Introducing the British Orthopaedic Medical Students Association (BOMSA)

Sulaiman Uppal

Sulaiman Uppal is a medical school student at Oxford University. Sully has been Medical Student Representative on the BOA Education and Careers Committee and the BOA Representative on the BOMSA Executive Committee.

The BOA Annual Congress marks the end of the first tenure for the newly founded British Orthopaedic Medical Students Association (BOMSA).

Comprising more than 95% of UK medical schools and overseen by a national body of students and junior doctors, BOMSA aims to enhance medical students’ exposure to Trauma and Orthopaedic (T&O) surgery from a grassroots level.

The society stands alongside BOA and BOTA to support aspiring orthopaedic surgeons. The Committee itself is made up of two local representatives from each medical school. Each of the regions are headed by a regional lead, with oversight from a National Committee that works hand-in-hand with BOA, BOTA and its subsidiaries to disseminate the aims and objectives of these organisations to the medical student audience.

Despite the significant amount of musculoskeletal conditions accounting for A&E and primary care attendances, we’re all aware of the small amount of undergraduate teaching that is dedicated to T&O. Instead, a lot of exposure comes from the fantastic initiatives ran by orthopaedic and surgical societies all over the UK. BOMSA aims to centralise and orchestrate such endeavours to provide greater learning, mentorship and research opportunities to aspiring orthopaedic surgeons over the UK than ever before.

Our core values of diversity, equality and inclusivity have been at the heart of our organisational process and we are proud to champion these at the grassroots level.

BOMSA Committee.

The BOMSA network has been working tirelessly over this past year, supporting our regions to develop and deliver valuable events across the UK. In total, over 50 virtual teaching sessions were delivered across the BOMSA regions, with over 800 medical students tuning in. BOMSA South West and South East both delivered popular orthopaedic teaching series that attracted nearly 250 students between them. We are particularly proud of our BOMSA London division, who teamed up with the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital to enrol 50 medical students in a successful mentorship scheme that matched them each with their own specialty registrar contact. This gave them the opportunity to not only gain valuable career advice, but to also participate in research projects. BOMSA East has helped medical students build their portfolios as well as their writing skills by hosting an essay competition, in which the top prize included a publication in a PubMed indexed journal.

BOMSA Scotland and North West ran a series of popular webinars that provided useful guidance on portfolio-building. We know that our audience value these kind of relevant and practical methods to build towards their ambitions, and as an organisation we take pride in widening access to and facilitating these opportunities.

Furthermore, in just under a year, BOMSA’s main and regional social media accounts have accumulated just under 5.5k followers. Our student podcast, ‘Oh Snap!’, has also gained a growing following on Spotify, so tune in for the inside scoop on life in T&O!

With the return of in-person events, our BOMSA divisions have also been able to organise conferences covering a wide range of T&O-related topics. BOMSA London hosted an Undergraduate Orthopaedic Symposium that attracted 60 delegates from four different continents. In Leicester, BOMSA Midlands sponsored a free-of-charge international T&O conference centred around women in orthopaedics and promoting diversity. Students were given the opportunity to present abstracts, and talks covering the ins-and-outs of a career in orthopaedics and the future of the field were also given. Apart from interesting talks, these events provide the valuable opportunity for medical students to network with each other, as well as professionals working in T&O. It is our firm belief that for the field to flourish, we must continue to encourage and nurture this spirit of community.

No event in the calendar encapsulates BOMSA’s aims of connecting aspiring orthopaedic surgeons like the BOA Annual Congress. Students are given the opportunity to present papers on the Thursday of main Congress, of which one will be selected as the winner. On Friday, the Medical Student Day puts aspiring orthopods and BOMSA in the spotlight with a variety of talks and practical sessions. The talks cover the journey through a career in T&O, addressing topics such as training applications, work-life balance and subspeciality choice. There is also the chance for students to meet and speak with T&O consultants and take part in a question-and-answer session to get a deeper insight into the field. A firm favourite of past attendees also made a reappearance this year, which is the opportunity to get some hands-on experience with some fantastic orthopaedics kit, courtesy of our sponsors. Many students struggle to find adequate time in theatres, especially with T&O placements being so notoriously short, making opportunities like these all the more valuable.

Going forward, BOMSA hopes to continue organising and supporting all of these fantastic events that inspire T&O-minded medical students across the country. This year’s inaugural Committee have built BOMSA to stand on its core pillars of being active, sustainable and providing incentivisation.

By being active, we aim to increase T&O exposure nationwide; by being sustainable, we endeavour to strengthen BOMSA year-on-year by passing on our culture and processes to successive Committees; and by providing incentivisation, we aim to reward our Committees selfless work in return for personal and professional development opportunities. We’re also thrilled to have announced our new National Committee for the academic year 2022-2023 at the BOA Congress, and we hope to see them take BOMSA to even greater heights!

Want to get involved as a student?

BOMSA recruits two local representatives from each medical school every year - typically one T&O and one surgical society president. Any positions declined are opened up to Committee members of the same societies. Local representatives may apply to be regional leads and our National Committee is recruited every August. If your university does not have a surgical or T&O society and you are thinking of setting one up, please also get in touch so we can get you on board.

We are also always looking for registrars and consultants who are interested in teaching and helping medical students climb the professional ladder. If this sounds like you, please scan the QR code below to register your interest.

For further information, please visit www.bomsa.org.uk or follow any of our social media pages.