Skill of a surgeon is not measured only by their psychomotor skills but also by other qualities like cognitive and affective skills, now mandated by the NMC as well.

Cognitive Skills: For Residents and for Practising Surgeons i.

For residents: Our flagship programme, the Regional Refresher Course (RRC) is the prodigious child of our hardworking and tireless Dr. Santhosh J Abraham. By the dint of his efforts and giving endless time to this programme, the RRC has gained strength and popularity with each passing year. It will be nearly impossible for anyone to fill in the shoes of the maestro, but as they say, the show must go on. It will be conducted with equal enthusiasm by Dr. G. Siddesh, our new Director Academics. Four zones, faculty and sponsors will be akin to in the past, but of course, with a new set of students as they join the residency programme.

ii.

For surgeons: I propose to continue with the National Skill Enhancement Programme (NSEP) online. The frequency may change, so will the topics. They will be of prime importance and will be dealing with issues and topics relevant to the practising surgeon. Another initiative which started on my behest last year of jointly conducting webinars with the RCPSG, Glasgow, on common topics of interest to both countries will continue with further zest. It will surely help get a global perspective to local problems. The next few webinars for the year 2024 have already been planned and will be released from time to time to the membership. Video presentations of commonly performed surgeries will also be relayed from centres of excellence.

Psychomotor Skills: For Residents and Practising Surgeons i.

For residents: ASI runs basic surgical hands-on training for residents during the RRCs in each of the zones, conducted by experienced faculty from the concerned zone.

ii.

For practising surgeons: SEPA (Skill Enhancement Programme of ASI). This is a programme where a mentor invites a handful of surgeons to his/her operating room and demonstrates basic surgery or surgery of intermediate difficulty to them. It will be headed by a state head, who will identify centres in his/her state and the faculty to be involved. It will be a one-to-many programme of small groups with training imparted by the mentor in the OT itself at no cost to the trainee. It will be OT-based, and no transmission will be required.

OGD training: Endoscopy has and is evolving at a rapid pace, and I feel that we, surgeons missed the bus when we should have boarded. Surgeons who started, when endoscopy was evolving, are some of the country’s finest endoscopists today. This initiative started with a flourish last year, and I am sure we shall be cruising along with more trainers and adding more centres in this current year.

USG training: Surgeons need to know the basics of ultrasound in their practice, especially for doing USG-guided diagnostic procedures and for handling emergencies involving FAST scans and central venous catheterisations. USG training programmes will be initiated by ASI.

National Fellowship Programmes: I propose to consolidate our existing National Travelling Fellowship Programme for young surgeons, for short training courses under the supervision of stalwarts of surgery. These will be made more attractive to suit the demands of young surgeons. The details of which will be communicated to the membership in due course of time.

Affective Skills: For Residents and for Practising Surgeons

Non-technical skills programme (NOTTS) of the RCS, Edinburgh, is a programme which deals with aspects of soft skills that a surgeon must possess. The RCS has been conducting this course since 2016, having done a few courses here in India as well. It is a good model to follow in the initial phases until we possess or develop a similar programme, suited to the Indian context. We are planning for two NOTTS courses in the coming year with the help of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.