ABS Fellowships and Observerships

Association of Breast Surgery Educational Fellowships 2023

The ABS offers educational fellowships with the aim of raising the standard of breast care in the UK through supporting the education and training of its members. Fellowships can be used for a variety of educational purposes and are at the discretion of the Trustees.

Educational Fellowships are for a maximum of £1,000 for UK based fellowships and £2,000 for those involving international travel (or for UK based fellowships for overseas members).

Possible uses of the fellowships might include:

• Visits to the UK or international breast units of good standing to observe/ learn new techniques or practice
• Visits to low and middle-income countries to experience perspectives of the management of breast disease in other areas
• To support attendance/ presentation at breast focused scientific conferences (e.g. San Antonio, ASCO, ESSO etc.)
• To support attendance at recognised breast educational meetings (applicants from LMI countries may apply to attend the ABS Conference or an ABS Course.  For UK based members attendance at an ABS course or event cannot be supported with an ABS Fellowship)
• Other novel or innovative educational initiatives will be considered with an appropriate and detailed application
• Applications for fellowships will NOT be considered for examination or degree courses.

Eligibility criteria:

• Educational projects NOT otherwise funded through the usual routes (Trust study leave allocations/ industry grants/ Deanery etc)
• Membership of the Association of Breast Surgery for a minimum of 3 months
• Clear evidence of a breast special interest/ practice
• Agreement to present a report (within 3 months of completion of the fellowship) of how the award was used, detailing what was learnt and how this applied to future practice

Applications should be submitted in the following format:

• A personal statement detailing the project/ initiative and the benefits you will obtain from the fellowship and how you will translate these into improving the standard of breast care in your place of work
• Details of any other source of funding (e.g. sponsorship/ scholarships) already secured for the same purpose
• A summarised breast focused CV (2 pages maximum), detailing attendance at breast meetings, conferences etc over the last 2 years
• A letter of support from an independent referee/ supervisor as to your suitability for this fellowship
• A letter of invitation from the unit/ institution to be visited, if applicable, showing that approval has been given for the intended programme
• Applicants should state the amount they are applying for (up to a maximum of £2,000) 

Applications should be submitted by e-mail to mbartholomew@absgbi.org.uk

THE DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS IS: 9am on the 8th September 2023

For any queries please contact 020 7869 6853 or mbartholomew@absgbi.org.uk

We have received the following information about training units wishing to host a JCST interface fellowship in Oncoplastic Breast Surgery.  Please note that the deadline for applications is the 14th November 2022:

Applications are open for new JCST Interface Fellowship training units.

Please click the following links for information about JCST Fellowships, the Curriculum and Quality Indicators.

Units interested in hosting a Fellow are invited to contact interface@jcst.org for a shareable form that can be accessed by all signatories. The form and information for training units can be found here.

Applications close on 14 November 2022.

Please contact the JCST if this is of interest to you

To find out more about how ABS Fellowships have been used, please click here to read reports from ABS members who have previously been awarded, fellowships. 

Mihir Chandarana - ABS International fellowship

Bashar Zeidan - ABS fellowship, Belgium

S. Masooma Zaidi - ABS fellowship, France

About

The Association of Breast Surgery (ABS) Education and Training Committee has been working with members of the ABS to identify centres prepared to offer local observerships.

On this page you will find a list of centres across the UK that are prepared to offer observerships for UK Consultants, Specialty Doctors and Trainees wishing to gain further knowledge on various surgical procedures.

The ABS are only acting as an information point and are not responsible for any accreditation of the observerships undertaken and stress that this is a local arrangement to be made between the host and the observer.

If you have any questions about these observerships or if you are interested in becoming an observer at any of these units, please contact Margarita Bartholomew (mbartholomew@absgbi.org.uk) or telephone 0207 869 6853.

Observership Centres