Member Article

Bristol Student Wins Surgical Skills Competition

Scalpels were drawn in an interactive, one-of-a-kind, national surgical skills competition run by Britain’s oldest Royal Surgical college as the contest to discover the UK’s best aspiring surgeon reached its climax at the Grand Final in Edinburgh on Saturday 18 February 2017.

Run by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in association with Medtronic,the competition, now in its third year, was won by 29- year-old Bristolian and University of Bristol student Christopher Barr, after a gruelling series of tests designed to push the finalist’s skills to the maximum.

The competition began in September 2016 with 19 regional rounds across the UK during which the students were asked to undertake a series of demanding surgical skills tests, with the winner of each heat announced on the night.

“It is really fantastic and quite unexpected for me to have won the UK-wide Surgical Skills Competition! I have always been set on a career in surgery, so taking part in this competition was something I thought would be good to have on my CV to demonstrate my commitment to a surgical career.” said Christopher Barr.

Christopher continued, “It’s really great that everyone who came participated received Affiliate Membership. I was quite amazed by my first visit to the Edinburgh College for the final. I knew there was a Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, but I didn’t realise it was such a grand building, with the museum and a hotel – it’s quite amazing the facilities that are here on offer to the College membership. The skills laboratory where we undertook the competition final is very well kitted out, which is good to see for my future career training. I hope to have an ongoing relationship with the College in the future; I’m an Affiliate Member now, and certainly in my future career I may become a Member of the College as well.”

Christopher’s prize, courtesy of Medtronic, is an exclusive opportunity to visit the ORSI Academy in Ghent, Belgium. The ORSI Academy is a centre for a surgical innovation and expertise in minimal invasive surgery and while there Chris will have the rare undergraduate opportunity to observe live robotic surgery and the opportunity to practice on robotic simulators.

Convened by College Council Member Mr Roger Currie, a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon in Ayrshire, the competition aims to discover the most talented aspiring surgeons in the UK.

“We hope that the surgical skills competition will help to inspire the next generation of surgeons and drive them forward at this crucial point in their training” said Roger, “The competition is a unique opportunity for senior medical students with an interest in surgery to practice their skills and showcase their expertise against their peers.”

“The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh has a long established reputation for being at the forefront surgery, having led and supported the profession since 1505.” said RCSEd President Professor Michael Lavelle-Jones. “It has been rewarding through this competition to witness the talents of senior medical students, across all four nations, and to be able to provide an opportunity for this next generation of aspiring surgeons to showcase their surgical skills and network with each other and established surgeons at our Royal College.

“RCSEd is committed to fostering relationships with the undergraduate medical schools in the UK and this competition provides an excellent platform. We are most grateful to Medtronic for their collaboration to make this competition possible.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by David Pacini .