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Scalpels put away to share and gain surgical knowledge
View(s):- Strong focus on ‘Training the Future Surgeon’ at CSSL’s Annual Congress
By Kumudini Hettiarachchi
A beautiful building exuding old world charm in the very heart of Cinnamon Gardens is a-bustle, as the College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka (CSSL) prepares for its annual highlight.
It is all-systems go with surgeons from across the country set to down their scalpels, move away from their operating theatres (OTs) and brainstorm and exchange information at the 52nd Annual Congress of the CSSL on the theme ‘Training the Future Surgeon’.
Spread across three days from September 14-16, it is not just a local congress but promises to be a regional one as well, with information-sharing from far across the seas. For, the congress is a collaboration with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, United Kingdom (UK), and the SAARC Surgical Care Society.
The home of CSSL and (inset) the logo
The large numbers expected – 40 local and 30 foreign faculty and 400 participants both local and foreign – have made the CSSL look for a different venue, the UCFM Tower of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, rather than their home-base.
The theme of the congress has been the vision of CSSL President Prof. Nandadeva Samarasekera who has sent out a strong call to his colleagues to be “role models” to motivate medical students and young doctors as the “seeds of a surgical career” are often laid down in the company of inspirational surgeons.
While reiterating that as an academic and post-graduate trainer, the theme ‘Training the Future Surgeon’ is close to his heart, Prof. Samarasekera points out that the rapid evolution of medical technology poses “both opportunities and challenges” to surgeons and trainees.
“The college needs to prepare our membership to this reality and foster ties with our regional and international partners including the SAARC Surgical Care Society, professional colleges in South Asia and Australasia and the Royal Colleges of Surgeons of the UK to work towards this objective,” he says.
It is CSSL Secretary Prof. Sanjeewa Seneviratne who uncovers the different aspects of the congress programme which aspires to meet this vision.
“As surgeons, all of us learn how to operate, that is the foundation. However, in a rapidly changing landscape, what we did in the OT a few years ago becomes archaic and we have to innovate,” he says, underscoring that with everything being evidence-based, Sri Lanka needs to generate its own data and do what is best for its patients.
CSSL President Prof. Nandadeva Samarasekera
He is adamant that no longer can Sri Lanka “blindly” follow other countries. “We need to do our own thing, while also learning from others and ‘adapting’ whatever is good for us rather than ‘adopting’ everything. This is why we need lots of solid local as well as regional research and the CSSL is facilitating such generation of new knowledge.”
Medical education is another aspect of strong focus at the congress with Prof. Dujeepa Samarasekera from the National University of Singapore (NUS) talking on ‘Nurturing values for impactful practice: from learners to professionals’ and a joint session between the CSSL and the Post-graduate Institute of Medicine (PGIM) on ‘Improving surgical training and assessment’.
CSSL Secretary Prof. Sanjeewa Seneviratne
Prof. Seneviratne says that this programme would concentrate not only on how to train young surgeons but also on how to assess their skills to check whether they are suitable material to become good surgeons because to achieve this, the attributes needed to go beyond knowledge.
Another important aspect that has come to the fore as Sri Lanka faces a severe economic crunch is medicines, requirements and procurement, he said, adding that this is dealt through a ‘Cost effective purchasing’ session on ‘Procurement of medicines and medical devices and Health Economics’.
Interestingly, all material with regard to the congress has the stylised image of the colonnaded façade of CSSL’s home, a donation from the reputed surgeon, Dr. Noel Bartholomeusz, and his wife Nora.
This had enabled the CSSL to move from a small room at Wijerama House, the headquarters of the Sri Lanka Medical Association (SLMA), to a “magnificent” abode combining both the vintage and the modern, as Prof. Samarasekera has succinctly verbalised.
| Eminent speakers at inauguration The chief guest at the congress inauguration is Prof. Neil Mortensen, Immediate Past President of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. The others who will address the inauguration are Prof. Rowan Parks, President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh; Prof. M.D. Lamawansa, President of the SAARC Surgical Care Society; and Prof. Mike McKirdy, President of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow. Meanwhile, the Prof. R.A. Navaratne Oration will be delivered by Prof. Ajith M. Malalasekera on ‘Clinico-histopathological survival and molecular genetic study of urothelial bladder cancer in a cohort of Sri Lankan patients’.
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