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Dr Jon Chambers picks up the reins as Editor of the Bulletin and welcomes you to the year's first issue.

As I pick up the reins as Editor of the Bulletin, I do so with an appropriate degree of trepidation. The Bulletin has been a constant throughout my anaesthetic career, and it remains a window into our specialty that combines a mix of news, developments within the specialty, personal stories and guidance. In my short time in the role, I’ve already been humbled by the quality of contributions from the anaesthetic community willing to share their stories and their work with colleagues.

The start of a new year is often a time to look to the future and the new challenges ahead. In the midst of this newness I have always believed that we should also take the time to look back, and to learn from and reflect on the lessons of our past. In the run up to LGBT+ History Month (February) Professor Andrew Hartle does just that, and he writes openly and honestly on the challenges he has faced as an out gay anaesthetist throughout his career in the NHS and the military. His reflections take us through his journey of exclusion and stigmatisation, and then ultimately of acceptance, recognition and celebration. It is an incredible journey and ends with him rightly encouraging us all to feel prouder in 2025.

I have recently been appointed as an Examiner for the Royal College of Anaesthetists FRCA examination. It was a moment of great pride and achievement for me, but also very humbling and surprising to know that I was the first SAS doctor to be appointed as an examiner for the College. It has made me reflect on my journey as an SAS doctor and how I got to become an examiner.

I completed my undergraduate medical and postgraduate anaesthetic training in Mumbai, India. Like a lot of doctors from India in the early 2000s, I chose to come to the UK on a ‘permit-free training’ visa to train and work in the NHS, be better paid, and have a better balance between work and life. I first applied as a clinical observer at Basingstoke hospital and then was successful at interview for the senior house officer (SHO) post in August 2003. This was the first time that I became aware of the SAS grade of non-training doctors in the UK. In 2003, Basingstoke already had six SAS doctors on full-time or part-time contracts. They were a motivated group of doctors who had their own fixed lists and worked independently anaesthetising for complex cases. But at that time, like everyone else, I was intent on trying to train and become a consultant.