Message from the ASM President

As the President of the ASM I would like to introduce our new website. Since its establishment in 1995, the ASM has sought to improve surgical training. This was achieved through structuring surgical training with comprehensive and regularly updated curricula for each surgical speciality, promoting the creation of a postgraduate training centre and overseeing standards in surgical practice.

The ASM organised training the trainers and masterclass courses with direct participation of other European Surgeons. The ASM also hosted important conferences and congresses in Malta including the European Surgical Association Congresses in 2005 and 2009. In February 2017 the then President of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSE) Michael Lavelle-Jones and myself as President of the ASM signed a memorandum of understanding in the name of the college and the association respectively and the college started organising MRCS exams in Malta. Following an invitation by the ASM, the President Professor Michael Griffin, the Vice President Mr Pala B Rajesh and the Convener for Examination Zahid Raza of the RCSE and the chair of the Joint Committee of Intercollegiate Examinations (JCIE) Professor John McGregor visited Malta in November 2021. An agreement was reached between the RCSE, the Postgraduate Training directorate and the ASM so that Malta becomes an education and examination hub in the Mediterranean for the RCSE. A separate agreement was reached with the chair of the JCIE to organise their specialty examinations in Malta. 

The ASM has established links with the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS) and as the president of the Association I am the delegate for Malta in the Section of Surgery of the UEMS and a member of its training committee. I also represent the said section on the Multidisciplinary Joint Committee of Intensive Care Medicine within the UEMS. The ASM has adopted the same standardised methods of assessment for surgical trainees and we are partners in policy making for continued improvement of surgical training in Europe. 

I strongly believe the ASM to be crucial in maintaining a high standard of education for the surgical trainee and strive for excellence and innovation in surgical practice in Malta 

Professor Joseph Galea 

President 

Association of Surgeons of Malta