The Irish Surgical Training Group hosted their annual Silver Scalpel Award Dinner on June 13th. The Silver Scalpel recognises a consultant surgeon who has made an extraordinary contribution to surgical training and mentorship over their career, as voted on by the trainees. After a competitive nomination process by trainees across all specialties, Professor Eamon Kavanagh, Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, formally of University Hospital Limerick, was the 2025 Silver Scalpel Winner. Over his twenty year career in UHL, Prof Kavanagh made a significant impact on generations of general and vascular surgery trainees rotating through the department. He led by example, with a singular dedication to excellence in all aspects of patient care, teaching and team spirit. Prof Kavanagh's kind and approachable demeanour combined with his technical skills and clinical knowledge made the Limerick rotation sought-after destination for trainees - He will be sorely missed and we wish him the best in his retirement from public practice. The ISTG were delighted to present Prof Kavanagh with this prestigious award in presence of his family and a selection of his current and previous trainees, many of whom have gone on to become surgical consultants. Orthopaedic surgery trainees should take note - the 2026 Silver Scalpel will be awarded to an Orthopaedic Consultant, in the usual three-year rotating pattern, and Ortho SpRs should start thinking about which consultants merit nominations.
The ISTG were also delighted to present the second round of the Future Trainers' Fellowship Grant. The Future Trainers' grant is a travel bursary developed by the ISTG for surgical trainees in conjunction with RCSI to specifically recognise trainees who have demonstrated excellence in technical surgical teaching to peers throughout their training. After a competitive selection process, our independent judges panel awarded Mr Ian Reynolds (in abstentia) and Mr Eanna Ryan with the 2025 Future Trainers' grants. Applications will open for the 2026 grant in May 2026 - Monitor the ISTG website for future details (https://istg.ie/).
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