Let's Talk Surgery Podcast, Surgical Crossroads: Choosing your specialty - the Orthopaedics episode

Let's Talk Surgery: The RCSEd Podcast

Today we are joined by two orthopaedic surgeons and one budding orthopaedic surgeon to help us explore this unique specialty.

Mr Sanjay Anand is a knee surgeon with a clinical practice centred around knee and sports injuries. As has been the case with many of our guests, Sanjay was inspired to pursue a career in orthopaedics by a senior colleague early in his career. He undertook specialist training on the NW rotation, completed the BASK knee fellowship in Knee and Sports Surgery, and achieved a MSc with distinction in Orthopaedic Engineering. In addition to his clinical role, Sanjay holds an honorary senior lecturer position at both the University of Manchester and the University of Salford where he pursues a combination of basic science and mechanical research. He is also part of a group in Manchester (Orthteam) who look after amateur and professional athletes from a wide variety of sports.

Sanjay has always enjoyed teaching and training and regularly participates in national and international courses. In his day-to-day routine, he particularly enjoys the learning opportunity presented by his morning meetings with the on-call team, including trainees and junior doctors of all levels. He sees it as a chance to test their knowledge, as well as a great way of getting to know your team and your patients.

Mr Haroon Rehman is the Trainee Committee Representative on the RCSEd Council and a specialty registrar (ST8) in trauma and orthopaedic surgery based at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he sits on the department’s clinical governance and training committees. Haroon has a special interest in patient safety, teaching and training, and is a trainee lead for NHS Grampian. He has a subspecialist interest in lower limb trauma and arthroplasty, and recently started a fellowship at Wrightington Hospital. He was attracted to a career in orthopaedics by the ability to really make a difference in patients’ lives and see your patients getting better, and he takes a great deal of job satisfaction from this.

Representing medical students and junior doctors this episode is Dr Dillon Vyas, an FY1 doctor working in Paediatric Medicine at Sheffield Children's Hospital. After initially pursuing a career in neurosurgery he became interested in orthopaedics. Dillon is committed to medical education and founded a charity with colleagues to run a revision course in neuroanatomy, the profits from which are donated to Sheffield Children's Hospital. He won a national award for his work in this area.

Our guests share their passion for orthopaedics, from the varied spectrum of treatment options to the fundamental role of teamwork. The panel’s advice for trainees is to maintain your enthusiasm and demonstrate your commitment by going for the less obvious opportunities for professional development and clinical experience. Our medical student this episode leaves us with this heartening message, “do what you're interested in, do what you find interesting, exciting, and you'll end up in the right specialty at the end of it”.

Contact Information
Visit https://www.rcsed.ac.uk/ for further information and details on becoming a member.

Email: [e-mail] for any questions or topic suggestions you may have for future episodes.

This show is brought to you by the RCSEd. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and Instagram. Hosted by Greg Ekatah, Sesi Hotonu and Sadie Khwaja produced and directed by Heather Pownall of Heather's Media Hub Ltd.