Medical student from Eastbourne wins competition

A senior medical student from Eastbourne has been announced as a winner in the Surgical Skills Competition.
Joe Guppy, rightJoe Guppy, right
Joe Guppy, right

Joe Guppy, a final-year student from Brighton and Sussex Medical School, is the Kent, Surrey and Sussex region heat winner of the nationwide competition.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) says the competition celebrates future stars of the surgical field.

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Following a tension-fuelled contest hosted at Eastbourne’s Postgrad Medical and Dental Education Centre, RSCEd has announced Joe Guppy as the competition’s first heat winner.

Joe said, “I’ve always quite liked the idea of being a neurosurgeon but I never thought my skills were good enough. This has given me a fresh boost of determination to pursue that career.

“I can’t believe I’ve got through, all the challenges were really fun. Can’t wait to see what challenges are planned for the finals.”

With only eight per cent of medical undergraduates qualifying as surgeons in one of the ten specialities, surgery is an incredibly competitive area, so being able to demonstrate the commitment and the skills to become a surgeon at this early stage puts students at a great advantage later in their career.

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The competition, now in its fourth year, sees final-year medical students from across the UK demonstrate their surgical talents and skills in a series of challenges.

The competition begins with 19 heats, one at each UK medical school, during which the students are asked to undertake a series of surgical tasks, such as suturing and knot-tying to laparoscopic skills tests, with the winner of each heat announced on the night.

The competition will culminate in Edinburgh on March 16.