Exeter Shoulder and Elbow Fellowship

Institution: Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital

Tenure: 12 months (August-August)

Aimed at: Peri CCT trainees

The fellowship in Exeter is well established and provides excellent clinical experience in all aspects of shoulder (60%) and elbow (40%) surgery.  The fellow will gain operative experience in arthroscopic, arthroplasty, revision arthroplasty and trauma surgery of both the shoulder and elbow.  The Royal Devon and Exeter hospital is the regional centre for elbow arthroplasty.  

The fellow will work with all four shoulder surgeons at Exeter (Jeff Kitson, Chris Smith, Will Thomas, Jon Evans and Sabina Barbur).  This post is fully funded and banded at registrar level with evening and weekend general trauma on-call commitment that does allow for additional pay and experience, but does not interfere with the day to day timetable of the fellow.

There are significant research opportunities available to the fellow, both in clinical and basic science.  Jon Evans is appointed as a clinical lecturer at the University of Exeter, generating research in shoulder and elbow surgery.  There are excellent links between the unit and the University of Exeter.

Timetable: 

Monday:          morning elective clinic. Shoulder & Elbow weekly MDT

Tuesday:         all day elective theatre/  research day

Wednesday:    all day elective theatre/ trauma theatre

Thursday:        all day elective theatre / specialist fracture clinic

Friday:            all day specialist trauma theatre

Comments from previous fellows:

The Exeter Shoulder & Elbow Fellowship affords excellent exposure to both trauma and elective shoulder & elbow surgery with a particular focus on shoulder & elbow arthroplasty and complex upper limb trauma. The Shoulder & Elbow team consultants are all excellent trainers and this year has been invaluable in preparing me for my future consultant practice. The volume and breadth of hands-on surgical experience over the year has been exceptional and the weekly MDT discussions have really helped shape my decision making for complex patients. It has been a pleasure to work with such a friendly, supportive, welcoming and cohesive team and I cannot recommend this fellowship highly enough to anyone preparing to take up a consultant post in Shoulder & Elbow Surgery - Thomas Key

This fellowship provides clinical and operative exposure to the majority of shoulder and elbow conditions. In addition to specialist work the fellow gets general trauma exposure, which is a big plus.  All of the consultants bring complementary skill sets to the fellowship. In addition to learning new surgical techniques, the option is there for the fellow to develop shoulder ultrasound skills and to get involved in high quality research. The unit also benefits from having the regional multidirectional instability service and is supported by an outstanding physiotherapist from whom all fellows should learn to examine a shoulder. Highly recommended- Alun Yewlett

This well respected fellowship provides excellent operative and clinical training in a wide range of shoulder and elbow disorders. A good balance is achieved between open and arthroscopic work and there is considerable exposure to tertiary level work. All the consultants are extremely competent, friendly and are equally eager to train- Harpal Uppal

There are many aspects to becoming a consultant – I found this fellowship to set me on the path to fulfilling them all. Not only learning new techniques, honing aspects of well known procedures but also being treated as a colleague and its responsibilities. All this in a friendly and supportive environment. Thoroughly recommended – Dan Neen

This fellowship provides excellent operative exposure with the correct amount of supervision.  The year fellowship made me prepared to take on a shoulder consultant post.  I was also able to undertake several research projects resulting in presentations and publications – Tom Cosker

Fellows:

Matthew Howard (August 2025-August 2026)

Simon Flower (August 2024- August 2025)

Thomas Key (August 2023-August 2024), Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Royal Gwent hospital

Chris Jenkins (August 2022-August 2023), Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Manchester

Jon Evans (August 2021-August 2022),  Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Royal Devon and Exeter hospital

Pradeep Kankanalu (March 2021-August 2021),  Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Northern General hospital, Sheffield

Alistair Jones (August 2020-March 2021), Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Taunton hospital, Somerset

Richard Harding (August 2019-August 2020), Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Morriston hospital, Swansea

James White (August 2018-August 2019), Consultant Shoulder & Elbow surgeon, Guys and St Thomas' hospital, London

Nick Furness (September 2017-August 2018), Orthopaedic Surgeon, Australia

James Beazley (August 2016-August 2017), Consultant upper limb surgeon, Royal Darwin hospital, Australia

Simon Booker (August 2015-August 2016), Consultant Shoulder and Elbow surgeon, Northern General hospital,Sheffield

Alun Yewlett (August 2014-August 2015), Consultant Shoulder and Elbow surgeon, united Lincolnshire hospitals

Harpal Uppal (March-August 2014), Consultant Upper limb surgeon, East and North Hertfordshire NHS trust

Paul Guyver (Jan-March 2014), Consultant Shoulder and Elbow surgeon, Derriford hospital, Plymouth

Dan Neen (Aug 2013-Jan 2014), Consultant, Dartford and Gravesham NHS trust

Chet Modi (April-July 2013), Consultant Shoulder and Elbow surgeon, UHCW, Coventry

Paul Verbeek  (August 2012-January 2013), Consultant, Franciscus hospital, Roosendaal, Netherlands

Tom Cosker (August 2011-July 2012), Consultant and Director of Human Anatomy, Oxford University

For more information please contact Chris Smith through any of his secretaries on the contact page.