The College has published a report calling for improvements to the configuration of major trauma services north of the border

The surgical management of trauma is one of the earliest skills that a surgeon learns. Worldwide, the mortality from trauma, either civilian or military, is a major cause of death and disability. Scotland, with a population of approximately 5,000,000 people spread over a wide territorial area, faces challenges in the delivery of trauma care for all of its population.

Malta’s pioneering ophthalmologist, politician and statesman, remembered by his grandson, Dr Paul Cauchi

On 17 March 2012, I attended the state funeral for my grandfather in Malta. He was less than two weeks away from his 99^th birthday. It made me wonder why hundreds of people had turned out to attend this event and why he meant so much to the people of Malta. As members of his family, we felt a mixture of grief and celebration at the end of a long and accomplished life.

Censu Tabone was born on the small island of Gozo in 1913. He was the youngest of 10 siblings and his father was a doctor on the island. His father died of lung cancer when he was still young, which had a profound effect on him. He was sent to boarding school in Malta and went on to study medicine at The Royal University of Malta. He qualified as a doctor in 1937 and started practising as a General Practitioner. He was set on pursuing a career in ophthalmology at a very early stage.

RCSEd’s Future Surgeons: Key Skills course visited Manchester for the second time in March. Local medical student Anam Ashraf reviews the event 

The Future Surgeons course, which had its first outing in Manchester in January 2012, was targeted at medical students and foundation year doctors to provide a solid base and sound understanding of fundamental surgical skills. Run under the auspices of The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and facilitated by Doctors Academy, this one-day event was supported by the Christie School of Oncology and various surgical suppliers such as Kimberly Clark, Ethicon Endosurgery and Covidien, who kindly provided essential equipment.

 This year will see further major developments in the portfolio of surgical distance learning programmes that are linked to the MRCS and FRCS, and that are delivered jointly by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh. The launch of last year’s ChM in General Surgery is now to be followed with the scheduled opening of ChM programmes in Urology and Trauma & Orthopaedics in September 2012.

Commitment to surgical audit from all levels of the profession was on show at the College’s annual Symposium on 10 March

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In June, representatives from across the medical spectrum came together in Edinburgh to celebrate the life and work of James Young Simpson

Seventh June this year was the 200th birthday of James Simpson, one of the most celebrated figures in the history of Edinburgh Medicine, best remembered for his introduction of chloroform for analgesia and anaesthesia in obstetrics and surgery.