A message from the President of RCSI

April 2026

Dear Fellows and Members,

As many of us in Ireland recently enjoyed spending time with family and friends over the Easter holidays, it is stark to reflect on the very different circumstances facing our Fellows and Members throughout the Middle East. Along with the wider community, I am thinking of those impacted by the ongoing conflict and those who have family and loved ones in the region.

RCSI is working to support our surgical community in the region, particularly our membership examination candidates and those who are due to be conferred in July 2026. Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have specific queries.

March was a busy month with several national and international conferences taking place. RCSI was out in force at the Sylvester O’Halloran Meeting, hosted by Professor Calvin Coffey FRCSI in Limerick, where our teams from Surgical Affairs, the Fellows and Members Office and the National Surgical Research Support Centre met many of you. In addition to a wide range of research presentations and keynote lectures, the Irish Surgical Research Collaborative hosted a well-attended session.

I also attended the 50th annual Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT) Conference, which took place from the 6-8 March in Manchester where I was delighted to see strong representation of Irish surgical trainees and medical students. After taking part in a panel discussion and Q&A about surgical training, I spent the rest of Saturday morning with the Irish Surgical Training Group (ISTG) at their excellent research symposium, chaired by Emilie McCormack MRCSI, President of the ISTG, and Zakya Penny MRCSI.

Both meetings reinforced the valuable role that attendance at in-person conferences play in developing a strong and supportive surgical network. Alongside the science and the surgery, the social elements create an important opportunity for relaxed conversations and enable mentorship to flourish.

Meanwhile, I travelled stateside to attend the AIMS Summit, which took place in Chicago from 11-12 March. The AIMS Summit, organised by Peter Naughton FRCSI and Heron Rodriguez FACS, is a unique gathering that brings together leading voices from medicine, innovation, academia, technology and the humanities for conversations that are not happening anywhere else.

The highlight for me was a compelling fireside chat between Andy Dunne MISCP and Olympic champion and surgical trainee Dr Paul O’Donovan. The AIMS Summit meets again in RCSI in August, and usually sells out. Find out more about the event here.

Training in a high tech era

On the topic of innovation, it is no surprise that artificial intelligence and technology feature heavily at recent surgical meetings. It was my great pleasure to have Professor Antonino Spinelli, Professor of Surgery and Director of the General Surgery Residency Programme at Humanitas University, deliver the Johnson & Johnson Lecture at Charter Meeting.

Delivering his talk entitled 'Training in the High Tech Era: Challenges and Opportunities', Professor Spinelli argued that surgical trainees need to be trained in new technologies on an ongoing and continuous basis throughout their training. He made the case for the use of innovative and sustainable tools to enhance trainees' quality of vision and the visual environment of an operation, which he noted has always been a fundamental element of teaching and learning surgery.

In this regard, he shared some practical learnings from Humanitas University including the development of a tech solution that integrated intraoperative robotic vision along with the external robotic arms and the hands of the surgeon, which allowed multiple trainees to interact with the procedure.

He also referenced further developments such as the Blackmagic camera, which allows for immersive video at a 16k resolution. Professor Spinelli further noted the role that bodies such as RCSI have in supporting surgical trainees and surgeons to implement new technologies, but cautioned that this also requires very clear governance and regulation.

He concluded by acknowledging that tech will only go so far and that the basics of surgical training are having good clinical knowledge, practiced consistency in results, compassion, and interpersonal skills. I am pleased to share that Prof. Spinelli’s full talk can be watched here.

Fellows and Members in Australia

In the coming weeks, I will be travelling to the RACS Annual Scientific Congress, which takes place from Thursday, 30 April to Sunday, 3 May 2026 in Perth. Under the banner of 'The Art and Science of Collaboration', there is a fantastic line-up of sessions and speakers.

I am pleased to host an informal mixer for RCSI Fellows, Members, and alumni who may be attending the conference or living in the region, so please spread the word to your colleagues throughout Australia. The mixer will take place on Wednesday, 29 April at a venue in Perth City Centre (tbc) from 7-9pm and I’d be delighted to see you there. You can express an interest in receiving further details here.

Council Election 2026

I want to provide a quick reminder about the forthcoming Council Election, which will be held on Wednesday, 3 June 2026. The deadline for Fellows in Good Standing to submit their application for candidature has now passed. The full list of candidates will be published in the coming weeks, and the online voting system will go live at the end of April.

A reminder that all Fellows and Members, who are in Good Standing, will be eligible to cast their vote via the online system that will go live in April 2026. If you are not in Good Standing, you may still pay your subscription online now and in doing so, you can now avail of a pro-rata rate for the current membership year and the coming membership year ensuring you will be considered in Good Standing until 1 May 2027.

RCSI Council assumes a strong healthcare leadership and advocacy role on behalf of the wider Fellows and Members community. And so, participating in the election of Council members is an important way for individual Fellows and Members to become involved in the College and to inform the future direction of RCSI.

Yours sincerely, 

Professor Deborah McNamara
President, RCSI