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.

 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.

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.

The latest cases from the Confidential Reporting System for Surgery

Communication of drug allergies                                   

Whilst on call as surgical registrar, I was asked to review a 68-year-old lady who presented with cellulitis of the right foot. There were no signs of systemic sepsis. Past medical history included type II diabetes mellitus, eczema and hyper-IgE syndrome. She was allergic to penicillin and erythromycin. X-rays of the foot and inflammatory markers were normal.