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Bilateral facial nerve palsy is a rare condition, representing only 0.3-2.0% of all facial palsy cases. Facial paralysis constitutes the result of a diverse array of systemic disorders and heterogeneous aetiologies and thus represents a diagnostic challenge. This case report describes a previously healthy male who presented to the emergency department numerous times within a few weeks with unrelated non-specific symptoms. These symptoms could not be attributed to any specific aetiology after various radiological and laboratory examinations, and hence presented a diagnostic dilemma until he developed bilateral seventh nerve palsy and was admitted for a further workup.

Aim The number of international medical graduates (IMGs) in the various surgical specialties in the United Kingdom (UK) has been growing recently. Owing to the differences in the undergraduate medical training between the UK and other countries, it can be very challenging for IMGs to establish themselves in the competitive surgical training programs in the UK. With that in mind, some International Core Surgical Trainees founded the Surgical Society of International Doctors (SSID) as an initiative to connect, support and promote aspiring international surgeons in the UK. Method SSID was formed by recruiting other committee members with similar backgrounds and interests as leads for education, research, networking, and regional representatives. The society currently has 13 active members, a website - www.surgicalsid.com and an active social media presence. Monthly committee meetings and WhatsApp group chats are used to organise and run various society activities. Results The two projects undertaken so far are: Conclusions Our society is expanding with increasing members and growing interest from medical colleagues, and rising followers on the website and social media. We plan to expand our reach with more events, conferences, research collaborations and opportunities for international doctors.

Introduction As the number of international medical graduates (IMG) applying for Core Surgical Training (CST) is growing, the understanding of the portfolio and application system is crucial to succeeding in this competitive application process. We conducted a webinar to grow the awareness of the system, especially amongst doctors still in the process of moving to the UK for surgical training. Method The webinar was part of an online teaching series for IMG doctors run by the SSID society. It was conducted in two separate two-hour sessions using a virtual conferencing tool in September and October 2021. Alongside, it was streamed on Facebook live to grow the reach. The advertising was done via flyers on social media and various WhatsApp groups. Each webinar was delivered by an IMG doctor in CST in the UK where they shared their personal experiences. Feedback was collected after each webinar using an online form generating tool and analysed on Excel. The certificate of attendance was distributed via E-mail. Results The webinar was viewed by 1200 on Facebook Live. Feedback was received from 66 attendees. 96.96% agreed that the webinar improved their understanding of the portfolio and 94.45% agreed they learned about ways to improve their portfolio. 89.39% agreed that they would change their practice after attending this webinar. Conclusions Simple online webinars can improve the understanding of the portfolio requirements for CST amongst IMG doctors. Subsequently, this could allow for early portfolio preparation opportunities, improve application self-assessment scores, and reduce the years needed to get a successful training number.