I strongly have to disagree with Des Spence on his rather broad and poorly-researched statement. As someone who holds dual qualification and has both Fellowship in Dental Surgery and Fellowship in Trauma and Orthopaedics of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, I do not recognise the institution he describes.
I obtained my Fellowships after much hard work and study for the Post-graduate exams that once passed, allowed me to be eligible to be a Fellow of the College.
After years of blood, sweat, tears, missed family and social life, I was able to finally share the award ceremony with my family, who having seen only the tough side of all the hard work and the final paper certificates, were finally able to enjoy a most memorable and impressive day, where the President and many others repeatedly thanked wives, husbands, partners, children, parents, siblings and friends for their support and contributions to the Fellows success.
Once the ceremony and dinner was over, the College has continued to provide excellent value in terms of quality journals containing material very relevant to my speciality, courses and training, discussion and interaction with faculty, research, museums, historical knowledge, even accommodation allowing cheap stays in London etc etc etc.
Looking at the list of Honorary Fellows, there is a wide range of valuable and interesting contributors and I believe that many of them have added value by their subsequent support of the Colleges and College activities.
Even the paintings of past-presidents is more useful than Des found. Not only is it inspirational to read the history of these people, many of whom came from very varied backgrounds, but for my children it was a fascinating history lesson and provided them and myself with some insights into the appearance of many famous surgeons from history.
A totally different experience from Des and his interactions with RCGP. Perhaps he should make sure he has more facts before he tars all the Colleges with the same brush? Sadly I have found, from personal experience, the vast majority of "nay-sayers" against the Colleges tend either to be those who have not taken the relevant examinations or have been repeatedly unsuccessful in them - politics of envy perhaps?
Competing interests:
No competing interests
22 March 2013
Andrew O'Brien
Post-CCT (Trauma&Orthopaedics) Fellow Spinal Surgery
Rapid Response:
Re: Scrap the royal colleges’ fellowships
I strongly have to disagree with Des Spence on his rather broad and poorly-researched statement. As someone who holds dual qualification and has both Fellowship in Dental Surgery and Fellowship in Trauma and Orthopaedics of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, I do not recognise the institution he describes.
I obtained my Fellowships after much hard work and study for the Post-graduate exams that once passed, allowed me to be eligible to be a Fellow of the College.
After years of blood, sweat, tears, missed family and social life, I was able to finally share the award ceremony with my family, who having seen only the tough side of all the hard work and the final paper certificates, were finally able to enjoy a most memorable and impressive day, where the President and many others repeatedly thanked wives, husbands, partners, children, parents, siblings and friends for their support and contributions to the Fellows success.
Once the ceremony and dinner was over, the College has continued to provide excellent value in terms of quality journals containing material very relevant to my speciality, courses and training, discussion and interaction with faculty, research, museums, historical knowledge, even accommodation allowing cheap stays in London etc etc etc.
Looking at the list of Honorary Fellows, there is a wide range of valuable and interesting contributors and I believe that many of them have added value by their subsequent support of the Colleges and College activities.
Even the paintings of past-presidents is more useful than Des found. Not only is it inspirational to read the history of these people, many of whom came from very varied backgrounds, but for my children it was a fascinating history lesson and provided them and myself with some insights into the appearance of many famous surgeons from history.
A totally different experience from Des and his interactions with RCGP. Perhaps he should make sure he has more facts before he tars all the Colleges with the same brush? Sadly I have found, from personal experience, the vast majority of "nay-sayers" against the Colleges tend either to be those who have not taken the relevant examinations or have been repeatedly unsuccessful in them - politics of envy perhaps?
Competing interests: No competing interests