The College is delighted to announce the launch of our Moon and Back initiative, a campaign created to highlight the issue of mental health in surgery and raising awareness to start the conversation.
Mental health is a growing concern, and yet many fail to check in, not only with their friends and loved ones, but also with themselves. We care deeply about the wellbeing of our surgeons above all else, and know it can be difficult for our colleagues to feel comfortable discussing their mental health. In support of this, the Moon and Back campaign was created to raise awareness of this issue and encourage surgeons, and all those throughout healthcare, to open up about their wellbeing.
The campaign involves individuals walking, running, cycling or swimming as a collective to cover the distance required to reach the moon and back. Why this specific distance? Because we want to show surgeons that if you measured how much we care about them out, it would reach this colossal distance.
As part of this campaign, the College has devised a mental health first aid kit: Think, Breathe, Move. This includes tips on how to check in and take care of your own mental health. You can view this here.
Mr Barnabas Rigden Green, Consultant Vascular Surgeon and Deputy Director of RCSEd RSA Network, the mind behind the concept of Moon and Back, had this to say on the campaign:
I’m absolutely thrilled that we are planning on going the distance to the moon and back to check our mates are ok! That’s 768,800km worth of supportive conversations that I know will make a difference to our mental health and wellbeing.
Reaching the Moon and back is no easy feat and we won’t be able to get there alone. Find out more and make your pledge at moonandbackrcsed.uk/