Clinial Fellow MSK Radiology

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

MAIN DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

The Musculoskeletal Imaging fellowship at the Royal Orthopedic Hospital is a 12 month appointment and will embrace all aspects of musculoskeletal imaging including MRI, MR arthrography, CT, ultrasound and image guided percutaneous biopsy. There will be an opportunity to gain experience in image guided spinal intervention including cementoplasties and assist with radiofrequency frequency and cryoablation cases. There are two fellowship positions available.

The fellowship includes fixed clinical sessions. These will include:

• Dedicated diagnostic and therapeutic ultrasound lists
• MR reporting sessions under the supervision of a Consultant Radiologist and independent reporting towards the end of the fellowship or when the Consultant signs the fellow off
• X-ray and CT reportin

The successful candidate will be also expected to be heavily involved in research and will leave the fellowship with a minimum of one publication. A flexible session will be available for audit and research. 

There is no on call commitment.

This is a whole time radiology post based at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital. 

This post is aimed primarily at post CCT radiologists looking to improve their knowledge and skills in Musculoskeletal Imaging prior to application for a substantive consultant post. 

Interested applicants may apply prior to gaining their CCT and there is the opportunity to begin the post as part of an Out of Programme Experience (OOPE) scheme if the local training scheme will allow such an arrangement.

Salary is commensurate with experience.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and a regular review will take place with the postholder as part of their ongoing development and performance management.                                  

The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital and the University of Birmingham

The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is a teaching hospital of the University of Birmingham.   Undergraduate teaching is under the direction of an Undergraduate Teaching Sub-dean.  Birmingham University has a large Medical School with an established record of accomplishment for clinical and basic research in a variety of different disciplines.  The University also has excellent facilities for basic research in areas such as biology, sports medicine, mechanical engineering and materials science. 

The Imaging Department

The Imaging Department at The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital at present comprises;

Room 1 – General Radiography   Philips Digital Diagnost High Performance room

Room 2 – General Radiography   Philips Digital Diagnost High Performance room

Room 3 – Fluoroscopy                 Siemens Digital  Artis Zee

Room 4 – General radiography    Siemans  Ysio DR

PACS                                         GE PACs

Multislice CT Scanner                  Siemens Somatom Definition AS (64 slice) with interventional package

Ultrasound                                  Siemens S.2000 x 2

MRI Scanner                               Siemens Skyra 3 Tesla

MRI Scanner                               Siemens Sola 1.5Tesla

Workload

The imaging department undertakes a wide variety of musculoskeletal studies including plain films, CT, ultrasound and MRI.

The MRI unit currently performs approximately 10,000 musculo-skeletal examinations per annum. 

There are at least 7 CT lists per week including 3 dedicated all day CT guided interventional lists. Approximately 5 ultrasound lists are undertaken per week during which ultrasound guided interventional procedures are performed. 

Wide varieties of diagnostic and therapeutic joint injections are performed including both spine and joint.  Significant numbers of diagnostic root blocks are undertaken together with some facet joint blocks as well as diagnostic joint injections of particularly the foot and ankle region.

The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital includes the largest spinal unit in the West Midlands comprising 9 spinal surgeons. 

There are 4 all day general anaesthetic lists undertaken within the imaging department primarily for bone and soft tissue biopsy.  One of these lists is for spinal interventional cases.  There is a vertebroplasty and cementoplasty service for the treatment of both osteoporotic disease as well as skeletal metastatic disease.  There is an established radiofrequency ablation service for the treatment of various benign conditions.  This service treats primarily primary osteoid osteomas although the service is developing to take on other primarily benign bone conditions. A recent addition is the Cryotherapy service which was set up in 2021.  

There is a long established discographic service within the department.  Currently an increasing number of CT myelograms are being undertaken for a wide variety of different conditions but usually for patients unable to undergo MRI.  

There is no nuclear medicine or PET facility on site.

Staffing

The Radiology Consultant staff currently working at the ROH are: 

Dr A M Davies FRCR, base hospital ROH, special interest musculoskeletal imaging.

Dr S James FRCR, base hospital ROH, special interest musculoskeletal imaging.

Dr R Botchu FRCR, base hospital ROH, special interest musculoskeletal imaging.

Dr A Patel FRCR, base hospital ROH, special interest musculoskeletal imaging.

Dr C Azzopardi, FRCR base hospital ROH, special interest musculoskeletal imaging.

Dr. J. Murphy, FRCR base hospital ROH, special interest musculoskeletal imaging.

The Medical Director is Mr M Revell and the Clinical Education Lead for the Radiology Fellowship Programme is Dr R Botchu.

Junior Staff

Junior Radiology staff on the West Midlands Radiology Training Programme rotate through the Imaging Department at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.  The department offers specialised training primarily to third and fifth year registrar’s in all aspects of musculoskeletal imaging.  Currently two SpRs are based at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital.

Research

The successful candidate will be expected to participate in research and audit with a view to presentation at national/international meetings and publication.  Full support facilities including a shared office and computer will be provided together with some secretarial support. 

It is anticipated that the successful candidate will produce publications during their period in post and contribute to radiological scientific meetings.  

Full job description available as a supporting document.