The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Viking Surgeons trade wisdom at conference
The Viking Surgeons Association (VSA) has held its 49th annual conference at An Crubh in Sleat, Skye.
The VSA is a BritishNordic association of healthcare practitioners who share an interest in rural surgery.
The get-together gives rural surgeons the opportunity to show city consultants the many challenges they and their remote patients face.
The programme features sessions on many maladies – from hernias to colostomies, and dealing with multiple traumas to chronic pain management.
The Viking Surgeons’ yearly conference began in Stornoway in 1974. The then hosts, Martin and Jean Crossfil, held the event in the living room of their marital home.
The VSA conference held in Skye in 1976 was hosted by Dr John Ball, surgeon superintendent of Broadford Hospital. Almost 50 years later and the conference is still going strong, even during the pandemic.
Conferences were held online during lockdown. There was an extraordinary attendance of more than 500 delegates from over 50 countries.
Traditionally, part of the conference includes a Viking helmet which is handed over each year to the lead Viking surgeon, named Chief Skalpel.
Josep Blondal received the helmet at the last inperson conference in Siglufjordhur, Iceland.
However, due to Covid restrictions preventing inperson conferences, three were crowned chief this year.
The new Chief Skalpels are David Sedgewick, Gordon McFlarlane and Stuart Fergusson.
Mr Sedgewick said that seeing so many trainees attend was great and that it “gives us hope for the future of rural surgery”.
As a rural surgeon, he is dedicated to ensuring patients in rural areas have equal access to important surgeries and healthcare treatments.
Originally from Fort William, Mr Sedgewick has worked as far afield as Rwanda where he provided hernia surgery training.
Surgical trainee Jasmine Brown attended the event for the first time.
She described the event as being very interesting and said she loved her time at the conference.
“I tend to avoid bigger conferences,” she says. “I avoid the social ones like the plague. I prefer the ones where you go to learn.”
Next year will be the 50th VSA conference. Although plans are not yet set in stone, organisers have confirmed that they will plan something “marvellous”.
The Viking Surgeons Association includes remote and rural surgeons working in rural general hospitals in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, rural areas of Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man and Iceland.
Membership has also included surgeons from the Faroes and coastal areas of England in the past and is open to remote and rural surgeons in any geographical location that the Vikings reached.
To learn more about the Viking Surgeons Association you can check out its official website, and follow its Twitter account for updates.