Surgical Society: Neurosurgery Chair

Hi! My name is Julia and I want to be your next Neurosurgery Chair. My main aim is to improve our community, help our members develop their knowledge of neurology & neurosurgery, and get you guys excited for your future neuro-careers.

I’m fascinated by neurology & neurosurgery and am constantly trying to find new ways to develop my knowledge in these fields. From being a peer reviewer at a student neuro-magazine “Neurosphere” to taking part in surgical conferences, workshops, and summer courses, I have been actively searching for knowledge and opportunities for growth.

In the last year, I have been involved in organizing the UCL Leaders conference, where I was responsible for the Science and Technology panel. I learned a lot about organizing large-scale events, communicating with potential speakers and finding topics of interest for the participants.

I enjoyed the initiatives undertaken by this year’s committee, and next year I want to continue the lecture series, expanding it by creating more interactive workshop opportunities.

Moreover, I want to organize shadowing opportunities within the neuro-departments, to enable the students to experience these specialities firsthand.

I want to chair a committee where everyone will be able to find a place for themselves, to either prepare for their future careers in neurology or neurosurgery, expand their knowledge of the field or just try out something new.

I’m excited to start my work with you soon! See you at society events;)

I am standing for the role of the neurosurgical chair because I am enthusiastic about neurosurgery and want to use that energy to shape the direction of the society and guide its members towards the most important and relevant topics in the field. Events such as hot topics in research and promoting diversity and inclusivity within the field; as well continuing the successful lecture series and symposium would remain my priority. Though within the year I am hoping to build the foundations for a neurosurgical based volunteering program, which would allow members to contribute to the local community and round out their skills necessary for being a surgeon. Having spent time as a neurosurgical Core Committee member I am aware of the responsibilities, and my role as the Welfare Lead for the UK Medical Students Association has made me confident that I would be a suitable fit for the role. My passion for the field, leadership skills, advocacy experience, and desire to create a positive neurosurgical exposure and experience for our members, makes me sure I would be a great fit for neurosurgical chair. 

I have been an active member of the committee as a media officer this year as well as holding a committee position for the Medical Society’s neurology subcommittee and have a few ideas on how to continue the good work of this committee and streamline it for next year. Next year I am also taking an iBSc in clinical neurology which would accompany the role perfectly.

My aims and ideas:

- institute a new role in the committee for technical support as this has caused issues in the past year

- hopefully continuing the brain symposium event with planning starting earlier in the year

- a potential for a neuroanatomy reviews alongside other societies for second and clinical years

Things I will uphold:

- continued collaboration with other societies to create varied hybrid events

- creating a template at the beginning of the year for clear and recognisable branding 

I am organised, dedicated and have a huge passion for the brain which I hope to be able to utilise within this committee role. 

As aspiring surgeons, we both have a great interest in the field of Neurosurgery. Attending the ‘Journey through the Encephalon’ talks has furthered this interest as we gained an appreciation of intricacies and challenges of the specialty. So, as co-chairs we aim to continue encouraging students to learn more about Neurosurgery and its multifaceted nature. 

Primarily, we hope to hold a Conference to offer opportunities for students to interact with Neurosurgery in a variety of ways. For example, having workshops delivered by surgeons would be an exciting way to get more insight into the practical aspects of the career. This would be complemented with talks ranging from research to CST applications to give attendees a more informed idea of the academic side of Neurosurgery. Additionally, we hope to encourage discussions between attendees and surgeons, whether that be through Speed Mentoring or networking events during the conference.

Throughout the year we would like to carry out tutorials, some aimed at specific years and some open to all years, to consolidate learning and refresh knowledge. We are also keen to run enrichment sessions in collaboration with other societies such as neurology or neuroscience to broaden appreciation and knowledge of the brain through a neurosurgical viewpoint. With these events we hope that students of all years and degrees can come together to learn with each other and have conversations over a shared interest.

Hey everyone! My name is Jackson and I will be intercalating in Neuroscience next year for my iBSC. As a core-committee member of the Neurosurgery Division of UCL SurgSoc, I have gained invaluable experience in organising the current Brain Symposium, and I aim to build upon my experience and bring some exciting new changes to UCL NeuroSurgSoc by running as the Neurosurgery Chair. Specifically, I hope to achieve the following:

1. Host a two-day in-person Brain Symposium, focusing on neurosurgical skills. This event will give students an opportunity to learn more about neurosurgery and potentially experience clinical surgical techniques on the brain, such as burr hole drilling and surgical microscopy.
2. Promote shadowing opportunities in Neurosurgery. I understand that neurosurgery is a competitive yet exciting field, and it is often challenging to shadow busy neurosurgeons. Therefore, I aim to collaborate with the shadowing officer to create opportunities to shadow neurosurgeons at UCLH and Queen’s Square by contacting them.
3. Organise regular neuroanatomy tutorial sessions for pre-clinical students to revise and refine their knowledge. NSB is one of the most complex modules in the pre-clinical course, and I have found tutorials from older years to be extremely helpful. I aim to organise tutorial sessions where senior students can pass on their knowledge of specific areas to focus on and revision tips.

Thank you and I hope I have your vote!

Hi everyone! I’m Zenel, a 5th year student, and I am standing for Neurosurgery Chair to build upon the amazing foundations created by the previous neurosurgery committees and inspire enthusiasm in neurosurgery.

Neurosurgery is a highly complex and challenging specialty driven by cutting-edge research that medical students rarely get exposure to. I firmly believe in using our Surgical Society to promote exciting student opportunities in this fascinating field.

As the current ASiT ambassador and through experiences in UCL AcaMedics committee and Cardiothoracics subcommittee, I believe I have developed the necessary leadership and teamwork skills to organise and run a variety of neurosurgical events.

My main goals as Neurosurgery Chair will be:

• Working with groups such as NANSIG and ASiT to create a ‘Neurosurgical Skills Day’ where students will experience an exciting day of talks, workshops and CV advice to help cultivate the next generation of budding neurosurgeons.
• Developing a Research-focused webinar series to help guide medical students into the difficult and often scary field that is research in neurosurgery.
• Continue the amazing ‘Journey through the Encephalon’ lecture series with interesting subspecialty talks and a focus on the future of surgical innovation in neurosurgery.
• Continue participation of UCL neurosurgery in the ‘Neuroanatomy collaborative’ pan-London scheme.

Thank you for reading this and I would be grateful to become the next Neurosurgery Chair!

Running events as neurosurgery core committee taught me the leadership skills and logistics behind organising events/conferences, inspiring individuals to pursue this amazing field. This introduced me to my role models and sparked my enthusiasm for the brain. Working in numerous societies (National Medical Research Association, WinS, RUMS RAG and UCLWMS) gave me experience across multiple disciplines, from finance to education, necessary to lead a team of like-minded people. Working as a team to organise Brain symposium, WinS and International Space Medicine conferences motivates me to lead a neurosurgery specialty conference. As Neurosurgery Chair, I wish to share my passion for neurosurgery with others and inspire more students to pursue this challenging yet rewarding field in the same way I was. Undertaking a Neuroscience iBSc strengthens my desire to pursue neurosurgery. It provides me with contacts necessary to organise talks with neurosurgeons from different backgrounds to improve accessibility and inclusivity in neurosurgery. Receiving neurosurgery mentorship and being a mentor through teaching empowered me and taught me the resilience required to dream big. Hence, I aspire to work with outreach to create a mentorship scheme. Conducting numerous research projects, such as DBS for refractory OCD and Risk of Aneurysm Rupture Study, showed me how a hypothesis translates to clinical practice. Hence, I wish to promote academic neurosurgery by creating research initiatives.