Before the day
Start with your interests
Consider what you want to understand about surgery and where you are in your training. No single specialty choice is needed to begin.
The flagship recurring series
Four perspectives.
One Surgical Day.
Each edition brings four educational lectures into one connected experience. The domains stay the same; the topics evolve with every Surgical Day.
Knowledge / Technical Skills / Research / Future of Surgery
A starting point with substance
See the breadth.
Find your direction.
A surgical career calls for more than one kind of preparation. Surgical Day puts the essential perspectives in the same room.
A lecture from each domain connects scientific understanding, practical technique, research, and the changing future of surgery. Each edition offers a coherent educational experience and introduces the wider opportunities within JSPI.
The series welcomes medical students at all stages, interns exploring their next step, and residents interested in learning and educational contribution. You can join with a defined surgical interest or simply a question about where to begin.
Surgical Day is the flagship series. Skills workshops, specialty events, and other JSPI activities have their own formats and are announced separately.
The educational framework
Four domains.
A connected view of surgery.
Explore the purpose of each lecture domain. These topics illustrate the scope of the series; each edition has its own announced program.
Knowledge
Understand the foundations.
Build the scientific understanding that makes surgical practice meaningful. This domain connects anatomy and physiology with clinical reasoning, perioperative care, and the principles behind an operation.
Illustrative topics
- Applied surgical anatomy and physiology
- Surgical principles and clinical reasoning
- Perioperative care and patient safety
Learning focus: Recognize how foundational science informs surgical decisions, and identify the concepts you need to strengthen at your stage of training.
Technical Skills
Turn understanding into practice.
Understand the techniques, habits, and preparation behind safe practical work. Surgical Day introduces core skills and explains how deliberate practice and constructive feedback support their development.
Illustrative topics
- Suturing and knot-tying principles
- Sterile technique and theatre fundamentals
- Basic procedures and simulation-based learning
Learning focus: Understand the purpose and limits of foundational techniques, and plan the next step in supervised skills development.
Research
Ask better questions.
Learn how surgical questions become research, and how evidence informs practice. The focus is on reading critically, understanding study design, and finding a responsible starting point for academic work.
Illustrative topics
- Finding and evaluating surgical literature
- Study design, methodology, and statistics
- Scientific writing and research collaboration
Learning focus: Frame a focused research question, recognize basic study designs, and identify an appropriate route into supervised academic work.
Future of Surgery
Prepare for a changing field.
Explore how surgical practice is changing and what those changes mean for the people who will deliver it. Technical innovation belongs alongside questions about evidence, ethics, access, and the future surgical workforce.
Illustrative topics
- Robotic surgery and emerging technologies
- Artificial intelligence and digital health
- Simulation, innovation, and the surgical workforce
Learning focus: Discuss emerging developments thoughtfully, including their limitations, and identify the skills a changing surgical field may require.
What you take forward
Leave with a better
question. And a next step.
During the day
Connect the perspectives
Look for the relationship between a clinical question, the skills it requires, the evidence behind it, and how practice may change.
After the day
Choose a useful next step
Use the JSPI Pathway to identify a relevant learning activity, a skill to develop, a research question to explore, or a conversation to start.
From an introduction to ongoing development
The day begins
a wider conversation.
Clinical Exposure, Professionalism & Leadership, and Wellbeing & Resilience extend the framework beyond the four lectures. These are continuing opportunity domains, with activities shared through their own announcements.
Explore opportunities beyond the dayAn illustrative edition
A clear rhythm
for the day.
This sample structure explains the experience. It is not a timetable for a scheduled edition. Order, duration, breaks, and discussion arrangements are shared with each event.
Welcome
The JSPI framework and your starting point
Orientation
01
Knowledge
Lecture & discussion
02
Technical Skills
Lecture & discussion
03
Research
Lecture & discussion
04
Future of Surgery
Lecture & discussion
Next
Your pathway and opportunities to continue
Closing conversation
Series announcements
Be part of
the next edition.
Dates, venues, speakers, and registration arrangements are announced for each Surgical Day.
Send an expression of interest to ask about upcoming editions, educational contributions, or hosting a conversation about the series.
Ask about Surgical DayA few practical questions
Before you join.
Do I need to have chosen a surgical specialty?
No. The series is useful both for learners exploring surgery and those developing an existing interest. The four domains provide a shared starting point.
Are the lectures the same at every event?
The domains remain Knowledge, Technical Skills, Research, and Future of Surgery. Lecture topics change between editions, allowing the series to explore different questions and levels of interest.
Does Surgical Day include hands-on training?
The core format consists of four educational lectures. Practical workshops and supervised simulation are separate activities unless explicitly included in an edition’s published program.
How do I register or find event details?
Registration arrangements accompany each event announcement. Until an edition’s details are available, contact JSPI by email to express interest or ask a question.
Build the pathway with us
Bring a new perspective
to the next Surgical Day.
We welcome conversations with surgeons, residents, educators, and institutions interested in contributing to the series.