A message from the President of RCSI

4 July 2024

Dear Fellows and Members,

It has been a few short but busy weeks since the last edition of Surgical Bulletin.

In mid-June, the first meeting of the newly elected RCSI Council provided an opportunity to receive an update on the results of the Fellows and Members census and allowed Council to discuss key issues and planned initiatives, which range from policy development to peer support to enhancing connections across the surgical community.

Defining clinical governance for surgery

In my June letter, I emphasised the important role of RCSI in defining best practice as well as outlining several priority areas for my presidency. Surgery has been to the fore in promoting clinical audit as a mechanism of quality assurance. For surgeons working in Ireland, the recent pivot in our health service towards a regionalised structure and the introduction of new infrastructure for scheduled care such as surgical hubs and elective hospitals are important changes that our clinical governance frameworks must adapt to. For this reason, it is timely to capture the voice and the expertise of the surgical community in defining best practice in clinical governance for surgery in this new era.

Over the summer, we will develop a project plan to make progress on this challenging area and over the next two years, will create space for a conversation on this important subject within our community. I am very grateful to one of our senior Council Members, Mr David Moore (FRCSI), for leading this body of work and to our Council for their support to ensure that every specialty and every region is included.

Peer network for early career fellows

Over the last number of years, I’ve listened to and heard the challenges faced by younger surgeons especially during the interval between undertaking Fellowship examinations and the early years of independent practice. While completing surgical training is a cause for celebration, undertaking an international Fellowship and starting a career as a consultant surgeon can be daunting.

As President, I can assure you that the College is committed to building a supportive community for our newest Fellows in order to help you to thrive in your practices. In this regard, in the coming months, we will formalise structures for an RCSI-supported peer network that will enable our newest Fellows to collaborate with one another and with our College. We plan to formally update you on our progress at the Millin Meeting on 8 November.

As a first step, at our most recent conferring last Monday, the Council and I hosted a reception for our new Fellows and their families to celebrate their achievements and welcome them to Fellowship. An enjoyable afternoon, it provided a tangible way for our newest Fellows to develop connections and grow their network.

Connecting with the community

In the last few weeks, I have met with many members of our existing surgical network as well as celebrating the newest members of our community both in Ireland and internationally.

The summer months are synonymous with conferring ceremonies for our surgical Fellows and Members. These events are a culmination of an incredible amount of hard work, dedication and determination and reflect our community’s commitment to the surgical profession and the patients we care for.

On Sunday, 9 June I was delighted to be present in Penang, Malaysia to recognise and celebrate the achievements of 38 newly conferred Members of RCSI and one recipient of an RCSI Fellowship. More recently, on Monday, 1 July, the Desmond Auditorium in 26 York Street witnessed the conferring of 48 Fellows and 206 Members, of whom 38 Fellows and 96 Members were present in-person at the ceremony with others joining the live stream online.

While over 10,000 kilometres apart, the atmosphere at both events bore striking similarities – a sense of achievement, a palpable excitement for the future and a feeling of gratitude toward family and friends. Our newest community members are pursuing this hugely demanding profession at a time when health services worldwide are under unprecedented strain. I feel confident that the more experienced members of our surgical community will continue to support, mentor and advocate for younger colleagues and, in return, I know that we will benefit immensely from their enthusiasm, energy and innovation.

In addition to the recent Conferring ceremonies, in the past few weeks I travelled to RCSI Bahrain and had the chance to meet with several of our Fellows and Members. I also enjoyed connecting with alumni of RCSI’s International Fellowship Programme, who have completed their training in Ireland and since returned to practice in Saudi Arabia. Meanwhile, closer to home, I was delighted to meet with some of our UK-based Fellows and Members who were present when I spoke at the President’s Session of the Annual Meeting of the British Association of Urology, which was held in Birmingham on 24 June.

It is fair to say that no matter where I travelled to in the last month, I always found myself in the company of one of our Fellows and Members. It reinforced the breadth of the RCSI community and the benefits it brings. As mentioned last month, we recently conducted our annual ‘census’ and I am pleased to report that we currently have 7,042 contactable Fellows and Members living and practising in 76 countries worldwide from Australia to Yemen. This network is an invaluable source of professional and collegiate support right through from surgical training to retirement. I encourage you to stay in contact and to explore the range of practical benefits and resources available via the new Fellows and Members Portal.

Looking ahead

Plans are already well underway for two of RCSI’s annual flagship events: the Millin Meeting on 8 November 2024 and Charter Week in early February 2025.

Our morning session at this year’s Millin Meeting will provide a platform to spotlight the importance of surgical research, and will focus on Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) in surgical research. We will be joined by two renowned surgeons to deliver the keynote talks at the meeting: Ms Ayesha Noorani, Consultant Oesophagogastric Surgeon, Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge & Cancer Research UK Clinician Scientist, Sanger Institute, University of Cambridge; and Dr Ori Rotstein, Vice-President of Research and Innovation, Unity Health Toronto, and Professor and Associate Chair of the Department of Surgery, University of Toronto.

Furthermore, RCSI’s National Surgical Research Support Centre (NSRSC) is currently seeking abstracts for presentations at the Research Symposium. In addition, this year we will host an RCSI Fellows and Members Networking Breakfast at the start of the day – providing an opportunity for you to come together and connect. Last but not least, the highlight of our Millin Meeting is the Millin Lecture, so don’t forget that the application process is open until 31 August. Further details about the Millin Meeting are available here, while the programme for Charter Week will be released in the coming months.

Finally, mindful that many of you will be taking some well-deserved leave over the summer months, I hope you enjoy the break and make the most of the chance to spend some downtime with family and friends.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Deborah McNamara

RCSI President

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