News

Incoming BOTA President – Ran Wei

Trainees and trainers across the UK have endured extraordinary challenges over the last year and it is difficult to remember a time when our thoughts and conversations were free of COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic on every aspect of our daily lives is unprecedented. There has never been a more turbulent time for T&O training nor has there been a more arduous time to be a T&O trainee.

BOTA remains committed to delivering pivotal work in all facets of surgical training. I am honoured to be afforded the opportunity to lead BOTA at this crucial time and I will endeavour to ensure that the interests of trainees during, and in the wake of, the COVID-19 pandemic are fully represented.

The time that I have spent representing T&O trainees on the SAC and the JCST has taught me that excellence in training and in patient care must remain at the heart of everything we do. The fallout from COVID-19 threatens these fundamental tenets of our profession. It is therefore more important than ever that BOTA helps to formulate innovative and robust ideas that optimise T&O training whilst ensuring the highest quality of care for our patients.

To achieve our aim, we will require collaboration and focus. T&O trainees and trainers have demonstrated their ability to collaborate across professions, specialties and grades throughout this pandemic. We now need to focus our efforts on addressing the deficit in T&O training caused by COVID-19.

Ortho Update 2021

Maryam Ahmed

Most face-to-face courses have been cancelled, but the BOA adapted quickly to the restrictions and for the first time since 1972, the BOA Ortho Update Course, formerly the BOA Instructional Course, took place on a virtual platform in January. With the aim of establishing strong foundations for the FRCS(Orth) exam and future practice, this course has been a valuable learning opportunity for T&O trainees across all grades.

This year, 100 delegates along with a faculty of expert educators in a range of specialist areas met together from the comfort of their own homes. The programme covered key evidence-based topics, including Spines, Paediatrics, Shoulder and Elbow, Hand and Wrist, Hip, Knee and Foot and Ankle, all pertinent to the T&O curriculum. All presentations were detailed, extremely engaging, relevant to current practice and exam preparation and were each followed by a Q&A session. The key concepts of Paediatrics covered the most common dilemmas faced by every T&O trainee during an on-call; the Hip Update and the Knee Headlines Updates focused on examination and operative techniques. The programme concluded with an important discussion around how to navigate through exams and how to apply exam techniques with current COVID-19 rules.

In these challenging times, the hard work and dedication of the faculty to education of the next generation of T&O surgeons have truly made this course a success.