It has been a busy and productive twelve months, both in terms of educational output and training opportunities for all our members. There has been a steady shift from online to face-to-face meetings, in response to feedback from consultants, trainees and AHPs alike as we continue to emerge from the shadows the pandemic earlier in the decade. These meetings and educational sessions have been combined with a commitment to deliver a high-quality national teaching whilst also developing and refining regional and local meetings, to ensure that AUGIS and its training offer is as representative and relevant as possible for the whole membership.
There have been some excellent regional meetings organised by our regional representatives including in the East Midlands (Neil Bhardwaj), the Northern Deanery (John Hammond) and Yorkshire and the Humber (Andy Cockbain). These have covered a wide variety of Upper GI topics, from complex hiatus hernia and reflux treatment , through OG and HPB cancer to a bariatric focussed day in Yorkshire in May. Some of these meetings have combined training for both AHPs and trainees and have also served as enjoyable and useful networking sessions for consultants.
Combined with these regional events, the webinar programme has included an interesting and novel session delivered by BBUGSS on the non-surgical management of reflux earlier this year. This was a well-attended talk, which once again demonstrated the benefits of collaboration with industry. We have been very grateful for the continued support from our industry sponsors, including the use of the training centre and expertise from colleagues at Karl Storz and the energy and stapling technology support from Ethicon and Medtronic. In addition to these ongoing relationships, we have benefitted from support from Viatris, Q3 Medical, IQoro and others – our educational output relies on our excellent co-operation with these partners and we hope to expand on these in years to come.
The Roux Group has continued to deliver a wide-ranging series of teaching sessions, best demonstrated in another fantastically successful Roux Weekend. This event continues to go from strength to strength and is supported by AUGIS and several consultant members within it. The Roux group committee have also demonstrated leadership and maturity in representing trainee members through some of the challenges that junior surgeons have faced this past 12 months.
This past year has also seen a change in the Director of Education and Training at AUGIS. The ASM in Oxford in 2023 was the culmination of a transformative and inspiring period in office of Andy Smith, who delivered national conferences which, year-on-year, produced ever greater amounts of educational content alongside a genuine commitment to diversity and inclusivity amongst speakers, chairpersons, and delegates alike. The Oxford meeting was our best attended to date and combined academic excellence with a friendly and warm atmosphere, surely the model for future conferences to follow. The 2024 meeting in Manchester aims to continue this trend of expansion, high-quality educational content whilst maintaining the camaraderie and support amongst all members of AUGIS. Several of the sessions are now confirmed, in terms of speakers and talks, and the ASM should provide a fantastic opportunity to learn about the breadth of Upper GI surgery from a wide range of excellent speakers.
Further, there have been exciting collaborations and joint educational sessions with specialist upper GI associations within AUGIS, including BBUGSS and the Roux Group and with other national surgical bodies such as the ASGBI, ASiT and the SRS. All of these have served to enhance the position of AUGIS as a key deliverer of specialist Upper GI educational content, and a valuable resource for members. None of these activities would be possible without the expertise and work of colleagues throughout the association, and all members of the Educational Sub-Committee, who have given up their time and experience up and down the country. Some particular highlights include the AUGIS x ASGBI session, chaired by Mark Taylor and featuring excellent talks from Claire Jones and Giles Bond-Smith and the AUGIS taught course at ASiT, including high quality Faculty representation from BBUGSS and our Thames Valley Regional Rep, Jihene El-Kafsi.
The next 12 months promise continued expansion of the educational programme. The widespread adoption of robotic surgery in all fields of Upper GI surgery will be reflected in our educational output, with several courses having already taken place and many more to come; we remain very grateful for the expertise and support of CMR and Intuitive who continue to help us develop teaching courses for surgeons at all stages of robotic training. We have upcoming webinars, planned by the incredibly active and enthusiastic educational group of BBUGSS, on various aspects of benign Upper GI surgery, further cementing the role of AUGIS and BBUGSS in promoting and supporting the profile of benign Upper GI surgery both nationally and internationally. There are already many planned wet-lab courses throughout the UK on all aspects of Upper GI surgery and, the launch of the safe cholecystectomy programme and the Bile Duct Injury registry in Leeds in October promises to be an innovative and important addition to the safety of cholecystectomy in the UK.
Finally, the educational programme relies on you, the members, to shape and direct it, and you are all encouraged to contribute to and deliver it if you wish as well. Your ideas and thoughts are always welcome, and I will endeavour to provide a wide-ranging and valuable series of educational events, to develop all aspects of your CPD and training. I look forward to hearing from you, and seeing you at the ASM in Manchester this September.
June 2024