Leadership

The Vascular Society is keen to develop the leadership and educational skills of future vascular surgeons. Vascular Surgeons are the leaders within vascular multi-disciplinary teams. Many vascular surgeons take on additional leadership roles as clinical leads, divisional directors, medical directors and through academia, education or roles outside of the NHS.

Vascular surgery needs aspiring inclusive leaders.It takes time and effort to develop a leadership career, develop skills for transformation and negotiation, grow a network, and influence and change the way we work  for the better. Leaders must understand the expereince of their patients, the people and teams with whom they work, the systems in which they work, finance and sustainability. Understanding capacity and demand are also fundemental, both in terms of the scope of work being undertaken but also it's deliverability into routine practice.

Opportunities for trainees

The Society needs the voice of trainees represented on it's committes and council as decisions made will affect trainees future careers. This is most important when discussing education and trainee including changes to the vascular curriculum or examination. We have the following trainnee posts on Council:

• Open Council President and Vice-President of the Rouleaux Club
• Elected Council Two SAS/LED Representatives (ex-officio - Non-Trustees)

We also welcome trainees to join each of our main Committees:

• Workforce
• Audit and Quality Improvement
• Education and Training
• Research - there are also opportunities for trainees to join each of the nine vascular special interrest groups (SIGs)

And to run and teach on the Introduction to Vascular Surgery courses run by the Rouleux Club:

Developing your leadership skills

There are many opportunities for you as a trainee to develop your leadership skills and some of these are highlighted below:

• Rouleaux Club UK and Ireland Vascular Trainee's Association
  • You can see who is on the Executive here
• ASIT The Association of Surgeons in Training
• ESVT European Vascular Surgeons in Training
  • You can view the current UK and Ireland country representatives on the website.
  • EVST Councillors are eligable to apply for conference travel grants.
• RCS England
  • Emerging Leaders programme aims to encourage women and non-binary people to become familiar with, and subsequently apply for, leadership roles within the surgical and healthcare profession.
• RCS Edinburgh

  • Future Leaders Programme for Surgeons (ST8, SAS or in the first years of consultancy)

  • FLP is now open for applications. The deadline for applying is Wednesday 12 June 2024.

David Riding, Consultant Vascular Surgeon:

The Future Leaders Programme has been a stimulating and enriching course that has re-framed my understanding of effective leadership. The course is perfectly pitched at surgeons approaching the end of training and the beginning of consultancy, and has given me a much clearer idea of how to negotiate my way to success in the context of a highly pressurised NHS.

A significant proportion of the learning and reflection can be done flexibly, and I have found it straightforward to combine the course with my clinical practice. Importantly, I have enjoyed the experience of meeting like-minded surgeons from other specialties, and the face-to-face sessions have been both entertaining and thought-provoking.

Lisa Hadfield-Law and Humphrey Scott are superb course directors, and provide just the right amount of guidance, whilst ensuring that each participant is intellectually stretched. I would have no hesitation in recommending the course to any surgeon seeking to build a firm foundation for their future leadership career. 

Resources

NIHR

Consensus report from the Royal College of Surgeons of England: Advancing the Surgical Workforce.

 Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management (FMLM)