Colorectal travelling fellowships: Exploring current perspective and future direction

Travelling Surgical fellowships (TSF) have a longstanding tradition in promoting out-of-programme surgical training, fostering collegiality and collaboration among surgeons. In this retrospective review we explore its historical context and examine existing practices and likely future trends. More specifically, we focus on colorectal travelling fellowships (CTF) and provide additional quantitative and qualitative analyses, highlighting the most valued theme-based surgical experiences and examine their merits and impacts. The TSF time-series analysis was based on a total of 350 awarded fellowships from 2000 to 2019. CTF analysis was based on 98 fellowships. The accelerated utilization of internet-based virtual interaction during the COVID-19 Pandemic has offered an opportunity to examine its possible intermediate and long-term disruptive effects.