President's Bulletin: Message from BSG President, Professor Colin Rees
It has been a busy first few months of 2025, with a huge amount of work undertaken already by the BSG officers and staff. A major focus at the start of this year has been our trainees. It is clear that ‘Shape of Training’ represents many significant challenges for our trainees, in particular, the impact of internal medicine on gastroenterology training. The 2024 BSG Trainees Survey will be published soon, underlining the discrepancy between what was promised and the reality for our trainees. Time spent in internal medicine is having a particular impact on endoscopy training and other core elements of the gastroenterology curriculum. This situation is unacceptable, and the BSG is working hard with the colleges, JRCPTB and the NHS to call for urgent action to address these issues. Trainees are the future of the BSG, and we will continue to fight their corner on these issues in the coming months.
The BSG was shocked at the disaster of the incorrect results of the MRCP(UK) Part 2 Written Examination (Diet 2023/03). It is a dreadful situation and something that should never have happened. The priority at the moment is supporting trainees affected by this. The BSG has had direct contact with some individuals and will continue to support any trainees affected by this. We strongly oppose the decision of the statutory education bodies and the GMC not to allow those affected by this to be considered in this higher speciality training recruitment round. We have made this view very clear - given the exceptional circumstances, some flexibility must be shown. Our current priority is ensuring those affected are supported as much as possible, however, we welcome the independent review of what went wrong. This should have been a never event, but given it has happened, steps must be taken to ensure this never happens again.
The BSG has been developing strategies in several areas over the last few months, particularly an international partnerships strategy to further develop relationships with India, China and Australia. A strong collaboration with the Chinese Society of Gastroenterology (CSG) is now progressing, with the CSG president, Professor Chengwei Tang, attending BSG LIVE'25 in June along with a wider Chinese delegation. On Tuesday, 24th June, we will be hosting a joint BSG / CSG symposium, which will be streamed to colleagues in China. We hope to see similar progress in collaborations with India and Australia.
BSG Project 90 is progressing well, with a number of travelling fellowships currently being piloted. Several fellowships will be available for applications soon. Project 90 has begun to develop a BSG educational programme for GI nurses and is planning several regional educational events for all BSG members. Leadership and management training opportunities will be advertised in the coming months, as well as the launch of our career support programme.
There have been several successful BSG events already in 2025 including the IBD Investigators Day, Trainees Management and Leadership Course and the Microbiota for Health meeting in Edinburgh. Through the work of our members, the BSG continues to play a leading role in education and research.
As President, I represent the BSG on RCP London's Council. RCPL has had some challenging times, but I am impressed by the current leadership's open and inclusive approach to modernise the college. The MRCP exam mess was not of the College's making, but their response has been rapid and comprehensive. RCPL has also established a working group to address the potential implications of legalising assisted dying and I am representing the medical specialties on this group. RCPL is about to open elections for President and Vice Presidents and I would encourage all those eligible to exercise their democratic right and vote for good leaders at the College.
It is only 3 months until BSG LIVE, which will be taking place in Glasgow, from 23rd - 26th June, and registration is now open. It's going to be a great week, with a packed programme of high-quality symposia and our largest-ever EndoVillage featuring 20 hands-on training stations. Abstract submissions have closed with 736 submissions, which is a 20% increase from last year, requiring more than 120 specialist reviewers. On behalf of the Society, and all those who will submit their work for consideration, I would like to say thank you to those giving up their time and expertise to ensure that our presentations continue to showcase the best new research in gastroenterology and hepatology. There will be an opportunity to submit late-breaking research in April. We are also launching a 'Jobs Fair' on the Thursday of BSG LIVE and welcome applications from Trusts who have opportunities for consultants and fellows they'd like to showcase by 28th March.
Lastly, I want to inform you that we will be advertising several Senior roles within the Society very soon – Secretary, Deputy VP Hepatology, Deputy Education Committee Chair, Deputy Training Committee Chair, Deputy International Committee Chair, Workforce Lead, Mentoring Lead and Sustainability Lead. All of these roles represent great opportunities to engage with the Society, and if you are interested in finding out about these posts – or indeed any other opportunities to get involved with the BSG, you can contact us at [email protected]. I hugely enjoy working on behalf of the BSG, and I encourage people to apply for these posts.
Professor Colin Rees
As I approach the end of my first year as BSG President, I continue to be inspired by the work that our many dedicated members put into the BSG to ultimately deliver better care to our patients.
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