LEADING SURGICAL

EDUCATION

About BJS Academy

It is essential for surgeons to engage in life-long learning to provide patients with the best available treatments.

Divided into five sections, BJS Academy is an online education resource that supports the professional development of current and future surgeons worldwide by championing research and collaboration.

Continuing surgical education

Committing to a career in surgery means keeping abreast of medical and surgical progress throughout 20–30 years.

Continuing surgical education summarises advances in various subspecialties, as well as providing lectures and vodcasts on topics of interest. If you wish to pursue formal credentialling or educational training courses, you can find out more about the BJS Institute’s collaboration with the University of Edinburgh.

Inflammation in tissue regeneration and vascular disease

Listen into to Katherine Gallagher's lecture "Inflammation in tissue regeneration and vascular disease".

This lecture is presented as a part of our 2025 vascular series in conjunction with lectures recorded at the 2024 Vascular Society of Great Britain and Ireland Annual Scientific Meeting.

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28 April 2025

Imaging biomarkers in aortic and peripheral artery disease

Listen into to Rachael Forsythe's lecture "Imaging biomarkers in aortic and peripheral artery disease: the Hubble Space Telescope of cardiovascular research".

This lecture is presented as a part of our 2025 vascular series.

Vascular Video

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23 April 2025

Young BJS

Dedicated to and managed by surgeons in training, Young BJS offers everything a trainee could need to supplement and expand upon their core learning.

Focusing on the importance of surgical research, it gives trainees the opportunity to read and critique research, design surgical projects and optimise their chances of being published in peer-reviewed journals.

Evaluation and treatment of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm

Leinweber ME, Rahmaditya FS, Hinchliffe RJ

Br J Surg 2025; 112: znaf051.

Vascular

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23 May 2025

High stakes on a plane

Oliver Kooseenlin

I was sleeping on a flight and I am woken by a flight attendant asking a man in the opposite row “are you sure you’re OK?”

He was hyperventilating and complaining of chest pain. When the flight attendants started to bring out medical equipment from a locker, a curiosity spark lit up. I never experienced a medical emergency on a flight since graduating. I assisted a passenger on a train before, but never in the air.

I introduced myself, informed them I was training to become a surgeon and tried to get a brief history. I had no idea where to start. I asked, with little confidence, if there was any emergency kit? The crew proceeded to show me vials of adrenaline, an airway kit, an oxygen cylinder and plasters. The patient had low sats, so I went through my A to E in my head – thinking of my recent CCrISP -, putting on oxygen as we moved onto C and D, asking the cabin crew to be my “scribe” for the findings. A whirl of surgical differentials started spinning in my head when examining the abdomen. Could this be a pneumothorax, would he need a chest drain? Is this a perforation needing urgent intervention. Is this an episode of pancreatitis triggered by one too many in the bar pre-flight?

General Essay competition

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2 May 2025

Cutting edge blog

Globally recognised journals, BJS and BJS Open, deliver a wealth of quality materials surrounding surgical science and learning.

The Cutting edge blog offers commentary and opinion pieces about published papers, journal clubs and debates for regular readers of the Foundation’s journals, as well as summary digests of other recent surgical publications.

The BJS Instrumentalist Collection in association with the Hunterian Museum

Alice Watkinson-Deane

At the heart of the Royal College of Surgeons of England lies the Hunterian Museum, a space dedicated to the history of surgery from ancient times to the present day. Many visitors are drawn to the specimens on display - over 2,000 preparations of human and animal tissue collected by John Hunter in the 1700s. However, the story of surgery is equally told through the wealth of surgical instruments in the collection, from the simplest probes to the latest minimally invasive technologies.

Mick Crumplin, a retired surgeon and Honorary Curator of Instruments at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, delves into this fascinating history in his series of 20 articles for ‘The Instrumentalist’ in the BJS. This brilliant resource reviews the origin of a wide range of instruments, some of which will be very familiar to today’s surgeons, while others are less well-known.

General Guest blog

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22 May 2025

Author response: Tumour deposit count is an independent prognostic factor in colorectal cancer—a population-based cohort study

Simon Lundström, Erik Agger, Marie-Louise Lydrup, Fredrik Jörgren, Pamela Buchwald

Correspondence to: Simon Lundström (e-mail: Simon.Lundstrom@med.lu.se)

Department of Surgery

Skåne University Hospital

General Lower GI Correspondence

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14 May 2025

Scientific surgery

Designed to help the busy surgeon keep up to date, Scientific surgery provides succinct summaries of new and interesting information collated from leading surgical journals and digital media.

Randomized clinical trials

For all clinical surgeons

Surgical science

For those interested in the science behind surgery

Social media

A monthly digest of the best digital material

Surgery for all

For non-surgeons

Surgical news

Exploring topics relevant to both surgeons and people without medical training, Surgical news is accessible to everyone.

Many patients seek reliable information on the best treatments for surgical diseases, whilst others have a general interest in reading quality articles about surgeons and surgical practice.

A view from the coffee room...How to retire gracefully: 10 commandments for surgeons

Dhananjaya Sharma, MBBS, MS, PhD, DSc, FRCS, FCLS (Hon), FRCST (Hon)

Retirement is a major transition for any professional, but for surgeons, it is particularly complex. The identity, purpose and intense commitment associated with surgical practice make stepping away from the operating room both a psychological and logistical challenge. To ensure a smooth transition, surgeons must plan their exit strategy. Here are 10 commandments for retiring gracefully from surgical practice:

The key to a seamless retirement is early and thoughtful planning. Ideally, this process should begin 5–10 years before retirement. This period allows time for assessment of financial security, professional succession planning, and gradual disengagement from clinical duties. Developing a timeline ensures that retirement is a proactive decision rather than a reactive necessity due to declining health or external pressures. Such planning is the key to a graceful landing in the post-retirement life.

Financial security is crucial to a stress-free retirement. Surgeons should work with financial planners to evaluate their savings, investments and retirement benefits. Diversifying income sources—such as pensions, savings, and passive investments—ensures stability.1It is also wise to consider medical insurance coverage post-retirement, and planning to safeguard wealth for future generations.

General Guest blog

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30 April 2025

A view from the coffee room…on the friendship between residents

Virve Koljonen MD, PhD

Residency, and especially surgical residency is hard1. Burnout, depression, harassment, emotional exhaustion, and stress are way too familiar with current surgery residents2-7. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed much since I was resident8, 9. But what has changed is that we acknowledge this now. I have to say though, it is good that I did not read these articles before I started my surgical career about 27 years ago.

Surgery residency and residency in general changes previous personal relationships and this is tied to evolving professional identity10. Strange working hours, and patient-doctor relationship confidentiality may lead to fewer talking points with non-medical friends and family11. Further, these relationships with non-medical friends and family may not thus provide the support they used to,11, 12 especially when dealing with work-life and residency.

General Guest blog

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28 March 2025

BJS Academy team

The talented team behind the Academy bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to their roles.

The Academy website is managed by IT partners, River Valley Technologies, a Content Management team coordinated by ACS Global and a BJS Academy Board managed by Jonothan Earnshaw.

Director

Jonothan Earnshaw manages and coordinates the activities of BJS Academy.

BJS Academy Board

Supporting the Director, this team creates the Academy’s educational resources.

Management team

This team supports the Director to deliver the strategy and manage the delivery of the Academy.