Getting off to a flying start

New College President Professor Rowan Parks on his commitment to ‘Making it Better’, enhancing training opportunities and strengthening international links

The passing of the reins from one President to the next can be seen as a flawless transition from one leader to another and, while it can be a traumatic time, I must thank our Past President, Mike Griffin, for making this a comfortable handover.

His support during this time has been invaluable. The College and I thank him for his stewardship over these last four years, guiding us through one of the most difficult healthcare challenges of our age. My first two months as RCSEd President have gone by in a whirlwind as I delved head first into a diary full of College activities and events from the outset. Following the College’s annual general meeting, when I took office,

I travelled down to London to attend the Future Surgery Show on 15 and 16 November. One of the largest surgical conferences of the year, this was an excellent event, with expert speakers discussing the challenges facing our workforce as well as celebrating new advancements and surgical innovations.

During the conference I also had the opportunity to discuss the College’s focus on ‘Making It Better’, a term coined for the College’s 2022 Triennial/ICOSET Conference, which perfectly summarises what we, the College, are working towards as we aim to improve the working lives of surgeons and the wider healthcare community.

Going Global

My next commitment was to bolster our bonds with the international healthcare community. Along with Professor Mike Griffin and Past Honorary Secretary Dr Judy Evans, I journeyed to the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka to support our existing partnership, train examiners and contribute to the scientific programme. It was a great honour to be awarded their Honorary Fellowship, presented to me by Past President of the Sri Lankan College Dr Jayindra Fernando.

Shortly thereafter, Past VicePresident Pala Rajesh joined Mike and I to visit the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA), where we engaged with our partners, including the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the American College of Surgeons. The visit gave us the opportunity to support the evolution of COSECSA’s assessment and examination processes while celebrating 148 new graduates, including a number from our own Edinburgh Surgery Online courses, a partnered Master’s programme with the University of Edinburgh.

A true highlight at the end of this year was the RCSEd’s annual Festive President’s Drinks Reception in the Fellows’ Library. This offered the opportunity to thank friends of the College for their ongoing support over the past year and discuss areas of collaboration for the year ahead for the benefit of our Members and the healthcare community. This was a moment of celebration with friends and colleagues that has been greatly missed over the past few years.

Finally, I spent a tremendous few days with the Association of Surgeons of India (ASI) in Mumbai, having the honour of being awarded an Honorary Fellowship. During this visit I also had the opportunity to deliver a talk on management of biliary complications following HPB surgery at ASICON 2022. It was great to meet and congratulate the new Fellows at the conference, hear the experiences of healthcare conditions in India, and continue to foster the bonds of collaboration and knowledge sharing with our international peers.

The new year started with a visit to the College of Physicians and

Surgeons Pakistan conference in Karachi, where I delivered a talk on ‘Changing Paradigms in Postgraduate Medical Education’, was chief guest at their 55th convocation ceremony and was awarded their Honorary Fellowship.

I have just returned from Dumfries House having seen the incredible work of the Prince’s Foundation. This included visiting its wellbeing centre and getting an introduction to the innovative and inspiring education programmes that range from traditional arts and crafts to horticulture and farming.

The purpose of these education and training programmes is to support learners of all ages with experiential, hands-on activities and provides many parallels to core functions of the College in terms of offering opportunities for the development of skills and knowledge. The day ended with a private dinner with His Majesty the King, our Patron.

Future Ambitions

As we’ve now entered a new year, my key focus will be to continue making it better for healthcare workers and patients, particularly as we continue to face challenges in staff retention and workforce planning. We will continue to work across the College and through our Policy team to lobby government and push for change to do all we can to support a workforce that is still in recovery from the pandemic. We will also work with key partners to enhance training opportunities for those progressing in their surgical career. One such example is our work with the maker of the Da Vinci robots, Intuitive, to start a robotics training programme in Scotland for surgical trainees in selected specialties. This builds on the previous training already having taken place in the clinical skills laboratories within the College, and demonstrates our commitment to continued innovation in surgical practice and training.

I believe that with a superb team and Council behind me the College can and will carry on the fabulous work of the last administration and truly make a difference for young doctors, surgeons and our patients.

Professor Rowan Parks president@ rcsed.ac.uk