-Basic Suturing Skills Practice. This involves a Breast Surgery Registrar initially teaching students how to hand tie a surgeon’s knot. After this, they will be taught how to perform a sebaceous cyst removal on the suturing skills pads. They will then be taught to use suturing techniques (such as simple interrupted, simple continuous, subcutaneous and an Aberdeen Knot) for wound closure. This is then be followed by some information on wound healing.

-There will be talk from Endomag to discuss their innovations that are currently being used in the NHS to help surgeons accurately locate tumours and sentinel lymph nodes for breast cancer surgery (a branch of General Surgery). Attendees will then be given the opportunity to see these tools first hand.

-VR Surgical practice which includes watching a lecture on Inguinal Hernia Repair in VR then learning about Anatomy relevant to the procedure and finally watching the procedures themselves via VR

-Attendees will receive a talk on the Da Vinci Robot from a Consultant Colorectal Surgeon to get a comprehension on how technology is advancing near them in relation to General Surgery (in the local Broomfield hospital). In this talk, the surgeon will be covering concepts such as clinical implications, its modalities, who is involved in helping the robot run, components of the Da Vinic Robot, and future advancements in relation to the Da Vinci Robot.

-Understanding Laparoscopic Advancements and Skills related to this field. There will be an opportunity for students to learn about laparoscopy and advancements in this such as the use of ICG to improve visualisation during the procedure. They will then get the opportunity to use a laparoscopy box to get hands on familiarisation with the equipment and the hand-to-eye coordination necessary to use laparoscopy to do smaller task such as pull elastic and then progress to suturing using the laparoscopy box.

•Chest Drain Insertion Practice on Lamb Rib Cages. In this session they will learn about the equipment involved in this procedure and more into the Surgical Clinical Indications of chest drain insertion in General Surgery Emergencies, as well as techniques of insertion and suturing to keep the drain in place. They will also be taught the triangle of safety and its significance. They will initially be delivered a lecture. Followed by the opportunity to locate the area, insert the drain and suture the drain onto lamb ribcages.

There is also an Academic Poster Presentation Competition on the topic of Advancements in Surgery. Submit your Poster by the 23rd of January to arugeneralsurgerysociety3@gmail.com. Prize is supplied by Geeky Medics.

Get in-person tickets here: https://www.angliastudent.com/socs/32190/ (for external attendees, those outside of ARU, you have to press log in then scroll all the way where it says guest log in. Register to make a guest account. After this, add the ticket to your basket and you should be able to buy it!!). For online tickets which give access to just the Da Vinci Robot talk, register on MedAll via this link--> ARU General Surgery Society Advancements in General Surgery Technology and Skills National Conference 2025 | Event listing | MedAll.

We look forward to seeing you soon.