Royal College of Surgeons Bursaries 2025

On 12th August, the Master, Junior Warden and PMs Pamela Goldberg and John Mill attended our annual meeting with our grant recipients at the College in Lincolns’ Inn Fields.

We met RCS England President (Tim Mitchell), the Head of Learning - Operations (Dr Kenny Webster), the Fundraising Manager - Partnerships and Impact (Scott Willoughby), and the Chair of the Learning Committee (Rachel Hargest), as well as seven of this year's cohort of bursary recipients.

This is the sixteenth year of this award. We heard presentations from all the above, not only thanking the Needlemakers for their continued and valued support but also describing how the award has changed over the years. The award comes at a critical time at an early stage in a surgeon’s career and from the reaction of the winners they are welcomed and very much valued.

There were 110 applicants – they have to be members of the College to go forward – so the long list was 80 and out of a short list of 30, 12 were awarded. We were satisfied that the process is open and transparent with all the surgical specialties represented on the judging panel. The courses are very varied encompassing not only surgical skills but also courses on “training the trainer” – passing on knowledge is vitally important.

The younger surgeons group has the most difficult time and while in theory they should be able to get all the training in the course of their daily work, it may not give the confidence required. They are generally first in line when a patient comes in and one course which has proved very valuable is cCrISP “Caring for Critically Ill Surgical Patient” which not only imparts knowledge but instils confidence.

The grantees and staff all emphasised that the fidelity of the courses is excellent – ie close to the reality in the clinic. One of the tutors of the cCrISP course was responsible for treating the young girls who were stabbed in Southport.

The group of grantees was truly diverse, from Cardiff to Sheffield to Cambridge and points in between from a range of specialisms. One of the critical elements in the application process is a statement of “values” which goes beyond academic excellence and technical skills but goes to the heart of what is important to these young doctors.

The Master presented each of the awardees with one of our new needle packs – perhaps for more domestic tasks. We are very grateful to the RCS for giving us this opportunity to meet some of the awardees, to them for giving up a day to meet us and can confidently say to our Liverymen that their money is very well spent.