Hillingdon Hospital trainee surgeon wins national award
Surgery trainee Lina Alim has won the prestigious Silver Scissors Award, a national honour for excellence in surgical education.
Lina (29) a general surgery core surgical trainee at Hillingdon Hospital, was nominated, anonymously, by those to whom she has taught surgical skills across northwest London. For the past year, she has been based at the hospital in Pield Heath Road, Hillingdon, as part of the colorectal unit within the operating theatres department.
After her nomination, Lina went through a rigorous process of interviews, where she was quizzed on everything from her surgical educator prowess to creating environments and opportunities for trainees to flourish and learn. She then made it on to a shortlist of five and was announced as the winner at a gala event in Manchester last month.
Paying tribute to her colleagues, including the surgeons who have supported her so fully - consultants Ash Prabhudesai, Alistair Myers, Alistair Slesser, Yasser Mohsen and Mohammed Al Ani - Lina said: “One thing this teaches you is that, in this pathway and this career, nothing is done alone. I'm the product of the people who have invested in me, the consultants who have allowed me to train and given me opportunities, the registrars who have supported me, the colleagues who have made the long days and the longer nights bearable and the teams who have created environments where I'm allowed to learn, where I'm allowed to make mistakes and where I'm allowed to deliver good patient care.”
The Silver Scissors Award, sponsored by Swann-Morton and run by the Association of Surgeons in Training (ASiT), recognises early year residents who go above and beyond in nurturing the next generation of surgeons. This honour is particularly meaningful as it is nominated by trainees themselves, following a rigorous national selection process that evaluates leadership, professionalism, accessibility, development of trainees, and the creation of a positive and inclusive training environment.
Over the past two decades, ASIT has recognised surgical consultant trainers through the Silver Scalpel Award and then instituted the Silver Scissors and Silver Suture Awards. These awards have played a vital part in recognising those rare individuals who consistently go the extra mile for their trainees and colleagues, promoting the highest standards of surgical education. These are the role models who inspire confidence, challenge thinking, and support growth not just in technical skill but in compassion, resilience, and teamwork.
I'm really grateful to the Trust because my consultants within the unit have not only taught me how to be a surgeon and how to operate and how to train but how to think and how to care for patients
Hillingdon Hospital, and Mount Vernon Hospital in Rickmansworth Road, Northwood, are operated by The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Lina said: “I'm really grateful to the Trust because my consultants within the unit have not only taught me how to be a surgeon and how to operate and how to train but how to think and how to care for patients and I think good surgical training is inseparable from good patient care because the surgeons we are training today are the surgeons who will be taking care of us and our patients tomorrow, and creating the right environment for that is incredibly important to me.”