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. If you would like to get in touch with the Trainees' Committee please email traineescommittee@rcsed.ac.uk.
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.
Ms Fleur R Stoops is a Specialty Registrar in Orthodontics at Newcastle Dental Hospital and James Cook Hospital, Middlesbrough. Fleur completed her LDFT and CT training in various posts throughout Scotland. She obtained her MFDS from RCPSG in 2015. Fleur completed her Orthodontic CCST training in Dundee and Aberdeen, obtaining her Masters degree M.D.Sci from the University of Dundee during her training. She is an examiner for MFDS RCPSG. She is currently completing her post CCST training in the North East. Fleur joined the RCSEd Dental Council as the Trainee Representative in April 2022.
Kirsty Mozolowski is an ST7 in colorectal and general surgery in the South East Scotland Deanery, having completed undergraduate and foundation training in the North East of England and Core Training in Manchester. During this time she obtained a PG Cert in surgical practice and developed an enthusiasm for surgical education. She is currently pursuing this interest out of programme as a clinical research fellow at Edinburgh Medical School where she is completing her MD in undergraduate surgical education. Kirsty wishes to build on the outstanding work done by the trainee committee to date and support them in their goals going forward. She is particularly interested in initiatives to increase recruitment and retention, including improving the undergraduate surgical experience and normalising LTFT for all trainees.
Carlo Ceresa is an ST6 trainee in HPB and transplant surgery, based in the Thames Valley Deanery. He completed his undergraduate and foundation training in Edinburgh before moving to Oxford to undertake core surgical and higher specialty training. He completed a DPhil at the University of Oxford exploring the application of novel preservation strategies in liver transplantation, which was awarded in 2018. He is looking forward to working with the Trainees’ Committee where he plans to pursue his interests in surgical education and training, engaging early-years doctors in becoming surgeons and working on the importance of peri-operative care and marginal gains in surgery.
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.
Jamie Nicholson is a Senior Registrar in Trauma & Orthopaedics at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Honorary Clinical Teaching Fellow for Edinburgh University. He graduated in 2011 from the University of Aberdeen with MB ChB Honours and a first class intercalated BScMedSci degree. Following completion of the Surgical Academic Foundation Programme in Aberdeen he was appointed to a training post in South East Scotland in Trauma & Orthopaedics in 2013.
Sohail Nisar is an ST6 in T&O in the Yorkshire & Humber Deanery having completed undergraduate training in the North East with a Master in Research intercalation. He is also an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellow, has recently completed a PGCert in Advanced Health Research and is working toward securing PhD funding. As an STC representative for his region he engaged with colleagues to understand the issues affecting training and conducted a region-wide audit to identify problems and then work with the TPD to resolve these. He hopes to expand some of this work nationally through his role on the committee. As an early career researcher, he is particularly interested in engaging junior colleagues, including medical students, in surgical research.
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.