In June, the InterSurgeon team met with new board member and ex-president of ENT UK, Professor Nirmal Kumar, Consultant ENT Surgeon and Deputy Medical Director at WWL Teaching NHS Foundation Trust. Having spent his career championing global surgery and training, he has now joined the InterSurgeon team as a board member. He is passionate about the bi-directional sharing of knowledge and expertise between all global surgery stakeholders.
Beginning
Professor Kumar went to medical school in his home country of India in Chennai (Madras). His early higher training in ENT was in India and received a gold medal. In 1987 a visiting professor, who was a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) Edinburgh suggested Professor Kumar follow his interests of education and training and work towards a fellowship. Unable to continue his professional development and career aspirations in India, in 1990 he went to the Republic of Ireland where he completed his ENT training and FRCS Edinburgh in 5 years. He then moved to complete his specialist training in ENT in Birmingham, UK, and there he completed a higher degree in neuroscience research and was then appointed a consultant in 1999.
Fellowships abroad
After finishing his higher training, Professor Kumar was ready to go abroad once again; “It is good practice to see other health systems and I won travelling fellowships to do that.” He went on to complete fellowships in both the Netherlands and Switzerland; “the best part of every healthcare system is worth learning from.” He also moved to the north of England to help develop and expand a new ENT department.
Carrying on studies
Whilst working in the NHS as consultant, Professor Kumar was also heavily involved in education and research. He started researching cochlea (inner ear) in guinea pigs at Keele University in his non-clinical time and supported several students in their higher degrees while working full-time. Regionally, he became the Training Programme Director, Health Education NW for 8 years and led the NW CRN research network for ENT in addition to being Honorary Professor at Edge Hill University Medical School. He is FRCS (ORL) examiner of the Royal College of Surgeons, Fellow of the Academy of Medical Educators and was previously Vice Chair on the Specialist Advisory Committee for otolaryngology on the Joint Committee for Surgical Training in the UK.
ENT UK
Throughout his training Professor Kumar was a member and involved in ENT UK, he became honorary secretary for ENT UK and in 2019 he was elected president of ENT UK until 2022. He was elected by peers at a time of great change for ENT doctors in the UK; “I was president during the Covid pandemic. I was able to stand up for my specialty as ENT was at the forefront of the pandemic response in the UK and the first medics to die were ENT doctors.” Professor Kumar was able to support the compulsory wearing of facemasks at this time.
ENT UK Foundation chair and council member, RCS Edinburgh – current day
Currently, Professor Kumar sits as the ENT UK foundation chair. The Foundation supports education and research grants and international collaborations with many countries in Africa and Asia. They also offer grants for UK trainees to go abroad and for international trainees to come to the UK. The inception of the ENT UK Foundation was supported by InterSurgeon ENT champion, Professor Tony Narula; “It has a big footprint.” Currently, they sponsor observer-ships for specialists to travel to the UK. This was most recently awarded to a Ugandan surgeon travelling to the UK which culminated in her attendance at the ENT UK meeting. Although she could not have hands-on experience this time due to short nature of her stay, she did have access to cadaver courses to practise surgical techniques. At the RCS Edinburgh and as the ENT UK MTI (Medical Training Initiative) lead, Professor Kumar supports longer fellowships and training for surgeons from many countries. So far, they have successfully supported trainees from Sri Lanka, India, Nepal, Pakistan and other countries to come to the UK, gain GMC registration so that they can train with full salaries before returning to their home countries.
Last word
After a long career in ENT and global surgery, Professor Kumar extols the virtue of international collaboration; “We learn from each other. In a less resourced setting, they make the best use of what is available, and they can do surgery at 100th of the carbon emissions of the UK. We [HIC surgeons] can learn from international colleagues and they can learn from us technological advances, and the safety culture in surgical practise.”
