Our Council

Mr Stuart Clark is a full time NHS Consultant in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in Central Manchester. He was elected to Council in 2016. He is actively involved in examinations, education, the Regional Advisory Network and International Medical Graduates.

Professor Farhat Din is a Senior Lecturer with The University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on colorectal cancer prevention by investigating the molecular mechanisms of the anti-tumour effects of chemopreventive agents on energy and metabolism signalling. She integrates her translational research programme with her clinical practice as a consultant colorectal surgeon at the Western General Hospital. Her contribution to translational research clinical surgery and training was recognised by the Hunter Doig Medal in 2015. She is on the RCSEd and Tenovus research committees. At a national level, Farhat has contributed to the NICE committee on FIT and contributes to cancer prevention networks including the ECMC- UK Therapeutic Cancer Prevention Network. Farhat was appointment Scotland's first Colorectal Cancer Surgical Research Chair from April 2023, a joint appointment between RCSEd and Bowel Cancer UK.

Ms Claire Edwards is a Consultant Hand and Trauma Surgeon at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital since 2010. She is Chair of the Trauma and Orthopaedics Surgical Specialty Board and sits on the Research and Awards Committee of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Claire is Director of Core Surgical Education for HEEoE, a member of the Trauma and Orthopaedics ST3 National Selection Design Group, and is active in research.

Professor Nirmal Kumar is Consultant ENT Surgeon at WWL Teaching NHS Foundation Trust where he is also Associate Medical Director (RO responsibility). He served as President of ENT UK (2019-2022) and is currently Chair, ENT UK Foundation the philanthropic and fund-raising arm of ENT UK which seeks to invest in the specialty and to facilitate global innovation in surgery. Regionally, he led the ENT North West research network (GM CRN) for several years and conducts many NIHR trials. Nirmal is Honorary Clinical Professor at Edge Hill University Medical School where he leads several PG and UG training programmes. He is former vice chair of the Specialty Advisory Committee for otolaryngology, FRCS (ORL-HNS) examiner of the Royal College of Surgeons, Fellow of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers Edinburgh, Honorary Fellow of the Indian Academy and Sri Lankan College of ORL-HNS, and Fellow of Academy of Medical Educators. He has authored more than 200 publications in the medical literature and is MD, MCh, PhD examiner for several Universities in the UK and abroad, delivered invited and key note lectures around the world

Professor Krishnakumar Madhavan is a Professor of Surgery at the National University of Singapore. Senior Consultant Surgeon and Head of Department, National University Hospital , Singapore. Group Director - Surgery, National University Health System after advanced surgical training in the East of Scotland Higher Surgical Training Scheme, he was appointed as Consultant Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, specializing in Hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery and liver, kidney, and pancreas transplantation. While he held this position, he got deeply involved in RCSEd activities – mainly as Examiner for the FRCS examinations both in UK and overseas. He was also a regular tutor at the Basic Surgical Skills Course organised by RCSEd and was later sent as the College Convener for the same course in Oman. After joining the National University of Singapore, he represented RCSEd as a College Examiner until he reverted to a Singapore examiner. After having been appointed the College Auditor, he has stopped examining and taken part as auditor in the FRCS examinations of General Surgery, Neuro Surgery and Orthopaedics Surgery.

Miss Amanda McCabe FRCS(paeds) is a Consultant Paediatric Surgeon for 13 years, based at Ninewells Hospital Dundee and Royal Hospital for Children and Young Adults, Edinburgh. Her practice specialises in lower GI (Hirschsprungs disease and anorectal anomalies). During her career she has taken a keen interest in surgical training, with particular focus on basic skills and fine motor development. She examines for MRCS (UK and overseas) and FRCS(paeds) and chairs its question writing group. She is a member of the SAC for paediatric surgery and is current chair of Surgical Speciality Board (paed surg) at RCSEd. A keen gardener and dog walker with 2 teenage sons and a very understanding husband.

Alistair Mountain trained at the University of Birmingham Medical School from 1987-1994. He commenced his surgical training at the Royal Hospital Haslar in 1998 and his higher training took place in the Northern training program in the NE of England. He gained the FRCS Ed (T&O) in 2009 and on award of CCT, he was appointed as a consultant at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine at QE UHB in 2010. He has an active passionate interest in non-technical skills and CRM within trauma teams. He is the National Clinical Director of the European Trauma Course (2015- current) and is the current International Chair of the ETCO Course Management Committee. He is also a military Regional Surgical Adviser for the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

Majid Mukadam MBE joined RSCEd SASLC in May 2016 and is also member of Cardiothoracic Surgical Specialty Board. He is the SAS Lead at the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust since 2011. He has a keen interest in teaching and training, did PGCE in Health Education from the University of Birmingham and is a GMC accredited Clinical Supervisor and an Appraiser for the Trust. His qualifications include MCh(CVTS) from Bombay, India and FRCS(C-Th) from United Kingdom. He works as an Associate Specialist in Cardiothoracic Transplantation and leads the cardiothoracic Retrieval service at the Queen Elizabeth hospital in Birmingham. He was recently awarded MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for his services to transplant patients. His vision is to increase representation of SAS doctors to examination boards.

Miss Anna Paisley is a Consultant General and Upper GI Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. She has a particular interest in surgical recruitment, training and assessment. She was Regional Surgical Adviser for South East Scotland for 4 years, is current Year One Director of the Edinburgh Surgical Sciences Qualification and was elected onto Council in 2015.

Mr Zahid Raza is a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh. His particular interests include vascular access and open aortic surgery. He is the past Deputy Convenor of RCSEd Exams as well as the Regional Surgical Advisor for Edinburgh. He has an interest in postgraduate exams and teaching. He runs the Edinburgh MRCS prep course nationally and internationally and has been an examiner for the college since 2004.

Mr Haroon Rehman is an elected member of council of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and a Specialty Registrar (ST8) in Trauma & Orthopaedic Surgery based at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where he sits on the department’s clinical governance and training committees. Haroon has a special interest in patient safety, teaching, and training, and is a trainee lead for NHS Grampian.

I am an international medical graduate from India, completed my postgraduate training in the UK, with fellowship training at Mayo Clinic in Europe and Asia. I have been a Consultant Surgeon for seventeen years and have been involved in surgical education and RCSEd activities at the regional, national, and international levels. I have held various positions within the college, and I see the next step as being a council member to serve the surgical needs nationally and globally. These are challenging times for healthcare professionals all over the world. Still, there is an excellent opportunity to work collaboratively and in partnership with various organisations to ensure that the modern workforce is robust and competent to serve the population's needs, and I can support this process.

Mr Sai Krishna Vittal is a Consultant Endocrine Surgeon based in Chennai, India. His major area of interest is in Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery. He is an Adjunct Professor of the Tamilnadu Dr MGR Medical University based in Chennai and Honorary Associate Professor of RCSI & UCD Malaysia Campus. He was awarded an Honorary Fellowship of College of Surgeons of Sri Lanka in 2017. Mr Vittal served as President of Indian Association of Endocrine Surgeons in 2019-2020. He was an International Surgical Adviser of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is currently Convener of MRCS(Ed) Examinations in Chennai.  He has been a College examiner since 2011 and has worked extensively on behalf of the College especially in the field of assessment and education. He was awarded the International Medal of the College for 2020 for services to the College and Surgery.

After studying in Edinburgh and Cambridge, and house jobs back in Edinburgh, Paul joined Edinburgh's Department of Clinical Neuroscience for his higher neurosurgical training, He completed a PhD in cancer cell biology in 2014. After a neurosurgical oncology fellowship in Liverpool, Paul became Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant neurosurgeon at the University of Edinburgh and NHS Lothian in 2016. He was made Reader in 2020 and Clinical Director for neurosurgery at NHS Lothian in 2022. In 2024 he became Professor of Clinical and Experimental Neurosurgery. His sub-specialist surgical practice is in neurosurgical oncology. His research spans the laboratory and the clinic, combining molecular, epidemiology and clinical investigation to guide rationale innovation to improve patient care. Paul's work has a focus on collaborating with the global surgical community.  He was founder of the global surgical training company eoSurgical ltd, and through his work with the Glasgow Coma Scale he launched GCS Global, an international education initiative to improve neurotrauama training and outcomes .

Michael is a Pelvic Floor Fellow at St Mark’s Hospital National Bowel Hospital with a notable track record in leadership and surgical education. He has served as President of the Moynihan Academy (EGS and Trauma) and contributed to committees for RCSEng and ASGBI, including work on the Kennedy Report and its recommendations. As ASiT’s inaugural EDI Officer, he played a key role in advancing equity, diversity, and inclusion within surgical training.

His other roles have included Training Trainee Lead for ALSGBI, Pelvic Floor Representative for the Dukes’ Club, and Trainee Representative for NHS Elective Recovery. He is also the Registrar to the National SDEC Lead. Committed to training, Michael completed a PGDip in Medical Education at Cambridge.

Outside of work, Michael is a father of four and married to a psychiatrist, who provides him with routine assessments pro gratis. He enjoys collecting antique surgical texts, a reflection of his deep passion for the history of medicine.