Student wins local surgical skills heat

Jamie (21) competed against 15 fellow medical students from Queen’s University Belfast at the regional heat of the competition by demonstrating a range of his surgical skills, from suturing and knot-tying to anatomical tests.

The medical student from Queen’s University Belfast’s School of Medicine, Dentistry and Biomedical Sciences will now represent Northern Ireland in a UK-wide Student Surgical Skills Competition, after winning the Northern Ireland Regional Heat of the competition, which took place last Wednesday, October 24.

Organised by The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd), the Student Surgical Skills Competition sees medical students from across the UK competing in regional heats to be in with a chance of making it through to the grand final in Edinburgh on March 9 next year. The overall winner will win a trip to sponsors’ Johnson and Johnson Medical Companies’ European Surgical Training Institute in Hamburg later in the year.

A delighted Jamie said that he would recommend the competition to everyone.

“I was honestly surprised when I was announced as the winner of the Northern Irish heat,” said Jamie.

“My colleagues showed great aptitude and capacity, so to have triumphed in such a competitive heat felt really rewarding.

“Now I just can’t wait to compete against the other finalists and test myself with new skills and challenges.”

“I thought the heat was enjoyable, but at times quite demanding,” he continued. “I found myself tackling a new technique at almost every station, and the challenge of employing that technique whilst processing relatively fresh instruction proved quite difficult.

“It was a very new experience though and one I would recommend to any medical student with an interest in surgery.

“I think the affiliation with the RCSEd and competing in the final later in this academic year will certainly broaden my understanding of surgery as a profession, and offer me the greatest chance to develop some of the core skills required in this very competitive field of practice. The experience and training I might obtain from such an opportunity is inestimable. It is very rare for a medical student to be faced with this prospect and I intend to do my best to make it a reality.”

Explaining more about the competition, RCSEd Regional Surgical Adviser and Consultant Breast Surgeon at Belfast City Hospital, Mr Stuart McIntosh said: “The surgical skills competition gave a group of medical students a unique opportunity to hone and show off their surgical skills, and hopefully provided some insight and inspiration towards a career in surgery. It was refreshing to see the energy and enthusiasm that the group as a whole displayed.

“The standard of technical (and non-technical) skills that the students showed was high, but Jamie just edged out the other students in a close contest. I am pleased to see a worthy winner go forward from the Northern Ireland heat to the Grand Final, and I hope that Jamie goes on to do well in Edinburgh. Personally, I was delighted to see the success of the contest, as I feel that the regional heat in Northern Ireland demonstrates the commitment of the RCSEd to surgical training and education in the region.”