Cutting Edge Leeds was founded in 2001 to promote surgery as a career within the University of Leeds and its Medical School. It is affiliated with the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCSeng, Registered Charity No. 212808) and has close to 400 members among the student community.
The society aims to achieve its goals by promoting RCSEng and Women in Surgery (WinS) events, organising talks from surgeons in all stages of their career - both about particular surgical specialties (such as neurosurgery, vascular surgery and maxillofacial surgery), and about surgical training in general and by organising clinical skills workshops.
We have developed as a society over the years, and are striving to provide a beneficial resource to students. Recently, for example, we managed to organise a fascinating talk from Professor Harold Ellis, the Emeritus Professor of Surgery of Kings College, London, which gave students and doctors alike an insight into the progression of the NHS over the past 60 years. We have also hosted talks from such accredited surgeons as Professor Lewis Spitz, Emeritus Professor of Paediatric Surgery.
In addition, the Cutting Edge committee has made a bold transition from the previous "year rep" structure that many societies adopt. Instead, we are now organised into groups or departments to maximise efficiency within the committee and, therefore, to provide a better service to our members and attending non members.
We also received the award for the Best Departmental Society at the 2009 Riley Awards, as part of the Leeds University Union Celebrate Week - a testament to our hard work and to the committment of our members.
We are friendly and approachable, not cliquey and aloof. Some of us think that surgery is the career for us, some of us haven't yet decided. We don't expect you to know either; we just want to make you think about it. Membership costs £3.00 per year. If you are interested, just come along to one of our events or sign up sessions. For further info contact mail@cuttingedgeleeds.co.uk or visit our contact page.