What's on offer for the surgical trainees at our conferences?

Abstract

I read with interest the letter to the editor by Dr Lakhotia in a previous issue of IJS [1]. His letter clearly brings out the anguish that the surgical trainees (ST) today experience when they attend a conference or a workshop. There is perhaps an urgent need for the organisers of surgical conferences to take a fresh look at why, how and for whose benefi t are the conferences being conducted. It is essential that the interests of the ST and the young surgeons be kept in mind while preparing the scientifi c programme of any conference. I would like to put before the readers some of my thoughts on the matter and encourage them to use the IJS as a forum to debate these as well as other related issues. 1. Registration All conferences should carry a subsidized registration for the ST and in fact most do. However, this fact should be highlighted prominently to encourage participation of the young surgeons. 2. Providing content of interest to the ST Scientific programme committee of any conference should dwell seriously upon the topics which would be of interest to the ST and ensure that there are enough sessions/lectures which would make it worthwhile for the ST to attend a conference. 3. Guidelines to speakers Most conferences today provide “guidelines” to the speakers and the invited faculty; unfortunately very few organisers seriously enforce them. The speakers should be requested to have clear and practical “take home points” for the ST in their presentations. Also, they should be urged to project a healthy mix of “evidence base” and “experience base” in their lectures rather than the emphasis being on the latter. 4. Allocation of adequate time for audience participation There is nothing more disheartening during a conference than to see presenter and hearing the moderators announcing, “for lack of time no questions would be permitted” after presenter delivering their talks. Free exchange of ideas and generation of interaction and debate should form the core of any scientifi c meeting. This would be possible only if: a) the speakers are instructed to fi nish their talks in the allotted time, b) the moderators are empowered to be strict in enforcing the time limit (even at the cost of appearing rude to a “distinguished” speaker) and c) the time allowed for audience interaction is at least 50% of that allotted to the speaker. A conference is likely to be benefi cial not only to the ST but also to all the delegates only if it fosters an interactive atmosphere. 5. “Meet the expert” sessions These are very useful sessions in which a small group of ST is allowed to interact with an expert. The opportunity for group interaction that such gatherings provide would certainly help the ST. 6. Live surgery There is little doubt that in recent times live surgical workshops have become an essential part of most conferences and also a popular mode of teaching technical aspects of surgery. However, delegates often come away from a live surgical workshop with the same “feel good” facD. Bhandarkar ( ) Department of Minimal Access Surgery, P. D. Hinduja National Hospital, Veer Savarkar Marg, Mahim, Mumbai 400 016, India