IASSS Surgical Students

Report IASSS

We, at the International Association of Student Surgical Societies (IASSS), are honoured and excited to be formally included as the official pre-specialist society of the ISS/SIC. We are confident that our partnership will continue to enrich aspiring surgical care physicians’ academic careers; facilitate meaningful interpersonal experiences; and provide more collaborative opportunities in the field of surgery. We are particularly excited to be hosting the Future Surgeon Track at the World Congress of Surgery (WCS) next year. Having led the first student delegation to WCS in Basel last year, we look forward to expanding the program to encompass career development, research capacity development and leadership development. Our focus will be on enhancing

mentorship opportunities for the world’s brightest and most inspired aspiring surgeons, with the worlds most respected and influential surgeons - WCS members. We acknowledge students’ crucial role to play in establishing and actualising global surgical care priorities and facilitating this contribution is a core priority for our organisation and the Future Surgeon Track.

IASSS, as a grassroots organisation, has grown significantly since its inception in 2011; we are proud to represent member societies from every continent. Our organisation prides itself on providing members with annual international symposia that provide students with the opportunity to engage the most recent surgical innovators and innovations; network with like-minded individuals; engage fellow students’ research; and learn crucial surgical skills at our renowned workshops. Both high and low-middle income countries - including the Namibia, Romania, Australia and South Africa - have hosted our symposia. We prioritise affordability and equitable access to the unique career development opportunities we offer. In the spirit of collaboration, our most recent meeting was co-hosted in Cape Town earlier this year by 2 universities: Stellenbosch University and the University of Cape Town.

We are looking forward to our upcoming symposium in Australia 2019, which we will be co-hosting with the Australasian Students Surgical Association.

The IASSS team is committed to making a meaningful contribution to the field of surgical care. We are in the process of registering as a Non-Governmental Organisation, hosting a series of career development webinars, supporting the establishment of a student surgical journal and undertaking research projects, all the while supporting the establishment of local student surgical societies across the globe. We remain committed to fostering a pre-specialist passion for surgery and global surgery, in particular, to nurturing a passion for safe, equitable, accessible surgical care for patients and to working towards establishing an equitable, accessible and productive environment for surgeons to redefine the future of surgery.

The future of surgery is exciting; the journey towards it more so! We look forward to seeing you at our Future Surgeon Track in Krakow.

Gabriella Hyman, IASSS President On behalf of the IASSS Executive Team 2018/19