Launch of Pioneers Lecture
17 April 2023 (Last updated: 21 Jul 2023 11:30) by Stephen Hodgson, BSSH Archivist
The Swansea Scientific meeting will see Jin Bo Tang deliver the first Pioneers Lecture previously known as the Douglas Lamb Lecture. Over the last two years Council has considered how we recognise and remember the great and the good of our Society as its history gets longer and its early years more distant. Eponymous Lectures are one way of doing that with the Douglas Lamb Lecture started in 2003 and the Harold Bolton Lecture in 2017. After 20 years we felt that the Douglas Lamb lecture should be retired and replaced with an invited lecture that gives us an opportunity to remember and recognise the contributions of many of our pioneers. Members nominated by BSSH and successful in being awarded the status of IFSSH Pioneers in Hand Surgery are those we wish to honour.
Douglas Lamb (1921 – 2001) was pivotal figure in the early years of BSSH. A Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in Edinburgh, he had an interest in the hand from the early stages of his training, cementing that interest with a fellowship in the USA. He was a World-renowned figure in the field of congenital hand surgery. He was President of BSSH in 1977 and of IFSSH 1989 – 1992.
In the 20 years since the Douglas Lamb Lecture was launched, there have been 18 lectures delivered by 16 hand surgeons from all across the globe (Bursaries & Prizes | The British Society for Surgery of the Hand (bssh.ac.uk)). Simon Kay and Steven Hovius have given two lectures each. There have been nine speakers from the USA, four from the UK, two from Europe, two from Australia and one from India. Topics have been clinical on nine occasions, research based on three occasions, philosophical on four occasions and psychological on two occasions.
IFSSH Pioneers in Hand Surgery are awarded every three years to coincide with the IFSSH Conference and nominations are made by host societies. The IFSSH has the following to say about their Pioneers
The IFSSH awards "Pioneer of Hand Surgery" status to any person who excels exceptionally, beyond what is normally expected in the field of hand surgery. The enormous contribution of the Pioneers to Hand Surgery will influence many generations of Hand Surgeons to come. Ultimately of course, their accomplishments will benefit countless patients far into the future. The IFSSH Membership therefore, expresses its sincere appreciation and gratitude to our Pioneers for enriching our passion, Hand Surgery.
It is testimony to the respect that UK Hand Surgery holds that we have a many of our great and good who have been awarded Pioneer status:
- 1986 Graham Stack, Raoul Tubiana (1)
- 1992 Douglas Lamb, Adrian Flatt (2)
- 1995 JIP James, CB Wynn Parry
- 1998 Douglas Campbell Reid, Geoffrey Fisk
- 2001 Harold Bolton, Stewart Harrison, Robert Robins
- 2007 Nicholas Barton, William Souter
- 2010 John Cobbett, Basil Helal, Philip Sykes
- 2013 David Evans, Graham Lister (2)
- 2016 Frank Burke, John Stanley
- 2019 Peter Burge, Geoffrey Hooper
- 2022 David Elliot, Simon Kay, Murray Mathewson, Gus McGrouther
(1= UK trained and BSSH nominated with Specilaist practice in Paris, 2 = UK born and trained with Specialist practice in USA)
Having a Pioneers Lecture gives the Presidents and guest speakers the opportunity to recognise the contributions of our Pioneers during their introductions and lectures over the next few years. We look forward to sharing their contribution to BSSH and global hand surgery.
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