Speakers
Adham Ahmed
Akshdeep Bawa
Julie Craig
Antonio Frasquet
Yuri Kulikov
BOA Session
Retaining and developing SAS/LED Orthopaedic surgeons
Chair & Co-Chairs: Akshdeep Bawa, Julie Craig, Yuri Kulikov
This session aims to make SAS/LED doctors in orthopaedic surgery from across the UK aware of various career development opportunities. With this subgroup poised to become the largest subgroup of practicing orthopaedic surgeons, it is paramount that we retain this workforce and afford them equal opportunities to progress.
10:30 - 10:40 Introduction of the session and speakers Akshdeep Bawa
10:40 - 11:00 AAC/RSPA process for specialist posts Vinita Shekar
11:00 - 11:20 Specialist in T&O, My journey Antonio Frasquet
11:20 - 11:40 Portfolio pathway, a primer Adham Ahmed
11:40 - 12:00 Q&A
Adham Ahmed is a Locum Consultant Urologist at the West Suffolk Hospital since November 2023. Prior to that, he worked for 7 years at Cambridge University Hospital as a Junior then a Senior Clinical Fellow. He has been elected as Vice-Chair of the newly formed SAS and Trust Urologists Section (SSTU) of the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) for 2 years after which he will be automatically promoted to chair in January 2026. He is Faculty Lead for the bi-annual Online FRCS Urol Mock Viva Day and is co-chair for the BAUS Portfolio Pathway course
Julie Craig is the SAS representative on the BOA education & careers committee.
She works as an Orthopaedic Specialty Doctor in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast.
Julie graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast, and has since completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Education at Queen’s University, and a Master’s degree in Orthopaedic Engineering from Cardiff University. She is now an undergraduate educational lead for fractures for Queen’s University Belfast.
She teaches quality improvement and leadership skills to doctors in the Belfast Trust as part of the QI faculty.
Julie has a special interest in clinical data analysis and project design and is the Belfast Trust’s specialty improvement lead for their fracture inpatient database. She is also the Northern Ireland representative on the NHFD advisory group and a member of the RCP’s FFFAP committee.
Julie’s publications include peer-reviewed journals and chapter contributions to a trauma and orthopaedic nursing textbook. She has received prizes for Best Presentation at the British Trauma Society, Best Abstract at the Irish Hip Fracture Database Annual Meeting, the Bone and Joint Journal Prize, and a “highlight paper” at the Orthopaedic Trauma Association.
After qualifying from The University of Granada in Spain I moved to England to train.
Following several SHO jobs and after the completion of my Basic Surgical Training in Yorkshire I moved to the North West working in Trafford General Hospital, MFT and finally Stepping Hill Hospital where I became a Specialist in trauma and orthopaedics.
Advocate for the SAS development and progression in their career as well as training future generation of trauma and orthopaedic surgeons. Last year I was the recipient of the first SAS Colleague Award of the Year.
Main interest in Trauma surgery and fracture neck of femur in particular as well as PJI.
Outside work my passions are my family, my dog and flying.
Mr Kulikov is a Specialty Doctor in Trauma and Orthopaedics with a broad research background and an eye on clinical practice improvement and innovation. He is a passionate proponent of SAS grade development as a career pathway in its own right.
He is particularly interested in Trauma and Orthopaedic research methodology and support of novel research ideas integral to clinical practice. He started career in the Vreden Russian Research Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedics, worked with the Centre for Orthopaedic Biomechanics (University of Bath) and Warwick Orthopaedics group Warwick Medical School), where he completed PhD in research methodology specific to surgical studies. He currently explores development of technology assisted joint surgery.
Vinita Shekar is an International Medical Graduate from India and works as a SAS surgeon in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery (OMFS) at Ninewells hospital, Dundee.
She is a council member of AoMRC and co-chair the AoMRC SAS Committee. At a local level, she is SAS Education Advisor for NHS Tayside.
She is immediate past chair of SAS Forum at RCSEng. She was an invited member of RCSEng council and served as a panel member for Kennedy Review that looked at the diversity of leadership of Royal College of Surgeons of England. Following the review, as a member of RCSEng EDI steering group, she was appointed as the council lead for SAS Strategy, one of the 16 recommendations from Kennedy review. This strategy was successfully launched by the college on 4 July 2023.
She is passionate about equal opportunities for education and training of SAS doctors and has been instrumental in improving the profile of SAS surgeons at the college. Some of her past roles include being an investigator officer for doctors in difficulty, a whistle-blowing advocate, clinical audit lead, clinical governance lead and SAS Representative on BAOMS council.
