Future Leaders Programme for Surgeons
The Future Leaders Programme (FLP) is open to general surgeons, ENT, urology, OMFS, breast, vascular, cardiothoracic, neuro, paediatric and plastic surgeons. The programme is accredited by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd). Funding is likely to be available from ASiT, ASPBGI, BAOMS, BSSH, BAPS, ENT UK, MDDUS, RCSEd, SBNS, Integra and the Vascular Society.
FLP is a 12-month blended learning programme supporting surgeons (ST8, SAS or in the first years of consultancy), from the specialities listed above, and dentists on the specialist list or working as an SAS grade, with the passion to be future leaders within their specialty and equip them with the advanced leadership skills needed to excel.
[Note: for the Trauma & Orthopaedic surgeons, please visit the British Orthopaedic Association (BOA) website: BOA Future Leaders Programme].
Participants will complete an educational project which will provide the vehicle for learning and development of leadership skills.
Future Leaders Programme 2025 Applications
Applications for the 2025/2026 cohort are now closed. The deadline was Thursday, 29 May 2025.
For all other enquiries, please contact: Paul Rafferty via education@rcsed.ac.uk.
Resources
To aide your Future Leaders Programme applications, past participants have provided screencasts and information to guide you through the programme and share how it has benefited them.
Click on the names below to watch their screencasts.
Testimonials
Read the testimonials below from past participants who have completed the Future Leaders Programme.
"I have done quite a bit of leadership training in the past (ex-military) but unlike the mandatory 3 day leadership course you have to do prior to CCT I have really found that this one has stretched me.
You can work on it as much as you want. They are also flexible with the deadlines - they know we are all busy and it is useful to have targets to work towards but sometimes life gets in the way and they understand that.
The bespoke evaluations have also been very useful. We have been asked to do various tests which demonstrate our leadership style, and in combination with the workbooks and personal development plans, I really feel I have a far better insight into my strengths and weaknesses.
The symbiosis of the course with a leadership project is a brilliant concept, as it helps put the theory into practice. So often I go on non-technical courses and come away with great ideas but then if I don't use them straight away the skills fade. This forces the application of the theory into a tangible output. Given that the content and scope of the project is entirely up to us, we can push ourselves or tread cautiously depending on our own circumstances.
It has also been great connecting with UK wide surgeons at the same stage of their careers, in a variety of specialties. I have made some close links with colleagues I have met on the course who have really contributed to my project (which is for prostate cancer patients) despite them not having any urological experience.
Essentially I cannot rate it highly enough."
"The Future Leaders Programme has been a stimulating and enriching course that has re-framed my understanding of effective leadership. The course is perfectly pitched at surgeons approaching the end of training and the beginning of consultancy, and has given me a much clearer idea of how to negotiate my way to success in the context of a highly pressurised NHS.
A significant proportion of the learning and reflection can be done flexibly, and I have found it straightforward to combine the course with my clinical practice. Importantly, I have enjoyed the experience of meeting like-minded surgeons from other specialties, and the face-to-face sessions have been both entertaining and thought-provoking.
Lisa Hadfield-Law and Humphrey Scott are superb course directors, and provide just the right amount of guidance, whilst ensuring that each participant is intellectually stretched. I would have no hesitation in recommending the course to any surgeon seeking to build a firm foundation for their future leadership career."