This year we are restarting the prestigious Barber's Company Prize for Surgical Case Presentations.
What is the Barber's Company Prize?
The prize is awarded for the best oral presentation of an interesting surgical case by a clinical year medical student at St. George's University to a panel of St. George's Hospital consultants followed by viva-style questions from the consultants.
The Barber's Company has kindly donated prizes of £200 for the winner and £100 for the runner-up and there will will be certificates for all presentations that are shortlisted!
How do I get involved?
Abstracts are to be submitted to an independent party at St. George's University (announced nearer the time). The deadline for submission will be announced when we have finalised the date of the presentation evening, but is likely to be in late January/February 2017.
The first round of judging will require the submission of an abstract of your chosen surgical case. These will be reviewed by the consultant panel and the best six will be invited to prepare their presentations for the award night that will be held in March 2017 (tbc).
Why is being held in March, I haven't been on my surgical placement yet!
We realise that having the abstract deadline in January/February may make it difficult for those who have not been on their surgical attachments yet. However, we have decided that in order to allow for the most people to participate the event has to align with the F year calendar and has to allow time for the first round of adjudication.
Those students in T, P and F year who are yet to complete their surgical attachments are encouraged to use memorable cases they may have presented in previous years.
What happens on the presentation night?
The presentations are to last ten minutes and they will be followed by five minutes for the consultants' questions.
The consultants will confer following completion of the final presentation and the winner and runner-up will be announced on the night and they will be presented with their prizes by a representative from the Worshipful Society of Barbers.
What are the viva questions likely to be about?
The consultants are not there to catch you out, their questions are likely to ask for understanding of your chosen case or simply to elaborate on an aspect of the presentation.
Keep an eyes out for the confirmed date in March and abstract submission details! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch either via email or our facebook page!