Fellow students,

On behalf of the SURGICON 2020 Organising Committee, we are very glad to inform you that the next edition of our international congress will take place this year, in October!

Last year's first edition represented a milestone for our team and objectified months of teamwork and brainstorming, so we take pride in the outcome. We had 43 workshops and 13 conferences in 2019, as well a great number of students who shared our passion for surgery and science!

This year, we started with the encouraging thought that we can repeat our experience and even exceed it! Our 16 years of experience in the RSSS background helped us ellaborate a complex workshops and scientific programme, out of the desire to offer you and extensive range of surgical specialities so that every young mind can find something suitable in our inventory.

Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic taught us an important lesson – the art of patience. As the situation in our country is currently unfolding in a manner that would endager our participants, volunteers and speakers, we needed to take a decision that would ensure the safety of our medical student community, as well as allow us to continue with our educational journey even in these difficult times. Which is why, this year, we are #backONline! 

Sadly, we have come to terms with the realisation that the complexity of our workshops, including techniques, instruments and materials, cannot be transposed into the online world. We are advocates of performance and “quality over quantity” in our work, which is why we understand that in this particular context, we would not be able to provide a full advanced experience with hands-on workshops that could be beneficial to all types of participants in our event. This is why, this year only, we will focus on bringing surgical education closer to you in other forms of online activities. 

Our Scientific department came up with a stimulating programme for you to become updated with some of the most recent topics in the surgical world. International speakers will hold lectures regarding some of the latest research aspects that are available worldwide and you are, as well, invited to share your experience and knowledge through the Scientific Competition!

Our Workshops department began a journey towards presenting you the latest surgical techniques, as well as bringing the experience of a surgeon closer to you as possible. This year, we are proud to introduce the concept of Live Surgeries, which will allow us to delve into an OR and virtually take part in a few surgeries, thus creating the feeling that we belong to the team of surgeons and involve ourselves in some complex cases. 

Therefore, we strive to present to you the latest trends and information in the surgical world through the means available to us today. We look forward to welcoming you to the second edition of SURGICON – come and take its ideas further, as we hope to have an enriching experience and dream of the day we will once again meet in Bucharest, to do surgery as we best know it, which is hands-on!

The Surgicon 2020 OC