Submit an abstract

The Defence Professor of Surgery and committee welcome the submission of abstracts for presentation at the Military Surgical Sciences Symposium 2026. The content and diversity of submitted submissions will be used to structure the delivery of the symposium, as such any topics relating to military surgery and science will be considered.

All submissions will be marked by a panel blinded to author names and affiliations.

Accepted abstracts will be presented as either oral presentations or posters. Oral presentations will be grouped across the two days. The committee may invite contributors of select submissions to provide a more substantial contribution to the symposium.

There will be a prize awarded for the best oral presentation and best poster. Other potential prizes TBC.

Top scoring abstracts will be published in BMJ Military Health.

Guidance for authors

• Abstract of maximum 300 words (excluding title) either consisting of a structured IRMAD format (Introduction, Method, Results and Discussion) or unstructured text.

• Submit as an anonymised Microsoft Word document or PDF file below.

• Registration for the conference is required by at least one author to present abstracts.

• Deadline for submission 1st February 2026.

• Accepted authors informed by 28th February 2026.

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION FORM