“If I was sitting the fellowship exam, I’d probably fail it.”

This is not something you would expect to hear from the president of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. But this is Professor Owen Ung, who carries with him a disarming honesty.

Back in May the professor of surgery at the University of Queensland, took on the top job during tumultuous times for the specialist colleges. 

They are assailed on all sides, it seems. State and federal health ministers blaming them for workforce shortages, the rollout of independent CPD homes offering an alternative to college membership, trainees railing against the vast costs of making it through to fellowship, and IMGs relying on them for specialist recognition, talking of a cruel indifference to their plight.