The British Orthopaedic Trainee's Association, BOTA, was set up under the direction of Mr Richard Rawlins in 1987 following a meeting in Oxford when 45 Senior Registrars met at a symposium entitled ‘Planning a career in Orthopaedic Surgery'. It subsequently became affiliated to the British Orthopaedic Association. Since its foundation its membership has increased from the founding 45 to the current level of in the order of over 1000 Specialist Registrars (and recently appointed consultants). Orthopaedic Surgeons make up around 40% of the membership of the Royal Colleges, and as the largest surgical subspecialty we devolved from ASiT, the Association of Surgeons in Training, to represent the views of Orthopaedics specifically. However, ASiT and BOTA have a very good working relationship, and work together on many issues to represent surgical trainees as a collective.

Currently we draw our membership from StR's and SpR's in Orthopaedics. However with the drastic changes perpetuating at present in the UK, the organisation is considering extending our membership to the new FY1 and 2 grades as these trainees that are interested in Orthopaedics may not come into contact with the specialty due to nuances in the system.

The following pages detail the benefits of joining BOTA. Our structure, and regular activity, and give some insight into what further involvement, either as a linkman or committee member has to offer.