My name is Keshav Krishnan and I am a third year medical student. I would like to apply for the role of President of Cutting Edge. I am incredibly enthusiastic about surgery, having gained an insight into the field through attending many fantastic Cutting Edge and surgical events over the last few years, including the SCTS conference, EXCISE conference, ASiT annual conference, AO undergraduate day, BAPRAS undergraduate day, RCS England undergraduate day, suturing workshops, and specialty series talks.
From school, when I have organised music and sports events, and co-led projects in a youth-led healthcare research group named YPAGNE, to organising the inaugural Cutting Edge dissection room anatomy teaching session last year, I have continued to refine my organisational skills this year through organising the first ever Cutting Edge multi-week surgical skills series.
I feel putting together this series in particular helped develop many important skills for the role of president, including outreach and communications skills when contacting doctors to teach the sessions, detailed planning in advance to ensure adequate supplies were present, thinking about funding and resources, booking venues, time-management, and team-working skills; without the other members of the Cutting Edge team, the series would not have been possible. These experiences, in addition to contact with doctors leading the Simplifying Surgery teaching series, have all enhanced my outreach skills; important when getting medical students involved in events, and catering teaching and surgical skills sessions to students’ needs. I feel I have gained a good amount of experience in leadership, having captained the school cricket team for 8 years, and having been captain of the medics cricket team at Leeds this year. Here, I have learnt to be clear and systematic in decision-making, but have most importantly made sure to involve my colleagues in any decisions made, ensuring decisions are made respectfully and inclusively, something I hope to take forward into next year. I am a hard-worker as well as a team player, having been a part of many teams including school and university cricket teams, YPAGNE, and being lucky enough to be a part of Cutting Edge for the past two years. Here I have worked together with others to come to shared outcomes, and developed vital communication skills I can hopefully carry into the role of president.
I have lots of new ideas for next year, including 1) continuing the 6-week structured suturing course, but also including a similar course in an online format including students from other medical schools too, so that even more students can get involved. Having been a part of the British Indian Surgical Association committee this year, I have had exposure to how a national, online suturing course is organised.
2) Importantly, I hope to put on more events focused around equality, diversity and inclusion in surgery, more regularly throughout the year, including workshops and conferences.
3) Through existing contacts at national committees such as ASiT (Association of Surgeons in Training), BIMA (the British Indian Medical Association), RCS England (the Royal College of Surgeons, England), as well as local surgeons in the area, I hope to introduce more national, formally accredited surgical events up north, especially to Leeds. I feel this is definitely a gap in surgical education and exposure that needs to be addressed, with many events taking place in London and thus limiting opportunities for students in Northern universities. These will hopefully not just include conferences, but days dedicated to developing new surgical techniques including laparoscopy, talking to surgeons from different specialties, as well as courses focusing on specialty-specific surgical skills.
4) I feel getting involved in surgical research can be challenging, but recognise this is an important aspect of building a strong CV, therefore I hope to combine this with the existing mentorship scheme, so that surgical mentors are also able to provide students with research and CV building opportunities.
5) Finally, I also want to continue having regular committee socials throughout next year, as I think it’s important to build a good team working environment and more importantly just enjoy being on such a great committee.
For the past 2 years, I have really enjoyed being part of such a stimulating, engaging committee, and feel as though I have learned a lot about the way the society operates. After taking on the role of pre-clinical years rep in second year, then skills & education rep this year, I feel the role of president will hopefully be a great next step for me.
Thank you for reading my manifesto and I hope I have earned your vote for President of Cutting Edge.
