About

Scalpel is the University of Manchester’s Surgical Society and a partner of the Royal College of Surgeons of England. As a society, we aim to create and foster an interest in surgery for medical students through regular lectures, workshops, and our highly-regarded annual conference.

Scalpel was originally formed in 2001, but it was not until 2006 that a core group of Manchester medical students re-formed the society under guidance from the Royal College of Surgeons, creating Scalpel as we know it today. Since this re-invention, Scalpel has gone from strength to strength to become the great society it is today with over 2,200 members.

As an undergraduate surgical society, Scalpel has three key aims:

  • To organise events that showcase surgery and all of its specialties,
  • To excite and enthuse students about surgery,
  • To provide students who are interested in surgery with relevant careers information and advice.

We hope to achieve these aims by organising talks and workshops delivered by charismatic surgeons from each and every surgical specialty. We want to get students excited about surgery early in their medical training on so that they can start to truly consider whether surgery is for them. With competition for surgical jobs becoming more and more fierce, students are being forced to consider their career options earlier than ever before. Students hoping for a career in surgery, therefore, must start to think about how to make themselves more competitive. Scalpel hopes to help these students by organising surgical careers events and by providing students with surgical role models.

Scalpel also seeks to encourage students from minorities into surgery, whether those minorities are ethnic, gender, or otherwise, by inviting role models from all walks of life as speakers at our events. Women in Surgery (WinS) events are a frequent feature of Scalpel’s events calendar, and a diverse range of speakers ensures the calendar remains of a high calibre and continues to be interesting and relevant.

In 2009 Scalpel held their first ever national conference providing delegates with the opportunity to present their case reports and original research to an audience of esteemed clinicians and students. The conference proved to be a resounding success and it has now become a major annual event attended by medical students from all across the UK and beyond.

We are delighted by your interest in our work and look forward to meeting you!

Disclaimer: The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) does not accept responsibility for the action of this surgical society.