AEC 4.3 Course Summary

The 3rd course of the 4th BAPRAS Advanced Educational Course Series, focusing on skin cancer and sarcoma, ran in Manchester from 20-22 March 2019. The course consisted of a cadaveric day followed by 2 days of lectures and breakout sessions, covering all aspects of Skin Cancer and Sarcoma. The AEC was organised by Miss S Hemington-Gorse, Mr J Morton, Prof M Moncrieff, and Mr T Bragg, under direction from Dean Boyce, Chair of Education & Training. 

As with 2 other courses in this AEC series, the formal meeting was preceded by a cadaveric training day, on this occasion on 'Flaps of the Head and Neck’. This was led superbly by Mr Jonathan Morton, and was a huge success. 18 trainees worked with 9 consultants to cover a vast array of facial flaps in a day which was described as "the best teaching day ever attended" by most of the delegates. 

Skin cancer, in particular melanoma and sarcoma filled the following 2 days, with over 150 delegates from all training grades and a variety of specialties present. The popularity of the course was such that for the first time in an AEC series, the 'on the day’ registrations  had to be curtailed as the course had reached its maximum capacity. 

Following feedback from the first two courses in this series, the course was structured to maximise interactive discussion, and consisted of a mixture of lectures, mock MDTs and small group discussions to facilitate the sharing of knowledge. We were delighted to welcome leading voices in melanoma and sarcoma management from across the UK and further afield including Dr Mark Faries who shared his experience of sentinel node biopsy and the findings of the widely discussed MSLT trials.  Given the rapidly changing field of melanoma management the course was a perfect time to ensure that everyone is up to date, and working from the most recent evidence and guidelines.

Sarah Hemington-Gorse

Consultant Burns and Plastic Surgery