A Colon and Rectal surgeon is someone who has gone through a dedicated period of general surgical training (6 years) followed by a period of Colorectal surgical research of a minimum of 1 year and a maximum of 2 years.
He/She should have spent a sabattical for a short period abroad preferably in North America in a leading centre of excellence in the speciality of their interest.
In the future it will hopefully be mandatory for all Colorectal surgeons to secure a qualification in Colorectal surgery. At the present time, we have the EBSQ (Coloproctology) which is a European qualification in coloproctology, which expands the range of services. Few people have taken it in UK, because of the Euro-UK wall. This is soon crumbling and more and more people are taking this exam. I hope to take this exam soon although I have been a consultant now for a couple of years. I feel that it is nice to be tested in your area of special interest from time to time.
The team of Ashfordcolorectalsurgeon.co.uk feels that the American system is something to emulate. Nobody who is a consultant is perfect. All have to be tested with GMC revalidation and 5 yearly exams in their specialty, as well as a peer review of their performance.