The Faculty of Surgical Trainers at Chennai

The Faculty of Surgical Trainers was given an opportunity to showcase its work through a series of dedicated sessions led by Pragnesh Bhatt, recently appointed Deputy Director. This was very well supported by then Vice President (and Current President) Prof. Rowan Parks who started by presenting an overview of the Faculty’s vision, mission and work to date highlighting the strong foundation laid by previous directors Mr Craig McIlhenny and Mr David O’Regan.

Pragnesh Bhatt then shared a presentation about “Attributes of a good trainer” based on the publication from the FST - Standards for Surgical Trainers.

Prof. Robin Paton, RCSEd Honorary Treasurer, gave a presentation on the subject of helping the trainee in difficulty.

Prof. Pawanindra Lal, Director Professor and Head of Surgery from MAMC, New Delhi and recently elected fellow of the FST shared his experience about simulation training based on his own set up to illustrate how hospitals can support trainers. This was inspirational.

Prof. K Ganapathy’s presentation about the future of surgical training (in 2030) was very stimulating and generated plenty of discussion.

At the end of the session, Prof. Sudha Seshayyan presented her views about the cultural and social influences on the trainer/trainee relationship to initiate panel discussion that ended up on a very lively Q&A session with active participation from the audience including Mr Pala Rajesh, former VP of the College and the mastermind behind this first ever international conference.

Overall, the session was well attended and generated significant interest in the FST.  

Full list of sessions:

1. Prof. Rowan Parks - Introduction to the Faculty of Surgical Trainers
2. Mr Pragnesh Bhatt - Attributes of a good trainer
3. Mr Robin Paton - Helping the trainee in difficulty
4. Prof. Pawanindra Lal - How hospitals can support trainers
5. Prof. K Ganapathy - Surgical Training in 2030: A peep into the future
6. Mr Pragnesh Bhatt - Panel discussion: Cultural and social influences on the trainer/trainee relationship

 FST Deputy Director, Mr Pragnesh Bhatt

 Left to Right: Prof. Rowan Parks, Mr Pala Rajesh, Mr Pragnesh Bhatt, Prof. K Ganapathy, and Prof. Pawanindra Lal.