This year’s annual conference will be held in Lerwick, Shetland Islands. The social programme begins on Wednesday 11th September, with a scientific programme on Thursday 12th – Friday 13th September, and an optional practical junior surgical skills programme on Saturday 14th September. 

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Scientific Programme (and medical student additional programme)
Our academic programme on Thursday (all day) and Friday morning will be held in the award-winning Shetland Museum. There will be the traditional eclectic mixture of content, including updates on general surgery, gastroenterology, urology and neurosurgery for the rural generalist. We will also have a session on global health issues and there will be a trainees prize-winning session for which we will invite abstract submission. The full programme can be seen on our booking form (which can be viewed without booking by scrolling down the first page!)

In a new initiative this year, we are offering a special discounted medical student deal of conference attendance and Wednesday-Friday night dorm accommodation at the 5-star rated Islesburgh House Hostel for a total of £90. This deal will include attendance at a pre-conference students’ meeting on the morning of Wednesday 11th September and is being coordinated with the Shetland Medical Society. The Shetland Medical Society will also be coordinating travel plans on the ferry in order to reduce these costs. These places are strictly limited.

On Saturday 14th September, a post-conference practical surgical skills course will run and is aimed at medical students and Foundation Programme-stage trainees. This is being organised with the support of the Association of Surgeons in Training – note this is separately bookable for £20.

Travel and accommodation advice
We strongly advise booking accommodation and travel as soon as possible as options are limited. 

We have negotiated a reduced rate at the Shetland Hotel of £135 per night for bed and breakfast – to access this rate, please call the hotel directly on 01595-695515 and explain that your booking is for the Viking Surgeons Association conference. There are a limited number of rooms available at this price and they will be offered on a first come, first served basis.
For other accommodation options, we suggest using the Promote Shetland website for ideas and further links. We encourage you to join us for the Friday afternoon tour (details below), which would make it necessary to book accommodation for Friday night also.

Please also book your travel as soon as possible. If you want to travel by boat, cabins on the Aberdeen-Lerwick ferry are booked up a long time in advance. Several Viking conference attendees have already booked cabins and have capacity to share space (and costs) with other conference-goers. If you would like to offer spare cabin space, or would like to share cabin space, please contact Jasmine Brown who is coordinating cabin-sharing: [email protected].

Flight options (all booked directly via Loganair) are also limited and will become more expensive over time (N.B. flights up from Aberdeen or Inverness are considerably cheaper than Glasgow/Edinburgh).


If you will arrive by air, please note that a regular bus service runs from Sumburgh Airport to Lerwick town centre (see timetable here), and this is a much cheaper alternative (£2.90 per person) to taxis which typically cost £60 for the 35 minute drive, and should be booked in advance.

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