Training lab will have trainees in stitches
Tailors are renowned for their sewing skills but pale in comparison to the dexterity of microsurgeons who reconnect veins and arteries in procedures that can last up to 12 hours.
Maxillofacial consultant Abdul Ahmed is sharing his nimble-fingered knowledge with trainees by converting office space into the trust’s first dedicated training laboratory.
His dedication to the cause is reflected by bringing in his own high powered microscope so surgical trainees can practice before going to surgery.
“It’s a fascinating area of surgery," said the head and neck cancer surgeon who says microsurgery is used to connect blood vessels during reconstructive surgery where patients’ cancerous jaws, tongues and palates have to be replaced with flesh and bone harvested from the arm or leg.
Mr Ahmed added: “The department usually perform microsurgery a couple of times a week but courses for trainees are expensive and the recent pandemic means there has been no opportunity for them to practice.”
Northwick Park is believed to be one of the first Max Fax departments in the country to offer its own in-house course.