Young BJS

We often hear "It’s the Journey That Matters," but this took on new meaning for me one evening on a train. I realised surgical problems begin long before the first incision—sometimes in the everyday moments, often unnoticed.

It had been a long day, my mind cluttered with unread emails as the train hummed on. Suddenly, a shopping bag slipped from an elderly woman’s hand, spilling groceries. She barely reacted, staring at her hand as her grandson scrambled to collect the items. “Nan, you dropped everything!” he laughed, but she didn’t respond. Her eyes met mine, blinking as if clearing a fog. Her voice, slow and slurred, murmured, “Sorry, I just feel a little off”. Something felt wrong. This wasn't mere clumsiness but a silent alarm bell, a surgical emergency unfolding amidst the mundane.

Introducing myself, I gently inquired about her symptoms. "Can you raise your arms?" I asked. Her left arm wavered; the right remained motionless. Her history, reluctantly revealed, included a recent ‘tumble’, a detail she'd dismissed as trivial. My mind raced—could this be a stroke? An intracranial haemorrhage? The "FAST" mnemonic, a staple of stroke diagnosis, flashed through my mind: Facial droop, Arm weakness, Speech difficulties, Time to call emergency services. Without scans or senior clinicians, what was once just a memory aid from a lecture now felt very real. If this was a neurosurgical emergency, ‘Time’ was critical.

I was on holiday in Greece when news broke that a wildfire had erupted northeast of Athens, rapidly approaching the small town of Varnavas. On the morning of 12 August 2024, the skies were already heavy with smoke, and the wind carried an ominous, ash-laden warmth. I had planned a brief train trip north to admire the countryside, but instead, I found myself in the midst of an emergency evacuation, with local authorities urging everyone to board trains heading away from the fire zone.

I was ushered onto a crowded carriage filled with anxious families, many clutching their belongings in small bags. The train began rolling slowly southward, but before long, the atmosphere grew tense and unsettling. Amid the chaos, a frail-looking older man, who had been coughing incessantly, suddenly collapsed in the aisle. I identified myself as a doctor (the only medical personnel on board) and rushed to his side.

When I knelt down, I noticed a small wound on his arm. He must have brushed against jagged metal or broken glass during the hurried boarding. He was also breathless, appearing to verge on shock. Quick assessment revealed that in addition to the laceration on his forearm, he might be suffering from inhalation of smoke or an exacerbation of a chronic lung condition.

I was sleeping on a flight and I am woken by a flight attendant asking a man in the opposite row “are you sure you’re OK?”

He was hyperventilating and complaining of chest pain. When the flight attendants started to bring out medical equipment from a locker, a curiosity spark lit up. I never experienced a medical emergency on a flight since graduating. I assisted a passenger on a train before, but never in the air.

I introduced myself, informed them I was training to become a surgeon and tried to get a brief history. I had no idea where to start. I asked, with little confidence, if there was any emergency kit? The crew proceeded to show me vials of adrenaline, an airway kit, an oxygen cylinder and plasters. The patient had low sats, so I went through my A to E in my head – thinking of my recent CCrISP -, putting on oxygen as we moved onto C and D, asking the cabin crew to be my “scribe” for the findings. A whirl of surgical differentials started spinning in my head when examining the abdomen. Could this be a pneumothorax, would he need a chest drain? Is this a perforation needing urgent intervention. Is this an episode of pancreatitis triggered by one too many in the bar pre-flight?

We invited medical students and trainees to share their most memorable experiences managing surgical problems while in transit — on planes, boats or trains. Now, it’s your turn to decide the winner.

Read the entries and cast your vote by clicking the thumbs-up icon next to your favourite:

van Santvoort H, Voermans RP, Zyromski NJ, Siriwardena AK.

Br J Surg 2025;  112: znaf007

Pring ET, Burling DN, Glover TE, Jenkins JT.

BJS 2025; 112: znae270.

Lorentzen L, McDermott F.

BJS Open 2025; 9: zraf005.

Marchegiani G.

BJS Open 2025; 9: zrae167.

Mihai R.

BJS 2024; 111: znae268.

Zaborowski AM, Boland MR.

BJS 2024; 111: znae264.

Jones A, Hinchliffe R.

Br J Surg 2024; 111: znae226

Zakeri R, Andersson E, Borg CM, Liem RSL.

Br J Surg 2024; 111: znae233.

Jones EJ, Drew PJ.

Br J Surg 2024; 111: znae204.

Velde G, Ismail W, Thorsen K.

Br J Surg 2024; 111: znae224.

Hauge T, Abu Hejleh A, Nilsson M, Schröder W.

Br J Surg 2024;  111: znae216.

Argyriou O, Lingam G, Tozer P, Sahnan K.

Br J Surg 2024;  111: znae200.

Kyle E, Grice S, Naumann DN.

Br J Surg 2024;  111: znae206.

Our newly updated BJSAcademy.com website now allows you to ‘like’ your favourite content. To showcase this feature, we are presenting the three winning essays from the 2024 Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland (ASGBI) Annual Meeting competition, sponsored by BJS and the University of Edinburgh: The Operating Theatre of the Future: What Will It Look Like in 2050?

Explore each visionary essay and cast your vote by clicking the thumbs-up icon next to the one you like best:

This essay was submitted as part of an essay competition. Read the competition announcement and rules for voting here.

This essay was submitted as part of an essay competition. Read the competition announcement and rules for voting here.

Gone are the days of a solely sterile room in monotones of blue.

2050 has arrived … Tiny nanobots weave through the patient, delivering precise doses of medication, while advanced robots with their metallic limbs stand poised. Look around ... students shed the weight of textbooks; their eyes glued to sleek headsets as they virtually explore the patient's anatomy and learn in real-time. Even damaged tissue finds new life, printed on demand to match the patient's unique biology. Welcome to the future of surgery, where technology and empathy intertwine to heal.

This essay was submitted as part of an essay competition. Read the competition announcement and rules for voting here.