DATE CHANGE! 15th December at 7-8pm

Welcome to part 2 of our Widening Participation Women in Surgery Series on MedAll!!!

*All events are 7pm - 8pm with a 30 minute open access Networking Room post-event for attendees to talk freely to each other*

Surgery still has a long way to go with regards to inclusivity and diversity. WPMN strives to be a part of the change and brings you a monthly series delivered by inspiring women from different surgical specialities from ENT to orthopaedics to cardiothoracics. Each speaker is a leading women in their field AND from widening participation backgrounds. Join us and surgeons that look just like you and explore how they have navigated a surgical carer and created a work-life-balance.

Session 4: Miss Poonam Valand

I was born in Zimbabwe and moved to the United Kingdom when I was a teenager. I studied medicine at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry and graduated in 2011. Since then, I went onto obtain a Masters Degree in Surgical Sciences with the University of Edinburgh, obtaining a distinction for my final thesis which involved setting up a pilot clinical trial which was completed via the University of Sheffield. I gained my MRCS in 2015 and have worked in Newcastle, Durham, Sheffield and now in the Thames Valley Deanery. I am currently an ST7 Plastics and Reconstructive Surgery Registrar based in Oxford. I left the NHS and commissioned as a Royal Airforce Medical Officer in 2021.

Alongside Plastic Surgery, my other interests include global surgery and I went onto complete my Diploma in the Medical Care of Conflict and Catastrophe in 2020. I have published in this area and plan on continuing to join missions abroad when I am able.

I have always been heavily involved in leadership roles stemming from the British Medical Association and the Anthony Nolan Trust as a medical student to more recently during my registrar years, the PLASTA (Plastic Surgery Trainees Association) Specialty Advisory Committee trainee rep for 2 years running. I recently relinquished that role and took on the role of the Executive Committees military representative. In addition to this, I have held a place on the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh Plastic Surgery Specialty Surgical Board for 2 years as the trainee representative. I am member of a number of national teaching faculties through the Royal College of Surgeons of England for various courses. I am also a module facilitator for the Masters in Surgical Sciences Programme for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the University of Edinburgh.

In my spare time I enjoy being outdoors whether it involves paddle boarding, running or hiking. I travel extensively and try to climb at least one mountain or complete one long hike in whichever country I visit.

My long terms interests include completion of my plastic surgery training programme and to complete fellowships in acute trauma and limb reconstruction for cancer. My future career aspirations involve microsurgical reconstruction for trauma and cancer of the limbs and head and neck.

We look forward to you attending this event!!!