Time to invest in yourself

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Maria Boland, Katie Hurst, Emma Howie, Morven Allan, Fatima Mansour and Waheeb Al-Azzani
on behalf of the Trainees’ Committee

T rainees’ Committee Wellbeing Week returned in March in a slightly different and impressive format. As it started during the pandemic, until this year it had more or less been a virtual event. This year we decided to collaborate with ASiT and had two live breakout sessions at the national ASiT Conference in Bournemouth.

Four exciting speakers travelled to Bournemouth to give talks on dealing with stress and burnout and sexual harassment in surgery.

For the burnout session, three speakers treated us to a fantastic hour. Ali Esmaeili, a plastic surgeon and Trustee at Doctors in Distress, described his own journey and emphasised how important morale is for the NHS, sharing some of his work relating to improving catering facilities for NHS workers. Doctors in Distress is a charity focused on promoting and protecting the mental health of healthcare workers in the UK.

Professor Kevin Turner then spoke about his work on how adverse events affect us as surgeons, introducing his work on peer support. Finally, we received a mindfulness session from Claire Sankey, who gave an evidence-based introduction to mindfulness, then led a short session. We all felt less stressed after that.

Sexual misconduct

After the shocking Working Party on Sexual Misconduct report, Breaking the Silence, sexual harassment has been at the front of our minds and we are all keen to ensure that this behaviour stops. We were honoured to have Rosalind Searle, Professor in Human Resource Management and Organisational Psychology, spend an hour talking about how to change the culture in the workplace and giving us an insight into the psychology behind a sexual predator. We also heard from Council Members Clare McNaught and Chris Caddy about experiences in their working lives. The session was well attended and the conversations following could have gone on all day.

Finally, we enjoyed a short talk as part of the ASiT Redefining Culture in Surgery session, where we explored the idea of alternative Fellowships more suited to the modern trainee.

Wellbeing Week made a guest appearance at the ASiT Conference 2024 in Bournemouth

Money matters

Three virtual webinars followed the ASiT conference. The first focused on finances as a doctor, very topical given the current strikes in England and the rising cost of living. The session was delivered by two speakers: Wendy Baillie from Wesleyan covered effective ways to save, financial protection, mortgages and pensions; and Ray Monkhouse, a trauma and orthopaedic consultant from Leeds, explained payslips, tax codes and informed money decisions.

Much of this information is unknown, misunderstood or feels too complex for many medics, and is often something we avoid. This webinar helped us to understand the things we can do now that will make a difference. Reducing financial burden undoubtedly improves wellbeing.

It has never been a more important time to be money savvy and protect our future. We learned that every year you delay saving equates to six years of financial catch-up. Among many tips, we learned that, as a trainee, if you and your partner were to put £100 a month into a savings account, you would have a nest egg close to £100,000 at retirement.

The second part of the financial support package is a Money Medics podcast, which is available on the RCSEd website.

Different tack

Out of Programme – Doing Something Different was an informative session in which four new consultants/senior trainees talked about research opportunities, leadership years and short travelling Fellowships as other options to boost your CV rather than a traditional year away.

Our final virtual session was designed to branch out to international colleagues and cover aspects of wellbeing close to their hearts. After discussion with trainees in Malaysia, it was apparent that work-life balance was something they wished to address. There is no European Working Time Directive in Asia, meaning trainees find it hard to draw a line between work and play.

This webinar was hosted by Lenny Suryani Safri, an academic vascular surgeon at Hospital Canselor Tuanku Muhriz; Professor Dato’ Dr Hanafiah Bin Harunarashid, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the National University of Malaysia and a professor of surgery; Stuart Clark, consultant in oral and maxillofacial surgery in central Manchester, Member of RCSEd Council and Council Lead for the International Postgraduate Deanery; and Katie Hurst, general surgery registrar in the Oxford Deanery and Chair of the RCSEd Trainees’ Committee.

During the hour we reviewed the differences and similarities between eastern and western practices when it comes to creating balance. Mental health is imperative for trainees and surgeons – we can learn a lot from best practices both here and abroad.

We hope all our Members and Fellows enjoyed Wellbeing Week. If you missed it, all of the webinars are available on the College website. Wellbeing Week will return in 2025, and ideas or requests are always welcome – email comms@rcsed.ac.uk