School Student
What's surgery like?
David Ward
David Ward - Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Leicester Royal Infirmary
I first became interested in plastic surgery when I was sent as a medical student to Salisbury Hospital. The regional plastic surgery unit was there and the senior registrar, Chris Ward (no relation), spent a lot of time showing me round. I found the technical aspects of plastics fascinating and decided there and then that if I managed to get into surgical training, I would try plastic surgery as a career. I later started my training at East Grinstead where Tom Cochrane, a consultant and medical officer to the Guinea Pig Club (for World War 2 airmen whose burns had been treated by Sir Archibald McIndoe, many of whom still needed plastic surgery) became my mentor.
When I first became a consultant I spent most of my time doing microvascular head and neck reconstruction. Many surgeons find that their job changes gradually with time, and my working week now is a mixture of operating (mainly skin cancer), outpatient clinics at Leicester Royal Infirmary and two smaller hospitals, chairing the skin cancer multi-disciplinary team, and College examination work as I am MRCS examiner and am chair of the committee responsible for the FRCS exams.
Patient contact, especially when I see patients in outpatients that I have operated on, is the most satisfying part of the job. It is a close run with the actual operating, but seeing patients who are pleased with and grateful for the care from the team you lead really makes one’s day, and puts into perspective the day-to-day trials and tribulations of working in the vast organisation that is the NHS.
It’s easy to get totally immersed in surgery but it’s important to make time for one’s family and hobbies – I get outside as much as I can with countryside activities and keeping my two pet Gloucester Old Spot pigs, Nip and Tuck.
