BJS Academy
The BJS Academy is the educational arm of the BJS Foundation. A hub to meet, learn, be mentored, discuss, listen and understand the education and accreditation opportunities available
Continuing surgical education
As surgical science advances at an extraordinary rate, all surgeons have a duty to keep up to date to offer their patients treatment based on the latest research.
To support the professional development of general surgeons of all specialties, Continuing surgical education provides a wealth of formal digital courses, specialty digests and much more.
A myriad of skills and qualities are required to sustain a career in this field, including personal sacrifice, dedication and resilience. In this section, surgeons can access a series of publications exploring this important topic.
2025 OPSORE BJS Prize: Diagnostic accuracy of radiomics-based AI modes for detecting tumor deposits on MRI in rectal cancer
Maab Saleh presents her Open Source Research Organisation (OPSORE) BJS Prize winning paper: “Diagnostic accuracy of radiomics-based AI modes for detecting tumor deposits on MRI in rectal cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis" from the 26th Annual Meeting of the Egyptian Society of Colon and Rectum Surgeons held 27th August to 29th August 2025 in Cairo, Egypt.
Pharmacogenomics in surgery
Rachel Palmer presents 'Pharmacogenomics in surgery'. Part 3 of our genomics series.
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.
A whisper in theatre: how one quiet voice made a difference
Ye Htet Aung
I still remember that evening vividly. It wasn’t just another day in theatre—it was the day I truly found my voice.
Back then, I was working as a trust-grade SHO in the UK. It was my first surgical job, and as an international medical graduate, everything felt new and daunting. The language, the culture, the humour—even the way we communicated in theatre—was different. For someone like me, an introvert from an ethnic minority background, speaking up wasn’t easy. But in surgery, silence can be dangerous.
That day, I was assisting in what was supposed to be a straightforward laparoscopic cholecystectomy. Morgan, one of my SHO colleagues, was eager to start the procedure. Our registrar, Robert, was guiding him through the initial steps, while I stood as second assistant. The consultant was in the room but unscrubbed, watching from the sidelines.
Cutting edge blog
This section is designed to add value to the articles published in BJS and BJS Open.
If you wish to send a written (or even recorded) comment on one of the published articles, please send it to katie@bjsacademy.com.
If you wish to respond more immediately, please use social media directly by tagging @BJSurgery, @BjsOpen or @BJSAcademy
Science and art of decision-making in surgery
Susan J Moug
Surgeons come from different cultures, have different religious beliefs, work in varying health systems and resources and are ultimately guided by legal requirements of the country they work in. We link all of these factors by describing the science behind decisions, heuristics, cognitive processing and human factors. We discuss how surgeons interpret the risk of surgery to the patient but have to be conscious that they are also balancing the risk to themselves. The latter being an increasing consideration as surgical outcomes are reported according to key quality performance indices, such as anastomotic leak. The personality of the surgeon is explored finding not a ‘bad’ trait but traits that may respond suboptimally in certain circumstances. To overcome this, achieving ‘personality awareness’ is proposed.
Most surgeons would say that they learnt decision-making through experience in their day-to-day job, with few having had formal training within their surgical training programmes. Residents also describe indirect training and alongside a medical student, give us insights into the progression of decision-making from student to independent surgeon.
When things do not go as planned, we question our decisions and although often not wrong, we can have a strong and negative emotional response. We describe the difference between adverse events and errors and how both can lead to burnout. Human factors can cause both as a result of a longer term stress with the delicate interplay of the surgeon, hospital and job discussed. Mentoring or support programmes could play an important role.
Comment on: Quality of life in patients with permanent hypoparathyroidism after thyroidectomy for benign thyroid disease: population-based study with long-term follow-up
Zhaoyu Peng, Yongjin Chen, Zou Meng, Wenjiang Wu
Correspondence to: Wenjiang Wu (email: 1053660645@qq.com)
Shenzhen Hospital (Futian) of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
Shenzhen
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.
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.
BJS Bookshelf: Presidents Under the Knife by Per-Olof Hasselgren
Thomas E Cataldo, MD FACS FASCRS
Assistant Prof of Surgery Harvard Medical School; Program Director in Colon and Rectal Surgery; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston MA
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The case for more surgical x-ray meetings
Dr Paul McCoubrie
Welcome back to Dr Paul McCoubrie’s a 'view from the dark side' — a series looking at the world of surgery through the lens of a radiologist.
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This summer has been difficult for me. A very good friend died in June. My pal, Barry Kelly, was a Belfast-based radiologist who originally trained as a surgeon in Glasgow. Kind and supportive, he was a brilliant wit and raconteur; everyone’s favourite colleague. He was also a polymath who seamlessly wove together literature, philosophy, history and science: very much the Stephen Fry of radiology.
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 Robert Hinchliffe.
Editor in Chief
Robert Hinchliffe manages and coordinates the activities of BJS Academy.
BJS Academy Board
Supporting the Editor in Chief, this team creates the Academy’s educational resources.
Management team
This team supports the Editor in Chief to deliver the strategy and manage the delivery of the Academy.