Commences 01 August 2024 for 12 months

Department: University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff

The urology department at the University Hospital of Wales (UHW), Cardiff offers a comprehensive RCS England senior clinical fellowship scheme approved Robotic fellowship commencing in August every year in line with the training and governance structure set out in the ISCP programme. The posts are awarded by application form & competitive interview, taking place in March every year, with fellowships generally lasting 1 year. Fellowships have been a part of Cardiff Urology for over 10 years, acting as a "finishing school" for the most gifted urologists with the principal aim of developing an independent Urologist with a broad surgical and clinical expertise in Uro-Oncolgy.

UHW is the highest volume robotic centre in Wales with over >3000 cases performed to date. We have the longest running Welsh robotic programme, having trained over 8 urologists to independent robotic practice since 2016. The fellowship was set up and is run by Mr Krishna Narahari with all robotic surgeons in Wales contributing significantly to the trainee’s development.  

We are an Intuitive Surgical centre for UK robotic training with close links to links with ERUS & the ORSI training centre. We have a dual-console Xi da Vinci robotic programme with a dedicated simulator for fellows. We also have a CMR robotic surgical platform, although all urological surgery is delivered with the intuitive platform. We have 3 dedicated urology surgical care practitioners who support the programme.

All robotic fellows take part in our disease-specific, multidisciplinary cancer meetings & clinics, and also play a role in diagnostic urology clinics and procedures. The robotic fellows are also part of the middle grade on-call rota and take part in an 1 in 8 rota. The timetable for a robotic fellow would include 3.5 full days of robotic theatre time, 1 day of clinic, half day or core urology lists as well clinical research, admin and teaching and supporting junior trainees.

Over the course of the year, fellows will be expected to get involved with several research projects as well as the teaching of undergraduate and postgraduate students.

At the end of the fellowship year, it is expected that fellows will be able to complete entire robotic cases independently, to a high standard, in preparation for independent practice. Previous fellows who have successfully established their robotic oncology practice include Mr Hosam Serag (Upper tract), Mr Gokul KandaSwamy (pelvic oncology), Mr Matthew Jefferies (pelvic oncology), Mr Haitham Teleb (Upper tract) & Mr Amir Ali (pelvic oncology & upper tract)

Primary Objective of Fellowship

Independent RALP , RN, RPN based on trainees interest