Vacancies

Our Global Partnerships Trainee Committee is looking to recruit a new member to serve on the committee from June 2023 for a term of two years.

Please click on the link below to apply by Wednesday 31st May 2023 23:59.

The overall vision of the BSSH Global Partnerships Committee is to use BSSH resources to deliver the maximum possible benefit for patients in need of hand surgery in under-resourced or low-income countries.

The Global Partnerships Trainee Committee works alongside the main BSSH Global Partnerships Committee to engage all trainees to develop and disseminate educational resources, and to coordinate the involvement of trainees in the wider work of the Global Partnerships Committee—developing and coordinating sustainable educational and surgical projects across the developing world.

We are inviting expressions of interest from BSSH Associate members with both Plastic and Orthopaedic background to complement the composition of the current committee.

Apply here

Three vacancies are arising on the Hand Diploma Committee.

The Committee requests expressions of interest from BSSH Members who would like to be considered.

The Committee comprises a Chair, 8 module leads (elected members), the Internal Advisor to the programme and the Diploma Coordinator.

The remit of the Diploma Committee is to develop and refine the postgraduate courses in Hand Surgery; these comprise the Diploma in Hand Surgery and the Masters in Hand Surgery. The courses are delivered by the BSSH in partnership with the University of Manchester.

Committee activities include the writing, moderating and collating of materials for the annual diploma examination. In addition, the committee shall ensure compliance with the regulations and quality assurance standards of the University.
At present we are looking for people to take over responsibility for:

• Module 1, Basic Science and Rehabilitation
• Module 3, Fractures, joint injuries & wrist instability
• Module 4, Osteoarthritic & inflammatory disorders

Membership incurs a considerable commitment of time and effort for planned events and for tasks that are to be completed at home. Attendance at the Committee days is essential to ensure a balance of specialities and expertise.
Duties include:

1. Attending 3 full-day committee meetings (usually in Birmingham). These dates are usually provided 12-18 months in advance and there is opportunity to swap with other members if dates clash. We often have a short pre-exam evening Zoom meeting as well.
2. Allocated “homework” to prepare questions for each committee meeting e.g. refining previous MCQ/EMQ/Skills stations or devising original material to present to Committee. Developing examination materials including the donation of supporting information such as clinical images or radiographs and providing input for exam logistics and planning.
3. Qualifying as an examiner for the Diploma (applicable if you have been a substantive consultant for 5 years or more and have completed the 1 day FRCS examiners course)
4. Attend the Diploma Exam as an examiner or observer which runs for 2.5 days over a Wed/Thursday/Friday once a year in Birmingham

We are organising for there to be a period of remotely delivered mentorship with outgoing committee members in order to ensure quality and improve consistency as well as handover. This will be for 6-12 months.
 
The following credentials are required:

1. Membership of the BSSH
2. Substantive Senior Clinical post
3. A demonstrable interest in education and training
4. An enthusiasm to actively participate in the duties detailed above
5. It is essential that you have the ability to commit the necessary time to meetings, the exam and allocated workstreams.*
6. Further credit is given for any past or existing involvement in the delivery of the Diploma.

* Professional leave and SPA time may need to be agreed in advance with your clinical managers unless you are using your own free time. We suggest that Diploma duties comprise 48hrs per year of private study (“homework”), 3 days of Professional Leave for meetings and 2.5 days of Professional Leave for examining + associated travel time per year.
We provide a yearly letter for your Appraisal detailing these figures.
 
If you are interested being considered for membership of the Diploma Committee, please register your expression of interest by completing the attached form and emailing it to diploma@bssh.ac.uk by 9am Wednesday 14th June 2023.

Please do not feel daunted by this application form – no-one is expected to be able to complete every box.

Please contact me directly at diploma.director@bssh.ac.uk if you require further information or alternatively contact any of the committee members listed on the BSSH website.

I can assure you that, despite the hard work, the Diploma Committee is an enjoyable and fruitful experience. I would highly recommend it and look forward to receiving your application and welcoming new members onto the committee.
Applications will be formally considered by committee at the end of June 2023.

Helen Hedley
Chair Diploma and Masters Committee

If you are interested being considered for membership of the Diploma & MSc Committee, please register your expression of interest by clicking below to download an application form and emailing it to diploma@bssh.ac.uk by 09:00 on 14 June 2023

Download form

Deadline: Monday 3 July at 09:00

Two vacancies have arisen on the Education and Training Committee. Starting duties in January 2024 your first meeting would be in Spring 2024. There can be a period of handover from Sept to Dec 23 with a previous committee member if appropriate. The Committee requests expressions of interest from BSSH Members and Associates who would like to be considered, for membership of this committee.  To maintain the current committee membership balanced this requires input from one Orthopaedic Surgeon and one Plastic surgeon.  This will be taken, into consideration when accepting applicants.
 
The Committee comprises a Chairman, the President and Secretary of the BSSH and 6 elected members. In addition, there is the Chair of the Hand TIG committee, a BOTA and a PLASTA representative. The Committee meets twice a year, Spring and Autumn.  Usually at least once face to face and on occasion by a virtual meeting.

The remit of the Education and Training Committee is to further the education and training agenda of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand. This means the inception, development, promotion and maintenance of activities related to continuing professional development both of trainees and established consultant surgeons.

Committee activities include the annual award of the Stack Travelling Fellowship, Educational and Travelling Bursaries, Medical Student Elective Bursaries and an Educational Presentation Prize. The Committee proactively supports, but does not run, the Hand Diploma and the BSSH Instructional Courses.

In recent years the Committee has established the Mentor scheme, STASH for trainees & students and BSSH Visiting Fellowships. Current projects are expanding the BSSH’s educational role with GPSIs and MSK Physios etc, WALANT resource collaboration and Patient Information Leaflets.

The following credentials are required:

• Fellowship or Associate membership of the Society
• A demonstrable interest in education and training
• An enthusiasm to actively participate in education projects as encouraged by the committee
• An Interest in dissemination of service development techniques

If you are interested being considered for membership of the Education and Training Committee, please register your expression of interest by completing the attached formand emailing it to secretariat@bssh.ac.uk by 09:00 on 03 July 2023.

BSSH Fellows are invited to express interest in the post of Chair of the above committee for the duration of the 9th series of meetings (8 meetings, one every 6 months) from June 2024 - February 2028.

The deadline for applications is 23:45 on Thursday 1 June 2023.
 
It is intended to appoint the new Chair prospectively, ideally to join the committee for their meeting on Thursday 1 February 2024. This will allow them the opportunity to review the present venue, content and organisation of the courses. In the current series for the two-day course, the first day focuses on traditional lectures whilst the second day is more interactive with breakout sessions.
 
The main duties of the Chair alongside the Committee are to: -

• Organise eight lecture courses, which cover the spectrum of hand surgery. (Two courses per year).
• Develop the programme style and content, this should be completed 3 months prior to the course.
• Invite high-profile international speakers (one international and 2 European per course) to join a national faculty for each course
• Advertise the courses nationally and internationally
• Arrange sponsorship to reduce the delegate fees
• Chair Instructional Course Organising Committee meetings (held on the Thursday afternoon before each Instructional Course)
• Report regularly to the BSSH Council by paper or in person

Previous membership of the organising committee of the Instructional Courses would be advantageous, but is not mandatory as the newly appointed Chair will have the opportunity of joining the committee meeting in February 2024.
 
Appointment process

To appoint a new Chair expressions of interest are sought from the BSSH membership with previous experience as a member on a BSSH Committee. Interviews are held when there is more than one candidate. Shortlisting will be undertaken for greater than 4 candidates. The interview panel will be composed of the current Chair, a committee representative, a BSSH Council Trustee or another committee representatives. The Chair will be an ex officio Council member with a responsibility to attend the Spring and Autumn council meetings in person or virtually. The successful candidate is proposed to the BSSH Council for election.
 
The post is immensely rewarding. The work tends to come in phases, with activity around the times of the course, and especially 6 to 8 weeks in advance when fine tuning may be necessary.
 
Members wishing to express an interest in this position should complete the short form, link below, by Thursday 1 June 2023.
 
We would consider a joint appointment, either two people working in tandem or two people organising one course each per year
 
The current Chair Mr David Clark is happy to be contacted informally for advice about what is involved.

FORM: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/GRS3QC6