Vacancies & Elections

This is a busy but extremely fulfilling post suitable for a senior breast trainee in the last three years of their training. The role involves close liaison with Association of Breast Surgery (ABS) and requires attendance at the quarterly ABS Clinical Practice and Standards Committee meetings where trainees’ opinions can be voiced to the council members. 

The Chair also oversees committee meetings every month over Zoom. Responsibility is taken for the overall organisation of all educational events. In addition the Chair produces a report for the ABS yearbook, and chairs the Mammary Fold Session and AGM at the annual ABS Conference. 

The role requires a dynamic and organised individual, who is willing to approach the year with enthusiasm and determination. You will be in the privileged position of interacting with a diverse range of trainees and senior clinicians. The management and leadership experience gained will be essential skills for your future career. 

You must have been in the Mammary Fold Executive Committee previously to be Chair.

The role of the Vice Chair (VC) is mainly to support the Chair and the other committee members in their roles. 

Though there are no other fixed committee meetings to attend, the VC might need to stand in for other members if they cannot attend the meetings especially the ABS Executive Board meeting, the Education and Training Committee meeting of the ABS or the ASiT meeting. The VC will also work alongside the Education and Training Representative to organise and chair the pre-ABS meeting. 

The role requires a dynamic individual who will take an active part in many aspects of the Mammary Fold as you might be involved in attending meetings and arranging educational events and will be in the privileged position of interacting with a diverse range of trainees and consultants. 

You must have been in the Mammary Fold Executive Committee previously to be Vice Chair.

The main role of the Mammary Fold Secretary is to coordinate committee meetings and teleconferences. You will be required to collate emails and format meeting agendas and compose the minutes. In addition you will manage the Mammary Fold email account for all the enquiries that come into the committee and distribute to the appropriate member.

It is an interesting role that facilitates and improves educational and political insight towards a career in breast and oncoplastic surgery. Whilst the role is involving it is not overly taxing due to there being sufficient time between tasks and is suited to any level of trainee. 

The position of treasurer is responsible for maintaining the Mammary Fold budget. The main aspect of this is to raise funds from an established list of contacts to help cover the costs of Mammary Fold educational events for the calendar year. These include: the Pre-ABS Meeting, MFAC Academic Day, The ASiT x Mammary Fold Training Day and finally The Mammary Fold Advanced Communications Skills Course.

The treasurer is responsible for keeping track of costs and gaining sufficient sponsorship (or delegate fees) to cover these costs. The ABS manages the account on behalf of the Mammary Fold and will invoice sponsors who have agreed to support our events. All costs for events must be agreed by the ABS trustees. The treasurer will be handed over a list of potential sponsors who are familiar and previously supportive of the Mammary Fold’s activities.. At the end of the fiscal year, a financial statement should be issued to keep members informed which is produced in conjunction with the ABS accounts department.

Finally, the treasurer is a core member of monthly committee meetings with input into key discussions, and will help facilitate the webinar series which is a task distributed amongst the committee members.

The Senior Representative on the Mammary Fold Committee is a post for trainees in their final two years of training. The role of the representative is two-fold. The first role is to act as a liaison between senior breast trainees/consultants and the Mammary Fold Committee, and to feed back any training/teaching issues that can then be raised at national committee meetings. The second is to provide support and co-ordinate the regional representatives.

The senior representative will be the point of contact for the regional representatives and will therefore have a vital role in identification of any regional issues related to breast surgery training, and encourage regional representatives to deliver or promote educational events related to breast surgery and ensure breast surgery trainees in each region are identified. 

As a Committee member you will attend the Mammary Fold meetings, and the Senior representative will also provide support with regards to the applications for the Regional representative posts and help with the shortlisting.

It is a rewarding role, and is a good starting point for developing your managerial and leadership skills. 

The Junior Representative will represent trainees interested in breast surgery who are ST5 and below, including core trainees as well as Foundation Year two trainees. The main role is to encourage new breast trainees to join The Mammary Fold and express their views. The Junior Representative is expected to join the meetings of the Mammary Fold committee, helping other committee members in their roles and assisting with organising the Mammary Fold educational events.

The Junior Representative role is fun and not too onerous. It builds up team working and leadership skills and helps promote the Mammary Fold. 

In 2014, the Mammary Fold Academic Collaborative (MFAC) was formed with the aim of promoting trainee-led audit and research at a national level. The Academic representative will be the Chair of the MFAC and act as the link between the Mammary Fold Committee and the MFAC. We are looking for a dynamic, motivated and inspiring person to take on that role. Due to the nature of the post, an academic background is preferred. 

The post involves participation at the Mammary Fold Committee meetings and similar organisation of the MFAC telephone zoom meetings. In addition, the role involves representing the trainees at the quarterly ABS Academic and Research Committee meetings and acting as a link between the groups.

This is an excellent opportunity to improve the networks within groups interested in breast surgery research. The academic representative will play a vital role in co-ordination of the current MFAC Committee to ensure continual delivery of trainee-led collaborative studies in breast disease. Furthermore, the role will involve organising the annual Mammary Fold Academic and Research day which has been successful in showcasing trainee-led collaborative studies in breast disease.

The role of the Social media and Communications Representative  includes being a committee member of the Mammary fold and being responsible for communication with members, social media followers and visitors to the Mammary Fold subpage of the ABS website.

Being a committee member involves attending regular Zoom meetings, organising and supporting educational meetings, Mammary Fold educational events, and annual general meetings (AGM) for Mammary Fold. 

The representative will work closely with the ABS office to ensure the website provides trainees with valuable and up to date information to enhance their training experience.

The Social media and Communications Representative will be directly responsible for:

• Formulation of the weekly email newsletter which will be sent out by the ABS office.
• Posting regularly on the social media outlets of the Mammary Fold, in particular Twitter but also Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn to maximise communication with members and followers.

Website maintenance, newsletters and social media involves regular up to date information relating to breast surgery, including conferences, webinars, courses, jobs, guidelines, FRCS revision and oncoplastic fellowship information.

The role will work closely with the Vice Chair and Educational and Training Representative to collate this information and complement the newsletter.

Enthusiasm and organisation skills are essential as well as social media and communications experience.