Chairmanship recruitment to intercollegiate committees

The presidents of the four surgical royal colleges of Great Britain and Ireland invite applications from surgeons with significant relevant experience for the chairmanships of three key intercollegiate committees as follows:

• The Intercollegiate Committee for Basic Surgical Examinations (ICBSE)
• The Joint Committee on Intercollegiate Examinations (JCIE)
• The Joint Committee on Surgical Training (JCST)

The current chairs demit office during 2017.

The process will be by application, selection and interview by the presidents. The selection process is led by the Chair of the Joint Surgical Colleges Meeting (JSCM), Mr Mike Lavelle-Jones.

The Committees

The ICBSE governs the operation, regulation and development of the MRCS and DOHNS examinations. Professor Peter Brennan demits office in September 2017. The present format of the MRCS has now been established for almost five years and the incoming chair will take up office at an important time with the review of the MRCS and DO-HNS examinations format and processes due to take place in 2017. Important quality assurance initiatives relating to the exams will need to be progressed during the successful applicant’s tenure in addition to building on the recently promoted research portfolio which has raised the ICBSE profile in recent times. Equality and diversity issues in assessment will also remain high on the agenda for the forthcoming term.

The JCIE is responsible, in line with regulatory statutory requirements, for the supervision of standards, policies, Regulations and professional conduct of the FRCS Specialty Fellowship Examinations. The JCIE is the parent body for the ten surgical Specialty Boards. Governance of the JCIE is through the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. The current JCIE Chair, Professor David Richens, demits office immediately after the JCIE meeting on 12 October 2017. A prospective appointment will begin in April 2017, to allow for a period of handover. The incoming chair will be responsible for the continuing development and review of the examinations, the Question Banks, oversight of Quality Assurance (which is managed via a sub-committee under the IQA chair) and reporting on and monitoring of equality and diversity issues.

The JCST works to enhance the quality of surgical training. With 10 Specialty Advisory Committees (SACs), 6 Training Interface Groups (TIGs) and a Core Surgical Training Advisory Committee (CSTAC), it is the parent body for the Intercollegiate Surgical Curriculum Programme (ISCP), enrols and monitors trainees and makes recommendations to the relevant regulator when they are ready for certification at the end of training. On the GMC’s behalf, it also evaluates applications for the Certificate of Eligibility for Specialist Registration (CESR). Members work closely with Postgraduate Deaneries and Schools of Surgery to support the quality management of training programmes. Mr Bill Allum will demit office at the end of 2017, but a prospective appointment will begin in June 2017 to allow for a period of handover. The new chair will be responsible for reviewing, updating and implementing the JCST’s strategic aims for 2013-18 and continuing with the implementation of the intercollegiate equality and diversity policy.

Application

Applicants for all three posts must be fellows in good standing of one of the four surgical royal colleges of Great Britain and Ireland, and be in clinical consultant practice in the National Health Service (UK)/Public Health Service (Ireland).

The application form, job description and person specification are available from:

ICBSE: Mr Lee Smith, ICBSE Manager
Tel: 0207 869 6282/Email: lsmith@icbse.org.uk or online here

JCIE: Mrs Moira Gray, JCIE Head of Operations
Tel: 0131 319 8041/Email: m.gray@jcie.org.uk

JCST: Ms Sallie Nicholas, Head of JCST
Tel: 020 7869 6240 /Email: snicholas@jcst.org

Closing Date: The closing date for applications for all three posts is Monday 23 January 2017

Interviews: Interviews for all three posts will be held at the Royal College of Surgeons of England as follows:

1. ICBSE Chair: Monday 20 March 2017 (morning)
2. JCST Chair: Monday 20 March 2017 (afternoon)
3. JCIE Chair: Tuesday 21 March 2017 (morning)