Dr Fiona Bach is an ST2 doctor currently training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the LGI and happens to be one of the founding committee members of Cutting Edge Leeds. In this lecture Dr Bach gave a background into how she became interested in the field and also described the various sub-specialities it comprises, including reproductive medicine, gynaecological oncology and urogynaecology.

In addition, she also illustrated the current training pathway and the various tasks and assessments required at each stage which I think the audience found very useful. She was also kind enough to provide free booklets at the end of the talk.

View the PowerPoint presentation

The Riley Awards 2009 were hosted in the Riley Smith Hall, Leeds University Union. This event was one of several on offer this week as part of Celebrate Week, to celebrate the societies of Leeds University Union. Cutting Edge Leeds were up for the best departmental society award, alongside other very credible nominees.

The night was jam packed with glitz and glamour, and a great line up of acts interspersed within the award presentations. The evening began with pre-awards drinks in The Terrace, with a champagne arrival, followed by a swift entrance into the Riley Smith Hall, where we were greeted by the presenters with their comedic value and energy!

One of the highlights of the evening were a very funny act called "The Tealights" which provided us with some light, albeit rather dodgy, relief! Among other acts in the evening were A-Capella, who performed an excellent rendition of Mamma Mia.

Finally, the time came when the award for the best departmental society was to be announced and, to our surprise, Cutting Edge Leeds won! Those who went to receive the award were Junaid Azam (former president), Naveed Hossain (former publicity rep and current president), and Harmeet Singh Seehra (former and current webmaster). The acceptance speech was memorable!

Mr Andrew Batchelor, a now retired Consultant Aesthetic and Reconstrucitve Surgeon, visited the University of Leeds to present a talk on aesthetic surgery on behalf of Cutting Edge Leeds. This was both an informative and entertaining talk from a world renowned surgeon. He covered aspects of reconstructive surgery, and its strong relationship with post-oncological operations before focussing on aesthetic (or cosmetic) surgery.

Mr Batchelor discussed the fact that reconstructive surgery is different to most other types of surgery, in that it is not governed by a particular patient demographic, but rather by the equipment and tools available in this type of surgery. He mentioned that he has operated on anyone from neonates weighing approximately 800g to geriatric patients older than 100 years. This makes reconstructive surgery unique, and a challenging specialty.

With regard to aesthetic surgery, it was made clear by Mr Batchelor that this too is a unique specialty in that the patient already has a diagnosis when they present to the surgeon - they would like some part of their body changed in some way to "enhance their appearance above that which is normal for them", but not necessarily to make them beautiful. It is important to realise that the decision to operate on patients in aesthetics is ultimately the patient's, and they should not be forced into it. The role of the surgeon is to provide the patient with as much information as is necessary to make an informed decision about surgery.