On 1 November, the West Midlands Surgical Society (WMSS), with the support of RCSEd, held its second biannual meeting at Walsall Manor Hospital. Since 1952, the WMSS meetings have provided a platform for guest lectures and scientific presentations. This meeting had more than 100 registered delegates, including representation from local hospitals and medical schools in the West Midlands in addition to regions across England and Scotland. After 142 abstracts had been submitted, 40 high-quality abstracts were selected for the oral and poster sessions. Successful presenters included medical students and foundation doctors, as well as core and specialty trainees. Owing to the pan-specialty nature of the society, presentations included a wide range of clinical research and audits, ranging from the evaluation of robotic orthopaedic surgery to the institutional barriers faced by women in surgery.

This meeting gave current and prospective surgical trainees the opportunity to network and gain invaluable career insight from seniors. The invited guest speakers included two remarkable Consultant Surgeons in the West Midlands, both of whom are RCSEd Fellows. The first guest speaker, Colonel Alistair Mountain, is a Military Consultant in Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery at the Royal Stoke University Hospital. With extensive experience of major trauma in the UK and active conflicts abroad, Colonel Mountain shared personal reflections of his entry into and progression during an impressive military surgical career.

Strategies to promote wellbeing were discussed by the second guest speaker, Ananda Kumar Dhanasekaran, a Consultant Urological Surgeon at Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust. Mr Dhanasekaran’s dedication to education and training is demonstrated through his role as an Honorary Clinical Educator at the University of Aston. In his talk, he explained the neuroscientific basis of mindfulness in supporting mental health and wellbeing. Additional talks were delivered by resident doctors, who shared experiences of setbacks in their progression to surgical training, highlighting alternative opportunities for career development through non-training posts. The choice to include these subjects was made after feedback from previous junior attendees.

In keeping with WMSS tradition, the society showed its sincerest gratitude to the outgoing President, Brian Isgar. Mr Isgar’s support has been invaluable to WMSS over the past year, through close committee collaboration to deliver meetings and the support of a national essay competition with the West Midlands Foundation Trainee Surgical Society. Mr Isgar expressed his thanks to the society and graciously assisted in passing the WMSS President’s medal to the incoming president, Charles Hendrickse. Like his predecessors, Mr Hendrickse has contributed significantly to surgical care in the West Midlands, gaining a Sheldon Research Fellowship for his research into colorectal cancer and subsequently achieving a postdoctorate degree from the University of Birmingham. Since entering higher surgical training, he has worked in the West Midlands and currently works as a General and Colorectal Surgeon at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust. 

As the society looks forward to its next meeting, WMSS would like to show its sincere gratitude to colleagues at RCSEd, who have accredited WMSS meetings with CPD points and supported its advertisement, registration, abstract submission, certificates and prizes. The remote presence of RCSEd has undoubtedly enabled the event to attract delegates and presenters from far beyond the West Midlands, underlining its core principles of approachability, inclusivity and innovation. Finally, WMSS would like to extend its thanks to the committee for its continued hard work, along with a special mention to the Honorary Secretary, Sriram Rajagopalan, for his unwavering enthusiasm and dedication in supporting junior committee members.