Trainees' Committee
The Trainees’ Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is the main conduit for ensuring that the views of trainees are considered in all aspects of the College’s activities.
Its activity to date includes, but is not limited to:
- Deliver the opinions and priorities of the College trainee membership directly to RCSEd Council, through its elected representative.
- Work externally as RCSEd representatives with bodies such as the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, the British Medical Association, the Association of Surgeons in Training, as well as many other organisations.
- Liaise with the RCSEd policy and public affairs team, providing trainee perspective on political consultations and interactions.
- Direct and lead strategic project work for the College’s #LetsRemoveIt Anti-Bullying and Undermining Campaign
- Participation in numerous short life working groups on topics such as flexible working and whistleblowing
- Taking forward specific initiatives on behalf of trainees, for example negotiating with HMRC for tax relief for the JCST fees and relief for the Specialty Fellowship Examination.
- Interacting with College Fellows, Members, Affiliates and students at outreach events in various regions.
- Joining faculty for College competitions and courses, such as the Student Surgical Skills Competition.
The Trainees' Committee informs the Council, through the Chairperson, on relevant education, training and examination issues from a trainee's perspective and assists with the preparation of discussion documents and publications through the College media.
The Trainees' Committee members are located across the UK and want to hear the views of the RCSEd Trainees it represents.
Current Members of RCSEd's Trainees' Committee
Katie Hurst (Chair) is a General Surgery Registrar (ST4) in the Thames Valley deanery, with an interest in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery. During completion of her academic foundation programme and academic clinical fellowship in Oxford, she sat on the RCSEd Trainees committee for 3 years. Katie is extremely passionate about improving trainee morale, as well as teamwork in the workplace. She orchestrated the RCSEd roadshow 'Lets Cycle It', and is currently chair of the RCSEd Sustainability Champions. Outside work, Katie enjoys cycling, running and spending time with friends.
Jun Wei Lim is one of the Trauma and Orthopaedics registrars in the North of Scotland deanery. She has a strong interest in diversifying the surgical workforce and supporting medical students and foundation doctors to pursue a career in surgery. She hopes to build on her experience to date and continue to promote realisation and elimination of both conscious and unconscious bias in surgery with the College. She hopes to engage trainees and trainers in mitigating barriers that female trainees face throughout their training and make women in surgery the norm.
Maria Boland is a general surgical ST5 trainee in South East Scotland. She completed her medical degree at UCL and foundation training in London and Edinburgh and Core Training in Edinburgh. Maria has always had a keen interest in teaching since medical school and has recently joined the committee to support the work they do and also to work towards improving recruitment to surgery and making it a more attractive career to medical students. She hopes to increase trainee engagement with the College and is keen to get involved in furthering the mentor scheme which has recently been set up.
Fatima Mansour is an ST6 Speciality Registrar in General Surgery, based in the West Midlands. She is currently taking time out of programme to complete her PhD at the University College London, on the application of surgical biotechnology in hepatic surgery. She is a Clinical Research Fellow in HPB and liver transplant surgery at the Royal Free Hospital, London. Fatima joined the Trainees’ Committee in May 2022 and is keen to build on the excellent work carried out to date. She is interested in processes that could allow greater standardisation of behaviour and practise in surgery to produce improved patient care. During her tenure, she hopes to drive initiatives that raise the quality of surgical training, boost medical students' and early trainees' engagement with the College and promote wellbeing initiatives that meet the needs of an increasingly diverse group of trainees.
Waheeb Al-Azzani is currently a senior Trauma and Orthopaedic trainee in Oswestry. He completed his undergraduate and Academic Foundation training in Cardiff. He then completed his Core Surgical training in South Wales and currently undertaking his Higher Orthopaedic training in Wales and Oswestry. As a member of the RCSEd Trainees’ Committee, Waheeb is dedicated to contributing to issues surrounding the education, training, wellbeing, and development of future surgeons. Outside medicine, Waheeb is a personal trainer and enjoys an active lifestyle, including surfing, hiking and climbing. Waheeb is excited to bring his skills and experience to the College and help shape the future of surgical training.
Morven Allan is a general surgical trainee in South East Scotland. She completed her medical training, foundation and core training in Oxford and London before moving back to Scotland, where she is originally from, for higher surgical training. She is currently pursuing a PhD through the University of Edinburgh, using various models to investigate colorectal cancer progression.
She has a keen interest in medical education and has recently joined the RCSEd Education Committee as the trainee representative. In addition, she wishes to build on the fantastic work already achieved by the committee on supporting LTFT, OOP and parental leave for all trainees, which she believes will help improve retention in surgery. Outside work she enjoys tennis, running (mainly after her 2 year old), skiing and walks with her dog.
Emma Howie is a ST6 General Surgery trainee, currently on OOPR, completing a PhD at the University of Edinburgh with the Surgical Sabermetrics group. Emma is passionate about human factors and patient safety, with a tutoring role on the RCSEd supported MSc for Patient Safety and Clinical Human Factors. This also extends to interest and work with NOTSS, to which Emma is passionate about extending throughout levels of surgical training. Other interests include supporting wellbeing of trainees through peer support, LTFT and non-traditional surgical pathways; and constant pet therapy from her Labrador.
Iain Rankin is a Senior Registrar in Trauma & Orthopaedics at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary. He completed his undergraduate training at the University of Glasgow in 2012 and subsequent foundation training in North West Thames. He was appointed to a training post in the North of Scotland Deanery in Trauma & Orthopaedics in 2014. Throughout his surgical training he has completed a MSc in Evidence Based Healthcare at University College London and PhD in Bioengineering at Imperial College London. As a member of the RCSEd Trainees’ Committee he aims to work towards improving trainee wellbeing and sustainability, whilst pursuing his interests in surgical education and training.
Mr Grant Harris MBBS FRCSEd. I completed general surgery higher training with a breast specialty interest in the north east of England in 2023 and have commenced a consultant breast surgeon appointment in Northumbria Healthcare NHS Trust. I joined the committee earlier in 2023 as an ST8 trainee with an understanding of challenges faced by trainees of all stages including the transition to consultant practice. My interests in surgical training, human factors and trainee involvement with clinical trials.
Majid Rashid is a General Surgery trainee in South East Scotland with an interest in Oncoplastic Breast surgery. He is enthusiastic about medical education, medical leadership and how both can impact on patient safety. As member of the Trainee Steering Group for the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM) he runs a monthly book club you can follow on twitter (@MajidMRashid).
He completed the Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellowship (2022-23) with RCSEd and NHS Grampian. His work with the Patient Safety Group is centered around how we can build healthier teams in healthcare to improve both staff well-being and consequently patient safety.
