Raising the lid on the impactful work of the Surgical Society, President's Timon Girgis and Rafal Latif presented the society’s Mentorship Programme on the national stage of the Royal College of Surgeons’ (RCS) Future Surgeons Forum.
Timon Girgis and Rafal Latif delivered an update to the Forum on their society’s mentoring and shadowing activities, and had the opportunity to network with surgical societies from across the country.
Timon and Rafal spoke to us about how they found the Forum and how it shaped their view of the future of surgery.
What was the most memorable takeaway from attending the Future Surgeons Forum?
"We were really excited to have been invited by the RCS for the Future Surgeons Forum.
"Getting to meet like-minded medical students, each of them Presidents of their respective surgical societies, was truly inspiring and we can’t wait until we meet them again in March for the second forum in London. Whether they had four committee members or 49, each society had something to show for their hard work."
How did the Future Surgeons Forum impact your perspective on the future of surgery?
"The talks given to us by surgeons and doctors at various stages of their training really gave us insight into how surgery has changed over the years and how this may impact the career pathways we will one day take.
"They also highlighted the impact of AI on training, the usage of robotic surgery and moving to less invasive techniques to achieve similar outcomes."
Can you share some highlights from your presentation at the forum? What aspects of the Surgical Society’s activities and future plans were most well received by the attendees?
"We had the opportunity to share the success of our inaugural year of the Surgical Society's Mentorship Programme. This was particularly well received by the attendees and the RCS representatives as this initiative has been shown to greatly impact those applying to surgical training.
"Our shadowing schemes across 5 specialities and counting is another highlight, bringing students at City St George’s more opportunities to see their preferred specialities."
What were some of the key challenges or opportunities discussed at the Future Surgeons Forum?
"The RCS England have been very supportive, in particular having accredited our annual national conference with 7 CPD points in 2024. This was particularly exciting as we were the first of only two universities in the UK to be awarded these CPD points."
"Key challenges included reduced time for trainees in theatres and high competition ratios for jobs."
Looking ahead, how do you plan to integrate the insights and support from the Royal College of Surgeons into the development of St George's Surgical Society?
"We endeavour to apply for accreditation for this year’s conference, keep working with other surgical societies across London, expand our shadowing scheme to more specialities and continue to grow our mentorship programme!"
This story was originally published on the Student Hub for St George's, University of London, website in December 2024.