Date: 25-26 October 2025
Location: Charles Wolfson Centre, Royal Free Hospital, Pond Street, London, NW3 2QG     

Event information: 

Course Overview
The Fundamentals Skills in Plastic Surgery course is a two-day, intensive, hands-on programme designed to provide resident doctors with a special interest in plastic surgery and junior plastic surgery registrars with the core principles and technical skills required for safe and effective practice in plastic surgery. The programme is aligned with the ISCP Plastic Surgery Curriculum and targets competencies expected of trainees progressing into higher surgical training or in their initial ST3 years.

Training is delivered by experienced Plastic Surgery Consultants and Registrars, ensuring a high tutor-to-student ratio for personalised supervision, feedback, and mentorship. Course is intended for 20 students with a minimum of 4 tutors.

 

Course Content - Practical Skills Sessions:

1. Basic Suturing Techniques – A recap of basics of instrument handling, simple interrupted suturing, and knot tying. Attendees are expected to have prior experience suturing to attend the course.

1. Advanced Suturing Techniques – More advanced wound closure methods including continuous sutures, dermal sutures, subcuticular sutures, mattress sutures, corner stitches.
2. Skin Grafting, Excision of Skin Lesions and Wound Management – Full and partial thickness skin grafting techniques and how to plan skin lesion excision. Principles of wound management including VAC dressings covered.
3. Local Flap Design & Inset – Introduction to local flap design including rhomboid, bilobed, V–Y advancement flaps and z-plasty techniques with applications to facial and hand reconstruction.
4. Microsurgery Basics – Introduction to microsurgical instruments and handling, use of surgical loupes and microscope magnification, nerve repair techniques, and practice on synthetic and biological models.
5. Tendon Repair Techniques – Core and epitendinous repairs using standard and advanced suture patterns, with practice on synthetic and biological models.
6. Hand Fracture Fixation – Principles and techniques of phalanx and metacarpal fracture fixation, including K-wire insertion and plate and screw fixation.

 

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Recognise and handle basic surgical instruments confidently.
• Perform a range of basic and advanced suturing techniques for skin and subcutaneous closure.
• Perform an excision of a skin/soft tissue lesion
• Understand principles and techniques of skin graft harvesting and application.
• Apply principles of non-surgical wound management techniques including VAC dressings.
• Plan and execute basic local flaps for soft tissue reconstruction.
• Understand principles of microsurgery and handle microsurgical instruments confidently.
• Apply microsurgical principles to nerve repair.
• Perform tendon repair using synthetic and biological models.
• Apply surgical principles for stable fixation of hand fractures using K-wires and plates and screws.

 

Educational Methods

• Hands-On Practical Stations – majority of course time spent on skill application, with synthetic and biological models.
• Small Group Teaching – At least 1:4 tutor-to-trainee ratio to optimise feedback and supervision.
• Demonstration & Guided Practice – procedures demonstrated step-by-step by faculty before supervised trainee practice.
• Formative Feedback – real-time assessment to identify strengths and areas for improvement.

Assessment & Certification
Participants will receive:
Continuous formative feedback from faculty.
Certificate of Attendance specifying skills covered and learning outcomes of the course
Feedback form for course evaluation and quality improvement.
 

Faculty
All sessions will be delivered by Consultants or Specialty Registrars in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, including:

Mr Mo Akhavani – Consultant in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Ms Laura Awad  - Specialist Registrar in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Ms Hannah Cook - Specialist Registrar in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Ms Sara Jasionowska  - Specialist Registrar in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 
  

Target audience: 
The course is aimed at Foundation Year 2 (FY2) and Core Surgical Trainee (CT1–CT2) level doctors with an interest in Plastic Surgery. It is particularly relevant for those preparing for higher surgical training applications or consolidating skills.

Contact the organisers: 

Alexandra.sebastiao@nhs.net or Laura.awad1@nhs.net