Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery Fellowships
RCS England Senior Clinical Fellowships in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
This page includes Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellowship programmes which have been approved under the RCS England Senior Clinical Fellowship Scheme, and a gallery of recent Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Fellows.
Applying to be a fellow
If you would like to be a RCS England Senior Clinical Fellow, you will need to contact the Supervisor/Lead Consultant of the fellowship programme you are interested in. Ask the Supervisor/Lead Consultant if or when there is a vacancy for a fellow. They will tell you how to apply, if appropriate. Please go to the appropriate fellowship programme listed below for more information.
Fellows appointed to RCS England Senior Clinical Fellowships will be expected to be ambassadors for RCS England and meet the requirements of the GMC’s Good Medical Practice.
Coventry Microsurgery and Major Trauma Fellowship
Based at: University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust (UHCW)
Surgical Specialty Association approving: BAPRAS
Approval period: Initially approved April 2016/Reapproved September 2019–November 2022/Reapproved October 2024–September 2027
Supervisor/Lead Consultant: Miss Joanna Skillman, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, with Mr David Wallace, Consultant Plastic Surgeon
Fellowship duration: 12 months
Stated learning outcomes:
- Completion of assessment in life saving procedures, primary and secondary surveys.
- Supervision and assessment to demonstrate increasing independence and complexity in soft tissue trauma management.
- Multi-source feedback from the team.
- Self-reflective diary of achievements.
- Completion of an audit cycle.
- Submission of a project to a peer-reviewed journal.
Clinical competencies to be achieved:
- Immediate life-saving intervention and primary and secondary survey.
- Assessment, decision making, completion and follow-up review of all types of soft tissue trauma.
- Skills in microsurgical reconstruction in an acute and delayed setting.
- Communication and working within a multidisciplinary team.
The number of main operations the fellow could expect to be involved in:
Independent, actual numbers from last fellow (including P (Performed) and STS (Supervised – Trainer Scrubbed):
- Free flap - 50 (gracilis, scapular, LD, DIEP, ALT)
- Local flaps - 15
- Arterial or Venous anastomosis - 82
- Debridement of lower limb injury - 71
Broad and varied training in all aspects of microsurgery and multidisciplinary trauma assessment, clinics and Orthoplastic lists (2 dedicated lists per week). Strong team spirit and supportive environment with supervision initially but encouraging independent practice by the end of the fellowship in the second busiest trauma centre in the UK.
Fellows awarded Fellowship Certificate (dates of Fellowship):
- Joseph Hardwicke (May 2016–Feb 2017)
- Katy Wallis (Aug 2017–Aug 2018)
- Andrew Robinson (Aug 2018–Jul 19)
- Anne-Marie Kennedy (Feb 2019–Jul 2020)
- Nick Rabey (Aug 2020–Aug 2021)
- Vivien Toh (Sep 2021–Mar 2022)
Sheffield Plastic & Reconstructive Skin Oncology Fellowship
- To prepare candidates towards a consultant post with a subspecialty interest in Skin Cancer.
- To develop well-rounded candidates that are well versed with inter-specialty working, in NHS system improvements as well as leadership and management.
- Evidence of competencies (assessments) in skin oncology assessment and multidisciplinary management, demonstrating progression e.g. increasing independence and case complexity.
- Evidence of attendance to Skin Cancer Multidisciplinary Meeting, Skin Cancer Team Huddle, Cancer Alliance Skin Clinical Delivery Group Meeting and departmental clinical governance meeting.
- Evidence of attendance to at least one Skin Oncology clinic and therapy session.
- Completion of multi-source feedback from team and patients.
- Completion of either one audit, quality improvement project or research project related to Skin Oncology.
- Independent assessment, decision-making and management of all types of skin cancers.
- Surgical skills related to Skin Oncology including sentinel lymph node biopsy, lymphadenectomies and reconstructive methods including local/regional flaps.
- Advanced communication skills including breaking bad news and managing difficult conversations with patients and relatives.
- Multidisciplinary working across the wider teams and Specialties including senior and junior clinical colleagues, allied health professionals, administrative and managerial.
- Sentinel lymph node biopsies (STS/STU/P) > 20 including head and neck.
- Lymphadenectomies (STS/STU/P) > 6.
- Locoregional flap reconstruction including for MOHS (STS/STU/P) > 10.
- Abdominal wall reconstruction (A/STS/STU/P) > 4.
Joseph Hardwicke
Coventry Microsurgery and Major Trauma Fellowship, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, May 2016–February 2017. Current (July 2017) post: Consultant Plastic Surgeon, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust."As the inaugural fellow on this programme, I was able to carve out a definitive role as a microsurgeon in a busy major trauma centre, focussing on both emergency and elective microsurgery. My greatest achievement was the attainment of a substantive consultant post within the host institution. It allowed me to enhance my microsurgical technique, as well as aid my reconstructive algorithm development in a variety of complex major trauma patients. The fellowship was well supported, both in clinical and academic terms, and I have continued this into my consultant job plan. I personally feel that the RCS Senior Clinical Fellowship has brought even more cohesion to the trauma and orthopaedic and plastic surgery departments, and I feel that I really got to make a difference to a large number of patients. I would thoroughly recommend this post to individuals with a microsurgical and general plastic surgery interest."
Joseph Hardwicke
Nicholas Rabey
Coventry Microsurgery and Major Trauma Fellowship, University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire NHS Trust, August 2020–August 2021. Current post (December 2021): Locum Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge."My fellowship in microsurgery and trauma at Coventry gave me an exceptional opportunity to enhance my technical operative skills and decision-making in complex trauma presentations. Being given senior responsibilities as an integral member of a dedicated and inspirational orthoplastic team, allowed me to make the transition from trainee to consultant in an incredibly well-supported environment. Development of leadership and teamworking skills, as well as regular discussion of cases within the team, was also actively encouraged. This provided an invigorating and structured learning environment which remained challenging whilst being highly rewarding. I have since begun my consultant career with the knowledge that I have had the rigorous training and exposure necessary to be confident in providing the very highest standards of care to patients presenting with a broad range of lower and upper limb trauma. I would therefore thoroughly recommend this fellowship to those with an interest in complex trauma reconstruction who seek to refine all the essential aspects of their practice before making the step up to consultant level."