A lecture by Mr Christopher Munsch, a consultant cardiac surgeon at the Yorkshire Heart Centre in Leeds. Mr Munsch has previously been Regional Training Programme Director for Cardiothoracic Surgery in Yorkshire and Cardiothoracic Surgical Skills Tutor at the Royal College of Surgeons in London, during which time he developed the Cardiac Surgical Skills Lab Project. As member and subsequently chairman of the SAC in Cardiothoracic Surgery he led the development of the curriculum for the speciality for cardiothoracic surgery. He is currently national Chairman of the Joint Committee on Surgical Training, and has overall responsibility for the standards and delivery of all surgical training in the UK as well as oversight of the ISCP.
Chris's talk meandered around a number of topics including the history of cardiac surgery (and in particular the role played by Leeds in that history) and the current state and future trends in the cardiac surgery. He also talked about training in surgery and the place for surgical education at undergraduate level.