American College of Surgeons
Tooke
How does your service perform?
Slingbox
Round up of useful stuff

 

 

 

 

 

American College of Surgeons

"The Role of a Mentor in Creating a Surgical Way of Life” was the theme for the American College of Surgeons (ACS) 93rd Annual Clinical Congress, which was held in New Orleans, LA, October 7-11, 2007. I had the privilege of representing our College. There was the initial razzmatazz of course but beyond that an enormous education, workshop and update programme unfolded. There was something for everyone. Every conceivable clinical interest in surgery was represented. Some of the best sessions were not the headline plenary sessions but the specialty “ask the expert” type of event. Having said that it has consistently been my experience in going to major international clinical conferences that I come away with two clear impressions. First, the educational value is present but not of wonderful value. Secondly, I usually come away thinking that we are genuinely not so very far off the pace when it comes to the provision of state of the art care. Our UK approach to clinical problems may not represent the most advanced, expensive and ritzy thinking – but in terms of end results and surgical outcomes we have nothing to be ashamed of in the NHS.

One of the highlights of the major American meetings is the extent the trade exhibitors reach to display an extravagant footprint. Amongst the exhibitors the major players were companies like Covidien (the new name for Tyco), Ethicon Endosurgery and Allergan. At the ACS Ethicon launched a range of really daft (in my view) finger mounted instruments. I mused for long enough as to how I could possibly make use of them in surgical –practice. In fact they are designed for hand assisted laparoscopic surgery. I doubt if they will catch on but as Dan Quayle once famously said, “ It is very difficult to make predictions – especially about the future.”

Here is the blurb – see what you think. Barkng if you ask me….

The new ENDOPATH DEXTRUS MINIMALLY INVASIVE ACCESS SYSTEM is comprised of the DEXTRUS Hand Access Port, Retractors and the DEXTRUS Finger-mounted Instruments. Together, they form the first complete hand-assisted laparoscopic system designed to maximise laparoscopic surgery. I am not so sure..

Tooke

ASPIRING TO EXCELLENCE. Findings and recommendations of the independent inquiry into Modernising Medical Careers led by Professor Sir John Tooke. Click this link to find a pdf file - all 194 pages of it!

The Forum of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons and Specialist Surgical Associations of Great Britain and Ireland are drawing together a response. In addition there will be responses from individual Colleges, specialty groups and individuals as appropriate. There will also be a co-ordinated response arising from a Pan Surgical Conference hosted by the ASGBI in early October at which Sir John Tooke introduced his report. Initial reaction to this interim report has been to welcome it especially in respect of the promotion of career flexibility and adaptability. The recommendation that PMETB be subsumed into the GMC has been recognised with interest. There are several key areas which will be the focus for responses.

There is a recommendation that F1 and F2 will be disengaged and F2 should become the first year of a 3 year core training programme.

Core training will be an important topic. It is vital that this is structured and realistic and that juniors avoid the return to the “lost tribe” of SHOs. An enhanced strategy is needed for the benefit of doctors caught in the “SHO bulge” during the transitional period.

It is vital that selection from core to Specialty Training is sorted out in a satisfactory way and also that the position of Trust Registrars is clarified.

It is also essential that the end product of training is clear. Will the service be consultant led or consultant delivered? There are huge funding and workforce implications which will find a base on this differentiation.

An additional issue relates to the International Medical Graduates. The various interested groups are carefully considering their position and indeed the Department of Health are collating responses in respect of IMGs.

The final recommendations will appear in December.

 

 

 

 

 

 
 
How does your surgical service perform?

Surgical profiles have been prepared for the entire nation. How did your service fare. Check it out. In particular note pages 10,18 and 19 of the document. You can download it from here.

 

 

Slingbox

There is always a slight danger in keeping company with the Irish. Two Irish surgeons were recently recommending the latest in amazing gadgetry – the Slingbox. It allows you to watch and control your favourite TV source from anywhere in the world on your laptop or mobile phone. It sometimes spooks the family back at home when dad whilst visiting China starts switching channels in his home living room. It really spooks the rest of the family! The advantage? - you’ll never have to be separated from your favourite TV shows and sporting events again. I can see the geeks lining up on Amazon to buy one!

Useful stuff

Here is a roundup of really useful high quality sites, mainly government sponsored, for your down time! There are loads of good resources here if you are preparing up to date patient information documents.

World Health Organization (WHO)
This site has a multitude of pages containing links to WHO projects, initiatives, activities, information products, and contacts, organized by health and development topics. It also provides much of the content in a variety of languages.

NHS Direct Online (UK)
The mission of the NHS Direct is to provide information and advice about health, illness and health services, to enable patients to make decisions about their healthcare and that of their families. This is the portal to the online potion of their initiative.



The Canadian Health Network
The Canadian Health Network (CHN) is a national, bilingual health promotion program. The CHN's goal is to help Canadians find the information they're looking for on how to stay healthy and prevent disease. The CHN does this through a unique collaboration - one of the most dynamic and comprehensive networks in the world.



HealthInsite (Australia)
HealthInsite is an Australian Government initiative, funded by the Department of Health and Ageing. It aims to improve the health of Australians by providing easy access to quality information about human health.


New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS)
The New Zealand Health Information Service (NZHIS) is a group within the New Zealand Ministry of Health responsible for the collection and dissemination of health-related data. This is a link to a growing list of health topics mainly specific to New Zealand.

National Medical Library (India)
The National Medical Library aims to provide wide and efficient library and information services to the health science (HS) professionals in India.

Till next month ...

Best wishes

David Galloway