council and committed Senior Leadership Team, who have been simply amazing over the past three years. I couldn’t have wished for a better OB team – they have worked incredibly hard, provided immense support to me personally and have been totally focused on serving the College. Likewise, the elected members of Council have been committed, collaborative and, appropriately, have brought challenge and constructive input to discussions and debates. Their involvement and willingness to lead on projects and initiatives has ensured numerous activities, events and policies have developed and been delivered over the past three years. I am extremely grateful to our CEO, Mark Egan, the Senior Leadership Team and our wonderful staff for their dedication and enthusiasm in ensuring our College remains agile and dynamic in leading on our core business as well as numerous novel initiatives. 

It has been a privilege serving as College President and I hope that I will be able to continue contributing in some little way to the ongoing activities of this remarkable institution in the coming months and years.