The Belgian Association of Surgical Trainees (BAST) was founded by surgical trainees and for surgical trainees more than a decade ago. We represent all Belgian surgical trainees, across all Belgian universities. Currently, almost half of all Belgian trainees are BAST members! All residents are therefore more than welcome to join the BAST and are encouraged to take part in our meetings & courses.
Our mission is five fold:
Unite
Unite all surgical trainees across the country.
Protect
Protect the interests of the surgical trainee at multiple organisations including Speciality Boards (Erkenningscommissie/Commission d’Agrément), Collegium Chirurgicum (CC) and the Royal Belgian Society for Surgery (RBSS).
Stimulate
Stimulate surgical education and surgical training by way of multiple courses & workshops.
Promote
Promote an attitude of scientific involvement (f.e. our BAST trainers-trainees session at the Belgian Surgical Week)
Facilitate
Facilitate the integration within the Belgian surgical community
Advantages & Goals
Advantages
By becoming a BAST member, you get to participate in all of our courses, free of charge. Do remember that some of our courses (such as the highly-coveted cadaver courses) only offer a limited amount of places, but you will be the first to know when a new course is taking place! We also encourage all members to take part in one of our sessions (such as the Trainers-Trainees session during Belgian Surgical Week or the BGES-BAST video session), this gives you the opportunity to present at an (inter)national congress and you may even take home the grand prize!
Goals
Our goals for 2020-2021 are improving the quality of the courses that are offered yearly to all BAST members. Together with our teachers and sponsors, we continue to look to offer the most education at the lowest cost. We will also try to create a variety of online courses that will ensure learning opportunities even during a pandemic.
We will continue to represent surgical residents in the national boards and improve the teaching situation in Belgium.
The BAST Board 2020-2021
Marie-Céline Schraepen
President
Tom Danau
Vice-President & Treasurer
Barbara Donck
Secretary & Course Director
Elfi Tournaye
Course director
Isadora Frick
Course Director
Welcome
All surgical trainees in Belgium are invited to become a member of BAST.
Important
Both the BAST and BAST+RBSS membership start on January 1st. Subscription ends December 31st.
Standard Membership
Our standard membership package
€20/Year
- The standard yearly fee is 20€ and includes the following membership package:
- 1. Free attendance of our courses on surgical techniques (vascular suturing courses, cadaveric courses, laparoscopic training, …)
- 2. Join us on our different sessions, as a participant or speaker (you may even take home the grand prize!)
- 3. The opportunity to participate in the work of BAST, either in committees or local.
- 4. And much more to come…
Full RBSS + BAST membership
Includes the following advantages on top of our standard membership package
€60/Year
- The yearly fee for RBSS + BAST block membership is € 60 (an RBSS membership usually costs €50) and includes the following advantages on top of our standard membership package:
- 1. Reduced attendance fee for the Belgian Surgical week (BSW) and Surgical Night. At the 2020 BSW the difference between members and non-members of the RBSS was € 70 for 1 and € 80 for 2 ½ days registration; this difference will further increase in the future.
- 2. Easier access to the Belgian surgical network
- 3. Free subscription to the “Acta Chirurgica Belgica” (six issues annually)
- 4. Access to grants such as the Young Investigators Award at BSW
- 5. Access to postgraduate courses organized annually by the different sections of the RBSS (Belgian Section of Upper GI Tract Surgery, Hepato-pancreatico-biliary Surgery, Colorectal surgery, Abdominal wall surgery, Metabolic and obesity surgery etc…)