PROXIMIE BOOSTS THE FUTURE OF UK HEALTHCARE: PROVIDING FREE ACCESS TO ITS WORLD-
LEADING SURGERY TECHNOLOGY TO THE ASSOCIATION OF SURGEONS IN TRAINING
London, United Kingdom – 23th of February 2023 – Proximie, the global health technology platform digitally connecting operating rooms, announces a new partnership with the Association of Surgeons in Training (“ASiT”).
ASiT is one of the largest surgical speciality associations in the UK with over 3,500 members, representing all ten surgical specialities. It is the only body in the UK to represent trainees at both core and higher surgical training levels.
The partnership will enable all 3,500 ASiT members to access the Proximie platform, providing a vital resource for training the next generation of surgeons. With demographic pressures and a growing global population increasing the demand for surgeons, alongside up to 60% of surgeons due to leave the NHS in the next eight years – estimates put the current shortfall at over 2 million surgeons 1 – highlighting the pressing need for innovative solutions to train this next generation.
As the social media campaign #NoTrainingTodayNoSurgeonsTomorrow highlights; if we do not factor in appropriate, high quality ‘on the job’ training now, we will have no surgeons tomorrow. The pandemic exacerbated this issue as in the UK alone over one million training hours were lost and the subsequent rise in surgical backlogs is also negatively impacting training opportunities. Proximie’s platform is therefore a much-needed alternative – meaning trainees don’t always need to be in-person to observe and learn from surgeries.
ASiT’s trainee surgeons will be able to observe live surgeries or playback previous surgeries from just their mobile phone, providing front row seats and access to surgical procedures they would never normally get to see. Trainees can record their own cases, or that of others, and add them to the ASiT
library, they can ask for feedback from other trainees or mentors, providing further opportunities to develop skills and share learnings across the membership.
Matthew Green, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Proximie, commented:
“We are delighted to announce the partnership with ASiT. The Association’s surgeons are the future of the UK’s healthcare system, and by providing them with access to the Proximie platform we can make a significant difference to the training opportunities they receive. Embracing technological innovation is critical to produce the future’s world-class surgeons and reduce both the current and predicted global shortfall in surgeons. This partnership with ASiT is a
fantastic opportunity for Proximie to highlight this to the next generation.”
Martin King, President of ASiT, stated:
“We are very excited to launch this partnership with Proximie. Through digitisation we can transform how we train our surgeons. The opportunity to watch live surgeries and receive feedback on previous ones will be a game-changer for our trainee surgeons, encouraging a culture of continuous learning
throughout their careers.”
Proximie and ASiT have professionally collaborated for many years. Proximie has previously held training events for ASiT members and participated on joint reports with the Association, including the 2022 report Future of Surgery: Technology Enhanced Surgical Training (FOS:TEST). This inspiring work led by ASiT was supported by many major groups including the Royal College of Surgeons of England, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Confederation of Postgraduate Schools of Surgery (CoPSS), the National Institute for Healthcare Research (NIHR) Advanced Surgical Technology Incubator, Health Education England (HEE) and the Joint Committee on Surgical Training (JCST). The new partnership will also see Proximie host a series of live surgical events with leading global surgeons, which ASiT members will be able to observe.
Proximie will be a diamond sponsor at the ASiT Annual Conference in March, hosting a panel on patient safety in surgery following the recent publication of their white paper; Patient Safety in Surgery – the urgent need for reform.
