Surgical Society: President

Hey! My name’s Ash and I want to be your new Surgical Society President! I've spent years building my leadership skills and I hope that my ideas can help encourage the next generation of surgical society members to pursue surgery with confidence. 

My 4 goals for the next year:

EXPAND SHADOWING SCHEMES - Liase with surgical nurses and other surgical staff to get more shadowing opportunities. Surgical shadowing schemes are always useful on portfolios but the skills you can learn from the other members of the interdisciplinary team cannot be underestimated. This experience would also make it easier in the future to find surgeons willing to let you shadow them. 

COLLATE RESOURCES ACROSS ALL SOCIETIES- Creating a thorough document of all opportunities available and what you can do in every step of your medical career, to boost your chances of becoming a surgeon. 

GET A MENTOR, BE A MENTOR - As the first female vascular surgeon said 'lift as you climb'. By setting you up with a mentor a closer in career position, and you vowing to become a mentor to someone younger, a large chain of medics is created. This way information everyone gets the best and relevant advice.

MAKE YOUR OWN EXPERIENCE - Provide a robust support system for students to run their own audits and research projects which not only is necessary for CST portfolios but is also perfect to recruit younger year students to build up experience earlier on in their careers. 

As Vice president this year, I have learned an enormous amount about what the role of president entails.  This year I worked tirelessly to:

• Lead a team of 13 to organise Surgical society’s biggest event of the year, iNUGSC over 2 days. We saw our most innovative workshops yet, world renowned speakers and dynamic panel discussions.  

• Continue the legacy of our widening participation schemes by ensuring sixth formers from WP backgrounds attend iNUGSC for free, on a dedicated program.  

• Set up the Surgical Career’s Support Grant, which helps widen access to surgical careers by addressing the RCS’s conclusions about the relationship between socioeconomic status and career outcomes for aspiring surgeons.  

• Maintain our network of surgeons, alumni and members.  

As President, I pledge to continue the legacy of surgical society by:

• Ensuring that we have regular clinical skills sessions throughout the year tailored to all year groups. 

• Increasing the number of students that are able to attend our shadowing scheme. 

• Working together with conference leads and speciality chairs to produce award winning events.   

• Having committee merchandise available to purchase for our members. 

Hi, I’m Amit, current Treasurer, past Secretary, and hopefully your next President!

My Skills and Experience:

• Correspondence between the wider SurgSoc team and the Student’s Union to facilitate our events/conferences.
• Ability to overcome the countless administrative hurdles faced by this.
• Acquired the skills to ensure efficient running of the society, making the lives of our committee easier and delivering high quality events/opportunities for our members.

My aims for next year:

• Work collaboratively with the different specialty chairs to ensure each is equally represented, allowing you to explore all areas of surgery.
• Provide practical opportunities contributing towards your surgical portfolio:
  • Helping you gain access to research projects/audit opportunities.
  • Providing opportunities for prizes such as through essay competitions.
  • Running various high-quality skills courses accredited by RCS.
• Become more student-centred and gain feedback from members to organise more events that you enjoy/ find most beneficial.
• Inspire and encourage more students to take an interest in surgery and consider a surgical career.
• Bridge the barrier between students and surgeons by providing networking opportunities and Q&A sessions.

I’m dedicated to the work we do as a society, shown through my past commitment, and as your next President, I will further raise the standards and lead our society into another successful year.

I’m Sharika and I’d love to be your next President!

As Education Officer and O&G Chair I have dedicated 4 years to SurgSoc. Leading the Education Subcommittee, we’ve executed more events than any other subspecialty with vast outreach across all years.

Including:

Speciality talks

Pre-clinical & clinical tutorials

OSCE teaching sessions

Anatomy & Surgical Sciences iBSc Mentoring Schemes

Delivering 24 events and 2 mentoring schemes for approximately 1500 students by liaising with numerous surgeons and tutors, through my years on committee I have developed a realistic understanding of this prestigious role’s workload whilst refining the necessary leadership skills required to guide an upcoming committee to achieve new heights.

My 3-Point-Plan:

1. Opportunity

Hosting a networking dinner

Running a hands-on Surgical Skills Day Series

Implementing a Research Matching Scheme + group portfolio sessions

2. Inclusivity

Boosting morale & welfare through team-building activities

Increasing outreach by opening events to sixth-forms and limited access groups

3. Innovation

Future-focused: collaborating with UCL MedTech, new ‘Innovations Chair’ & exploring VR + AI in surgery

Improving engagement & efficacy through blended in-person & online events

As an ambitious 4th year who has grown and cultivated my interests within this society, I endeavour to use my enthusiasm and drive to build upon the established legacy of our reputable society, leading members to success in their future surgical

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