On the cover of the print issue of the journal is a notice in the top right hand corner drawing attention to a series of courses in Plastic Surgery which are to be held over the next few years in the Manchester Conference Centre, Manchester, UK. These courses are aimed for both the trainees in the specialty and for fully qualified specialists. The courses are going to be lecture-based with presentations from leading international experts, who will be reflecting on the most up-to-date surgical techniques and developments in surgical skills. The first course is focused on head and neck oncology and facial palsy. Further details of the courses can be found at the URL shown in Figure 1.
Many of the older members of the British Association of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery will recall with some nostalgia the series of Advanced Courses in Plastic Surgery (ACPS) organized under the auspices of the British Postgraduate Medical Federation. I have at hand the programme from the eighth meeting of the third series. The topic was burns and it was held on 6/7 July 1988. The location was Leicester, England. Whilst I was working in the USA at that time I had returned as I had been a registrar at Leicester and had had a role, albeit very minor, in the formation of the programme. I had wanted to hear from the Chinese burns surgeons, and indeed Professor Z Y Shen talked of the management of the major burns in China and also of microsurgery in burns reconstruction. How formative these topics were as I reflect on my practice today.
6 July 1988 was also a tragic day in the history of burns. A series of explosions that began at 21:30 GMT on the Piper Alpha drilling platform, 193km off the north-east coast of Scotland started a fire that left 167 people dead, making it the world's worst offshore oil disaster. Most of the dead were actually suffocated by toxic fumes which developed after a gas leak set off the blasts.
The series of courses to be held in Manchester are not going to cover a syllabus in the same way as the ACPS but follow a rather more eclectic line. I do, however, strongly urge as many as possible to attend these courses. We must give more opportunity for serendipity to play a role in our lives and whilst I pay tribute to the more prescriptive approach advocated in the following editorial on specialist training I do believe that if there is a choice we should make it with our hearts rather than our heads!
Looking at the programme of the first meeting of Advanced Educational Courses it is evident that this is going to be a wonderful opportunity for the ‘not yet decided specialist’ to listen to the wisdom and experience of Masters! I use this term in a non-gender specific way and refer to those individuals who in their conduct and practice are truly inspirational figures in the field of surgical reconstruction. I am delighted that Stefan Hofer, our Deputy Editor from Toronto, has followed with an editorial describing another meeting of Masters. Whenever the opportunity presents itself to attend such meetings or courses, take it. I can certainly speak from experience; if I had not been in Leicester on 6/7 July 1988, I may well not have been in Hong Kong today.
More details about the registration, speakers and topics can be found on the website and I have taken the opportunity to take some screenshots to fill in some of the ‘white space’ in the journal. A final observation regarding the programme for that 1988 meeting: the covering letter was signed by the Executive Officer for the British Postgraduate Medical Federation, Mrs Helen Roberts – the very same Helen Roberts who now runs BAPRAS with such skill and efficiency.
FULL TEXT
