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
Candidates who are interested in these fellowship programmes are required to apply through the NHS Trust jobs website. For more information, please visit our recruitment section or contact the QA Department: qa@rcseng.ac.uk
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 16 – Feb 17)
- Katy Wallis (Aug 17 – Aug 18)
- Andrew Robinson (Aug 18 – Jul 19)
- Anne-Marie Kennedy (Feb 19 – Jul 20)
- Nick Rabey (Aug 20 – Aug 21)
- Vivien Toh (Sep 21 – Mar 22)
- Annemarie Malan (Mar 24 - Jan 25)
Sheffield Plastic & Reconstructive Skin Oncology Fellowship
Based at: Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Surgical Specialty Association approving: BAPRAS
Approval period: October 2024–September 2027
Supervisor/Lead Consultant: Miss Vi Vien Toh and Mr Martin Wiener, Consultant Plastic Surgeons
Fellowship duration: 12 months
Stated learning outcomes:
- 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.
Clinical competencies to be achieved:
- 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.
Number of main operations the fellow could expect to be involved in:
- 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.
Comments from recent Fellows
Annemarie Malan
Coventry Microsurgery and Major Trauma Fellowship, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, May 2024 – February 2025. Current post: Reconstructive Microsurgery Fellowship Imperial College, Charing Cross London. " I have had the privilege of being given this fellowship at a crucial pivotal point in my training. It gave me an understanding of the transition from trainee to consultant. The fellowship provided me with the opportunity to successively gain independence in decision-making, leadership and professional skills and surgical techniques within a well-supported environment adjusted to my competency and areas of growth. What has been most rewarding is gaining confidence in my surgical ability, which is transferable to different situations, techniques and anatomical areas. No defect or injury in trauma is the same and requires innovative thinking which allowed me to develop varied reconstructive algorithms. I had good exposure to a variety of complex major trauma patients requiring upper and lower limb reconstruction. I was able to maximise my skills under the great mentorship of incredibly encouraging and supportive team at UHCW.”Annemarie Malan
Joseph Hardwicke
Coventry Microsurgery and Major Trauma Fellowship, University Hospitals of Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, May 2016–February 2017. Current 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."