This fellowship is based at the Northern General Hospital (NGH) and is aimed at surgeons who would like to gain more experience in all aspects of Spinal Surgery. This is the Senior Spinal Fellowship based at the Northern General Hospital, as opposed to the Junior Spine Fellowship aimed at those earlier on in their training (F3 – Core trainee level).

You will be trained in the assessment and management of all emergency pathologies because we are a tertiary referral Centre for spinal surgery, and a Major Trauma Centre for South Yorkshire. Electively, you will develop your skills in the assessment and management of the degenerative spine, late presenting paediatric deformity (e.g. AIS in those over 16 years of age) and adult deformity.  All surgeries are performed at the NGH with the support of the critical care team when necessary. We perform anterior and posterior approaches to the whole spine and Fellows will gain valuable experience in all exposures.

As part of your routine timetable you will spend 1.5 days a week at the Children’s hospital and will therefore gain experience in paediatric pathologies during this Fellowship. This will give you a solid foundation in this area, even if you do not decide to pursue this as a sub-specialist interest.

There is a weekly MDT where all cases are discussed from both the emergency and elective practices. This is jointly run with the neurosurgical department at The Royal Hallamshire Hospital, and once a month the Infectious Diseases team join us to discuss all patients being managed for Spinal infections.

We have close links with the Spinal Injuries Rehabilitation unit which is on the same site, and visits can be arranged during your time with us.

The fellowship is designed to last twelve months, and in this time you will be expected to participate in audit and research. You will be encouraged to attend National and International meetings where you can present any work you have done. There are no out-of-hours on-call commitments associated with this post.

Our consultants are involved in national societies and NHS England, and so UK trainees in particular, will gain significant insight into clinical management at a local and national level.

Candidates will have the opportunity to apply for the Paediatric Fellowship if they would like to develop a sub-speciality interest in this area, and if deemed appropriate, during their educational reviews at NGH.

 

Typical timetable:

	Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
AM	Research / Ward Round	SCH Theatre*	Adult MDT Ward Round	Elective Theatre	SCH OPD*
PM	Emergency Theatres	SCH Theatre*	OPD	Elective Theatre	Emergency Theatres

*: SCH = Sheffield Children’s Hospital. For 6 months you will attend SCH theatres on a Tuesday, with your adult list on a Thursday, and for the other 6 months this will be reversed.