Mr. Simon Wood: "Opportunities & Risks" – A “Giants in Plastic Surgery” Interview

**This interview was conducted and recorded in November 2021** In this “Giants in Plastic Surgery” episode of the PRS Global Open Deep Cuts Podcast, Simon Wood FRCS discusses his distinctly broad scope of practice, influence on reducing subconscious bias in national plastic surgery recruitment, and why diversifying recruitment is key for safeguarding a prosperous future for our specialty. Read a classic PRS Global Open article by Mr. Wood and co-authors: “A Unifying Algorithm in Microvascular Reconstruction of Oral Cavity Defects Using the Trilaminar Concept”: https://bit.ly/GOXDeepCutsWood Mr. Simon Wood is a Consultant at Imperial College NHS Trust in London. He was appointed in 2000 to Charing Cross Hospital and now also supports all other hospitals in the Trust. Mr. Wood specialises in cancer reconstruction, particularly for Head & Neck, Breast and Skin cancer and more recently has developed an interest in managing complex abdominal wall hernias.  He trained in Plastic surgery at units in Cambridge, Norwich, Oxford and London. Since taking up his consultant post at Charing Cross Hospital he has developed the reconstructive surgery work there. The unit is recognised for the quality and high success rates for microsurgical free tissue transfer procedures for both breast and head & neck cancer reconstruction. He is a core member of these MDTS as well as the skin cancer MDT at Charing Cross.  Mr. Wood has served on the Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) in Plastic Surgery and as the lead for National recruitment in Plastic Surgery and Liaison Representative for Scotland. He was appointed Chair, representing Plastic Surgery on the Joint Committee of Surgical Training (JCST) of the Combined Royal Colleges of Surgeons. He has also served as representative on the Breast Training Interface Groups (TIGs) and supervises trainees appointed to the Imperial post. As Chair of the SAC he was a board member of the Plastic Surgery committee for Joint Committee for Intercollegiate Examinations (JCIE) and in was appointed as representative and also as Treasurer of the British Association of Plastic Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgeons (BAPRAS). Your host, Dr. Vimal Gokani, is a senior Specialty Registrar in plastic surgery in London, England. Your producer & editor, Dr. George Adigbli, is an Academic Specialty Registrar in plastic surgery in Oxford, England. #PRSGlobalOpen #DeepCutsPodcast #PlasticSurgery #GiantsPlasticSurgery