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Plans are well ahead now for The Next Voyage in Inverness 18-19 September 2025.
Prof. Angus Watson is putting together an exciting program for general surgeons & trainees focused on the broad range of emergencies that remote and rural surgeons face in their communities. As usual the academic programme will be all day Thursday and Friday morning and this year will be held at RAVIC, Inverness. Bookings are being handled by the RCSEd A dinner and ceilidh is organised for Thursday evening at the The Waterside, Glen Mohr hotel- there is a separate fee and booking link: Book now to avoid disappointment! Gordon McFarlane Treasurer Viking Surgeons Association We are delighted to announce The Next Voyage, the Viking Surgeons Association Annual Meeting for 2025 will take place in Inverness, with the academic programme running on Thursday and Friday, 18-19th September. The meeting will be hosted by Prof. Angus Watson in the new RAVIC building, Scotland's Rural College, Inverness Campus, Inverness, just across the A9 from Raigmore Hospital.
The meeting is for Consultant Surgeons, Trainees and R & R medical Students. As usual, a wide variety of talks and updates are planned, along with skills sessions. The Waterside at the Glen Mohr Hotel is booked for a buffet and ceilidh. Save the date! Detailed programme to follow. Medical Students and FY1/2 Doctors We invite abstract submission from students or junior doctors, who may wish to present an audit, piece of research or quality improvement, or a case report. This work should have a connection with remote and rural surgery and may result in an oral presentation, with the best presentation winning a prize. Abstract submission is via this audit competition form. The abstract submission deadline is Friday 16th August.  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.
Book now 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. Book Now!  We will be in Shetland this year, meeting again at the Shetland Museum (below) from Wednesday 11th to Friday 13th September 2024 Details to follow  To book your place email: [email protected] *******Registrations close next week******** September 20-22, 2023 Kilmallie Free Church Hall Glenpane Street, Caol, Fort William PH33 7AU  Wednesday September 20, 2023 12:00 Arrival and Check in for Sponsors and Speakers This option for early check in is not mandatory, just if you wanted to play golf or arrive early 14:00 - 9 Holes of Golf – Fort William Golf Club, £20, pay at venue Axe throwing in Spean Bridge, £32, pay at venue 17:00 Venue open for set up 18:00 Wine and cheese Meet and Greet – Crofter Hotel, High street Fort William, 19:00 Informal meal at The Old Deli, High Street Fort William Thursday September 21, 2023 08.30 Registration, Coffee, Sponsor Exhibition 09.00 Welcome 09.05 Session 1 – ENT for the generalist
10:30 Coffee Break 11.00 Session 2 – Sustainability and green theatre issues for the rural surgeon
12:30 Lunch, Sponsors - Viking Photograph 13:30 Session 3 – Colorectal
15.00 Break 1530 Session 4 – The Spine
17.00 Close of the Day 17.30 Viking AGM 19:00 Viking Surgical Association Dinner and Ceilidh
Friday September 22, 2023
08.30 Coffee 09.00 Session 1 – The Difficult Gallbladder
10.30 Break 11.00 Session 2 – Surgical Pot pourri
12.30 Lunch and Closing remarks 14.00 Viking Social – join your peers for some local adventuring
 We are going to Fort William for our 50th Annual Conference of the Viking Surgeons Association!
Bruce Tulloh will be the main host, with assistance from local colleagues, current and retired. The dates will be Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd with the usual social programme starting from Wednesday lunchtime, main academic programme Thursday and Friday morning, and social programme finishing Friday evening. There is a superb academic programme being put together with a wide variety of topics and carefully chosen speakers.  Our 49th Annual Conference starts today for those meeting in person. If you have been unable to make it to Skye, the full day academic programme for tomorrow (Thursday 3rd November) is available as a webinar with help once again from the Faculty of Remote Rural and Humanitarian Healthcare at the RCSEd. Over 40 surgeons and trainees are gathering on Skye, with 70+ already registered on line. See the full programme and then register here. CPD certificates are available for attending the webinar. The lectures will also become available on the RCSEd website, usually a couple of weeks after the conference.
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Gordon McFarlaneConsultant Surgeon, Shetland Archives
December 2023
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