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Hi! My names Fatimah a second year student and I would like to be the Skills and Education Coordinator for 25/26.

For the past year I have really enjoyed my time on committee as the Y2 Pre-Clinical Rep, getting involved with a number of events such as the conference, the surgical skills crash course, the UGAS Collab and of course the Suturing Series!

My time on committee has given me a strong understanding and insight into the planning, coordination, and efforts required to run successful teaching sessions/workshops. I’ve become familiar with the structure and standards expected from Cutting Edge workshops, and the import role our society plays in improving surgical education on campus.

In particular as S&E Coordinator, running the annual Suturing Series is a key responsibility. Having attended as a participant in first year, and helping out with series this year, I am well versed in the structure and content delivered in these series, and am keen to carry on and build on from such a successful series this year. An important part of the series is getting support from surgeons which can be often prove to be the hard part. Outside of my time on committee, I have successfully reached out to surgeons for cutting edge, other shadowing opportunities and more networking, so I am confident in building connections and securing support for our events. In addition to Suturing Series, I would be dedicated in organising workshops for the annual conference, to enhance the conference appeal and experience, as well as contributing to Skills Crash courses, dissection workshops and more within the year.

If elected as S&E co-ordinator, I’d like to expand our skills programme to include regular scenario/skills-based sessions. This can be achieved by expanding the skills offered, through sessions including laparoscopy, more animal model suturing while also increasing collaborations with other medical societies. Collaborations in particular help diversify the skills we can teach, as seen in the UGAS collab, where members learned about airway management and knot tying. I’m also keen to ensure events are regular and well-timetabled around academic exam seasons and deadlines to maximise accessibility.

As S&E coordinator, I and am excited by the opportunity to contribute to Cutting Edge’s already strong foundation of hands-on learning and commitment to surgical education. Following an amazing time on committee, I truly believe I have more to offer to this society from experiences I’ve gained this last year, and look forward to working with the next committee to provide more for our members!

Hi, my name is Emma, and I am currently in 3rd year. I am excited to put myself forward for skills and education co-ordinator! I’m hard working, focused and committed and believe I would be valued addition to the society.

Over the past year I have been inspired by attending a variety of cutting edge events including the surgical skills crash course, suturing series, and conference. From these experiences I know the importance of having the opportunity to learn and practice a range of surgical skills. The suturing series is a successful key event for the society every year and having attended all the sessions I found them to be well-organised and extremely beneficial. I have learnt through my own experience that the suturing course is fundamental for any aspiring surgeon. Through being part of the cutting edge mentorship scheme and my placements I have developed strong support and key surgical contacts. With my commitment and pro-active approach I feel I have good ideas that could continue to make this programme even stronger.

I also want to implement other unique opportunities to increase exposure to a wider variety of surgical specialities. I would hope to collaborate with other members of committee and other medical societies to create targeted useful sessions. The laparoscopic session of the surgical skills crash course was a great example of further experiences that students would not normally get the opportunity to practice on placement, and I think this could be more prominent within the society’s events.

I understand the importance of having the opportunity to practice key skills for OSCEs, I would hope to run additional sessions that focus on and give time to practice such core skills. I take pride in my organisational skills and have developed these further through being a clinical representative for Brain Leeds this past year where I have had experience running events including a mock OSCE. I work well as part of a team through having good communication skills and an approachable nature which I consider to be key skills when organising these events.

If elected I would be fully committed to the society and would strive to always be an active member putting forward and implementing new ideas, to ensure this continues to be such a fantastic society that I would be very proud to be part of.

Hi, my name is Mia and I’d love to be one of your next Skills & Education Coordinators.

Having been on the Cutting Edge Committee this past year as Publicity Rep, I have a great understanding of how the committee works. I have been dedicated to Cutting Edge the past 2 years, attending a whole host of events, including the coveted “Shaping The Future of Surgery” Conference, and of course, the annual Suturing Series.

I am passionate about all things surgery, and am committed to organising high level teaching on all surgical skills, to ensure you impress on your next surgical rotation! Any member of the committee from last year can vouch that I’m reliable, organised, and get tasks done.

I’ve also got a creative streak, and have some great ideas in my back pocket of how I can expand the breadth of surgical teaching, beyond just the usual suturing skills (big plans pending…)

Vote Mia for Skills & Education Coordinator :)

Hi everyone!

My name is Henry, and I would consider it a privilege to represent Cutting Edge next year as Skills and Education Coordinator. I am motivated to work alongside my fellow committee members to provide welcoming, inclusive, and exciting events for future surgeons in the making!

After my first experience in theatre, I was able to see first-hand the problem solving a career in surgery involved, and I knew surgery was a career path I wanted to explore. Since arriving at University, I have been able to pursuit this interest with the outstanding opportunities Cutting Edge has provided.

Attending their conferences has given me the skills and confidence to get involved in laparoscopy workshops, work with surgeons on a systematic review, and most importantly to get scrubbed in on placement! This has given me a good understanding of the teaching and experiences students could benefit from to explore a career in surgery, which I am motivated to provide in this role with Cutting Edge.

My experience as a GCSE mentor, and providing mentorship sessions for prospective medical students, puts me in a strong position to organise comprehensive and engaging conferences for Cutting Edge members. With experience of attending surgical journal clubs, I believe I can also hold events for students wishing to learn about critical appraisal and the academic side of surgery.

Finally, as a second-year MSRC representative this year, I have taken the responsibility for leading the medical school merchandise sales. Therefore, I am used to managing society commitments with the demands of medical school; as well as communicating closely with committee members to ensure the targets laid out by the society are met.

I really appreciate you taking the time to read this, and hope you might consider voting for me as your Skills and Education Coordinator for Cutting Edge next year.

Thank you!

Hello everyone! I’m Chiara and I will be starting my fourth year of medical school in September at Leeds, and I’m running for Skills and Education Coordinator! This year I moved to London to complete an intercalated degree in Anatomy at KCL, where my passion for surgery blossomed. I truly think my experience in teaching will aid me in my responsibilities for this role, and I am very excited to bring my skills to Cutting Edge!

My passion for surgery has also grown with me through my time at medical school. When we first started studying anatomy in first year, I was fascianted by the intricacies of the human body and I knew that I wanted to have a career where I could see medicine in action and work with my hands. This gut feeling was further strengthened when we started our surgical placements, where I was hooked by the real time impact we can have on patients lives, and how varied surgical specialties are in terms of day to day schedules. During my intercalated degree, I developed a passion for neurosurgery and head and neck surgery, which fuelled me to conduct a dissection project with two of my colleagues on the cranial origin and terminal branches of the Trigeminal nerve. This project went on to receive a grade of 100, and led to a teaching opportunity! The consultants at King’s recognised our work and asked my group and I to create and deliver a teaching series on the Trigeminal nerve with our dissection! My team and I and created the teaching materials and delivered the teaching series to registrars and core dental trainees at Queen Mary’s Hospital in London. This unique opportunity was very enjoyable and provided me with further experience in conducting and organising teaching for a diverse cohort of attendees, as well as working in a team.

My teaching experience also extends beyond medicine, as I have worked as a personal tutor for 7 years to students with learning difficulties such as dyslexia and ADHD. During my school years I also organised and taught one-on-one english reading, speaking and writing lessons to students who had recently moved from abroad. These experiences in teaching a wide variety of pupils has equipped me with the skills to communicate effectively and tailor engaging lessons to people or all ages, abilities and experience.

I truly believe that my skills and experience align with the responsibilities of this role, and I cant wait to organise informative surgical teaching sessions for Cutting Edge!