The Surgical Society is starting up their programme for the semester next week and in preparation for this, there was an info session yesterday, the 7th of February. I attended it and now I’m back with all the intel.
Q: What’s the Surgical Society all about?
It is a student organisation founded in 2018, with the primary aim of supporting the practice and perfection of surgical knowledge and skills in PTE medical students. Currently, they boast over 800 members. As a part of the Surgical Society, you get to practice your surgical skills and test your knowledge in a relaxed environment unrelated to any exams or grades.
Q: Who is it open to?
1st years to 5th years. No prior knowledge is required because sessions cover information to support you at whatever level you are, from the very basics to more advanced levels.
Q: Where do the sessions take place?
In the Mediskills lab on the 4th floor of the Old Building.
Q: What is the programme structure like?
There are 2 groups from which you can choose to sign up: basic and advanced.
The basic groups are available to 40 students each semester with weekly 90 minute sessions.
For the advanced groups, an entry exam is required. Interested participants must either have completed the Basics of Surgical techniques course taken in the 5th semester (for the English and Hungarian programmes and 6th semester for the German programme) or must have participated in 2 semesters of training with the Surgical Society. Students fulfilling these criteria can take the entry exam and the highest 20 scorers will be approved to participate in the advanced groups.
Q: What kind of material will be covered?
For the basic groups, you can expect to cover the following:
- basic surgical techniques
- different suture materials
- basics in laparoscopy
- case presentations
For the advanced groups, you can expect to cover the following:
- Layered suturing in general surgery
- Bowel ligation and anastomoses in general surgery
- Side-to-side anastomoses in vascular surgery
- Microsurgery and advanced laparoscopy
Q: And what’s the timetable like?
Basic groups: 16:30 to 18:00; Advanced groups: 17:30 to 19:00
The sessions take place on Wednesdays, meaning:
- February 14th, 21st and 28th
- March 6th, 13th and 27th
- April 3rd
NOTE: The actual session on the 14th of February will begin by 18:00 for advanced group students, leaving 30 minutes for the entry test.
Q: Any plans for the semester?
The spring semester, also called the conference semester, will have a week-long conference (held yearly). Students have the opportunity to present any interesting cases they may have come across and the conference will be judged by the professors of the university. Lots of recent interesting cases will be shared and students can present their own cases and win prizes and certificates. If anyone is interested in this, they have until the 1st week of March to submit their abstracts for the conference. So you can go to the clinics and discover an interesting case that you would like to present, or if you have contacts with a hospital in your home country and can also obtain details of an intersting case there, it’s an option. We can expect a whole week’s worth of activities. The date of the conference is TBD, likely at the end of March or beginning of April.
Q: Any other events hosted by the PTE Surgical Society?
Quite a few. There’s Catastrophe Day in collaboration with EGSC, Surgery 101 in collaboration with the PTE Undergraduate Research Society (TDK), DaVinci training, YourAnastomosis VR vascular surgery training and students can also get the opportunity to join in on real surgeries at the university clinic.
And that’s it guys. An excellent opportunity to gain both academic and practical knowledge here in PTE. There was a personal registration session after the information session, but if you were unable to attend and would like to join the Surgical Society, contact them here, here or at their email, ptesurgicalsociety[at]gmail[dot]com. Membership is absolutely free but you will need to pay 1000 HUF for the Skills Booklet which is available at the first session. So don’t miss out, and move fast because spots are limited and they are offered on a first come, first serve basis.