Overview
Basic Surgical Skills is a popular two-day intercollegiate course, designed for trainees anticipating a career in surgery and preparing for basic surgical examinations. The course is led by Dermot Murphy MB BCh BAO FRCSI FRCS (Gen Surgery) BMinistry, Consultant Breast Surgeon.
Junior trainees are expected to perform a range of basic surgical skills prior to commencing specialty surgical training. These skills are tested at the MRCS Part B OSCE Examination, where trainees are assessed on their clinical and procedural skills.
The Basic Surgical Skills course aims to teach safe operating techniques and stresses the importance of precautions for safe theatre practice.
To support your training, all delegates enrolled on this course will automatically receive 30% off our MRCS Part B Preparation Course (2025 dates to be announced).
Of interest to
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, attendees should be able to:
- Explain the principles of good theatre etiquette.
- Understand correct surgical equipment handing.
- Demonstrate appropriate gowning and gloving in line with recommended standards of practice.
- Understand the variety of knots and how to tie them reliably.
- Suture a range of tissue types.
- Perform abscess draining and contaminated wound debridement.
- Demonstrate basic techniques for small bowel, vascular and tendon anastomosis.
- Understand a basic diathermic technique.
- Perform ergonomic tissue management associated with minimal access surgery.
Here's what our previous attendees said:
"Enjoyed the format of videos/discussions and then practical."
"A good introduction to the basic surgical skills that would be required across a range of surgical specialties."
"To a great extent, a very engaging learning experience."
Course programme
08:00
- Registration, refreshments and faculty meeting
08:30
- Introduction and statement of course objectives
- Assessment overview
08:35
- Gowning and gloving
- Gown and glove application and removal
08:45
- Knots
- One-handed reef knot and surgeon’s knot instrument tie and tying at depth
10:00
- Handling instruments
- Scissors, haemostats, forceps and scalpel
10:15
- Break
10:30
- Suturing techniques*
- Needles and incisions
- Interrupted sutures, simple and mattress sutures, sub-cuticular suture
12:00
- Skin lesions and local anaesthetic techniques
- Techniques for tissue dissection
- Application of local anaesthetic
- Excising a skin lesion and sebaceous cyst
13:00
- Lunch
13:45
- Ligation/transfixion
- Pedicle transfixion, continuity tie, pedicle tie
14:30
- Tissue handling 1
- Bowel: end-to-end interrupted anastomosis (hand tied knots, no assistance)
15:30
- Break
15:45
- Tissue handling 2
- Abscess drainage (no assistance)
16:00
- Tendon Repair
- Assisted
16:50
- Discussion and feedback*
17:15
- Close
*During the last 15 minutes, assessment and feedback sheets will be completed with participants
08:15
- Registration, refreshments and faculty meeting
08:30
- Reprise of knot tying
- Common faults
09:00
- Tissue handling 3
- Abdominal closure and drain insertion (assisted)
- Aberdeen knot, drain insertion, continuous suture, the art of assisting
10:15
- Break
10:00
- Handling instruments
- Scissors, haemostats, forceps and scalpel
10:15
- Break
10:45
- Group 1: Laparoscopic skills (2 hours)
- Group 2: Vascular anastomosis (1.5 hours, followed by OSATS)
12:45
- Lunch
13:15
- Heritage tour
14:00
- Group 1: Vascular anastomosis (1.5 hours, followed by OSATS)
- Group 2: Laparoscopic skills (2 hours)
16:00
- Break
16:15
- Tissue handling 4
- Debriding a traumatic wound
16:45
- Discussion & Feedback*
17:00
- Close
*During the last 15 minutes, assessment and feedback sheets will be completed with participants
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