SAS and Locum Consultants Committee Members
The College has an elected SAS Member that sits on the College Council and also on the SAS Committee with a view to represent the views and requirements of our SAS membership, within the College and externally.
SAS Committee Chair:
Majid Mukadam, MBE FRCS(C-Th), MRCS(Edin), MCh(CVTS), PGCE(UoB), Majid has been a Fellow of RCSEd since 2000, he joined the SASLC Committee in May 2016 and is also a member of the Cardiothoracic Surgical Specialty Board. He works as a Cardiothoracic Transplantation Specialist and leads the Cardiothoracic Organ Retrieval Service at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham. He has been Trust’s Clinical Tutor for SAS doctors since 2010 and oversees their professional development. He is a Council Member of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and is the current Chair of the SASLC Committee. Majid has a keen interest in teaching and training, and completed a PGCE in Health Education from the University of Birmingham and is a GMC accredited Clinical Supervisor as well as an Appraiser for the Trust. He was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty the Queen for his services to transplant patients.
Members of the SAS Committee:
Helen Jones is a specialty doctor in colorectal surgery in Oxford. After training in the Mersey region, she had a ten-year career break away from medicine, including five years of further study and travel and five years working as a statistician. She then returned to a medical career and has been a specialty doctor since 2015. She is a SAS tutor, working to develop SAS doctors locally. She is also involved in research and post-graduate medical education.
Mr Lasitha Bhagya Samarakoon, MBBS (Col.) MRCSEd MMed (NUS) ChM (UoE) FEBS (EBSQ) FRCSGlasg FRCSEd (Gen) FFSTEd, graduated from University of Colombo in 2010 with First class honours and subsequently completed general surgical residency training and obtained fellowship from the Royal college of Surgeons Edinburgh in 2020. He has been active in clinical practice, academic research and medical education for more than a decade. His involvement in both local and international research projects has resulted in numerous publications in peer reviewed journals, abstracts at national and international conferences. In addition he has authored and published several books. He is a clinical tutor for the Royal College of surgeons Edinburgh, as well as the Leicester Medical School. He takes part as teaching faculty in numerous surgical courses conducted by the Royal colleges of Edinburgh and England as well as the University of Edinburgh. He is also an Examiner for the Intercollegiate Committee of Basic Surgical Examinations [ICBSE] as well as a current a member of the specialty board for General surgery [SSB GS] in Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh. Apart from the busy clinical practice Mr Samarakoon is also an avid chess player, a reader an amateur pilot and an aviation enthusiast. He enjoys teaching, training and mentoring the next generation of surgeons and is extremely passionate about helping SAS LED doctors overcoming hurdles to navigate and achieve full potential in their careers, in a variety of roles and aspects.
Mamun Dornseifer is currently working as a Trust grade doctor in the department of General Surgery at North Middlesex University Hospital NHS Trust, London. He has previously worked for Barts Health NHS Trust and Kings College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. He currently is a BMA Local Negotiating Committee (LNC) Representative at North Middlesex Hospital. He has a keen interest in emergency general surgery and trauma surgery, as well as collaborative surgical research and teaching of medical students and Foundation Year-grade junior doctors.
Mr Paul Z Yang is a Specialty Doctor in Vascular Surgery at NHS Lanarkshire. After initial medical training, he underwent a period of full-time research, gained MSc (Med Sci) and PhD degrees in cardiovascular science at the University of Glasgow. He was appointed as a Specialty Doctor in 2018. Mr Yang has developed interests in surgical education and research over the years. He is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, supervising both undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is also a Tutor for the MSc in Surgical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He holds a Diploma of the Membership of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers (MFSTEd). Mr Yang has been sitting on several committees representing SAS doctors nationally. He is Deputy Chair of the SAS Committee at BMA Scotland. In addition to his role at the SASLC Committee, he also represents SAS on the Surgical Specialty Board (SSB) in Vascular Surgery at the RCSEd.
Mr Sanjit Das is a Urology Associate Specialist from the South West of England. He is actively involved locally and regionally in SAS matters and looks forward to getting involved with the College to help his SAS surgical colleagues.
Mr Ajay Bajoria is an Associate Specialist T&O at University Hospitals of Derby and Burton. He is the SAS lead at Queens Hospital, Burton and also SAS representative at the PG School of Surgery, West Midlands. Mr Bajoria has a keen interest in SAS matters and is part of JLNC and LNC at UHDB FT. He has worked as LED, SAS and Locum Consultant, therefore has experience of issues faced by colleagues in these grades. He is very much interested in teaching and training and has completed a PGCE in Healthcare Leadership including medical education. Mr Bajoria is an educational supervisor for trainees. His qualifications include MS Orthopaedics from India, MSc Surgery of Trauma from Birmingham, MCh Orth. from Liverpool and FRCS Ed.T &O.
Mr. Daniel Odhiambo Ochieng, LIMIS, BSc Anat (Hons), M.B.Ch.B., MCS(ECSA), FC Neurosurg (SA), FRCSEd (Neuro.Surg), is a Kenyan, South African and British trained neurosurgeon and spine surgeon. With an original background in information technology and artificial intelligence prior to medical school, he was attracted to the similarities between information networks and the nervous system. He developed a keen interest in medical education and has been involved in anatomy teaching as a prosector and demonstrator in human anatomy for medical, dental and pharmacy students. On completing medical school, he then undertook his initial neurosurgical training in Cape Town, South Africa and undertook a traveling fellowship in paediatric neurosurgery at the Boston Childrens’ Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. He then moved to the UK and undertook a paediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Kings College Hospital in London, and Orthopaedic Spinal Fellowship at the Royal London Hospital, Barts NHS Health Trust. He has also been a Locum Consultant in Paediatric Neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Daniel is currently the Sir Hugh Cairns RCS approved Complex Neurosurgical spine fellow at the Royal London Hospital. He has a keen interest in improving the welfare and wellbeing of SAS and Locum doctors, especially surgeons in the NHS.
Mr Tim Graham, RCSEd Vice-President, is a Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Senior Lecturer in Clinical Surgery at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham, University of Birmingham and Royal Centre for Defence Medicine UK and a Civilian Consultant Cardiac Surgeon to the British Army. He’s a joint founder of the National Birmingham Review course in Cardiothoracic surgery and the National Birmingham Professional Development Course. He’s also a joint founder and convenor of the Asian Cardiothoracic Surgery Specialty Update Course (ACSSUC). Received Honorary Fellowship of Indian Association of Cardiothoracic and Vascular surgeons in 2011 and Distinguished Surgeon Award from Academy of Medicine Singapore in 2013.
Mr. Karthikeyan. P. Iyengar, MS(Orth), DNB(Orth), MRCS(Edn), MCh(Orth)(Liv), FRCS(Tr& Orth), FFSTEd, FAcadMEd(AoME), has been a Fellow of the RCSEd since 2009 and joined the SASLC Committee in November 2022. He currently works at the Southport & Ormskirk NHS Trust, Merseyside, UK. He has been conferred the title of Honorary Professor at Apollo Hospitals Educational and Research Foundation (AHERF) for his contribution to global teaching, training in Medical Education and Research Scholarship. As a Fellow of Faculty of Surgical Trainers, RCSEd and Fellow, Academy of Medical Educators (AoME) he has a keen interest in delivery of Medical Education (especially Trauma & Orthopaedics) across a spectrum of Doctors & Allied Health Professionals. He is currently a Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, MCh (Trauma & Orthopaedics) programme, Edge Hill University, UK and his research profile includes more than 135 PubMed indexed articles with over 2500 citations. He is a sub-speciality Deputy Editor at the Journal of Clinical Orthopaedics &Trauma (JCOT) and an Associate Editor, at the Journal of Orthopaedics (JOO) and Journal of Orthopaedic Reports (JOREP), Elsevier.
Nader Ibrahim is currently working as an L.E.D in Queen Alexandra Hospital, Portsmouth in the Oral and Maxillofacial surgery department. Having studied dentistry and finished his training in the Oral and Maxillofacial surgery in Cairo, Egypt and gaining membership in OMFS (MOMS RCSEd), he decided to move to the U.K to work in OMFS. SASO roles offer him greater stability, allowing him to work in the field he admires. Nader is keen on education and enrolling more dentists into the specialty.
Catherine Diver joined the RCSEd SAS committee in 2022 and also holds the position of RCSED Educational Tutor. She works in the ENT department of the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast, and has been a specialty doctor in ENT for almost 20 years. She is the Quality Improvement and Governance lead within her ENT department and is a member of her Trust's QI faculty, teaching on the Specialist Trainees Engaged in leadership Programme (STEP). Catherine has been an advisory committee member to the Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID), in Northern Ireland since 2020. Outside of work, she competes in and coaches athletics.
SAS Representatives on SSBs:
Ms Julie Craig - Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
Ms Julie Craig is the SAS (staff grade, associate specialist & specialty doctor) representative on the Royal College of Surgeon of Edinburgh’s trauma & Orthopaedic surgical speciality board. She works as an Orthopaedic Specialty Doctor in the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Julie graduated from Queen’s University in Belfast, and has since completed a Master’s degree in Clinical Education at Queen’s University, and a Master’s degree in Orthopaedic Engineering from Cardiff University. She is now an undergraduate educational lead for fractures for Queen’s University Belfast and the Belfast Health & Social Care Trust. She teaches quality improvement and leadership skills to doctors in the Belfast Trust as part of the quality improvement faculty. Julie has a special interest in clinical data analysis and project design and is the Belfast Trust’s specialty improvement lead for their fracture inpatient database. She is also the Northern Ireland lead for the National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD), a member of the NHFD advisory group and a board member of the Royal College of Physicians’ Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit Programme. She is also a member of the British Medical Association Northern Ireland SAS committee & the SAS representative on the British Orthopaedic Association’s education & careers committee. Julie’s publications include peer-reviewed journals and chapter contributions to a trauma and orthopaedic nursing textbook. She has received prizes for Best Presentation at the British Trauma Society, Best Abstract at the Irish Hip Fracture Database Annual Meeting, the Bone and Joint Journal Prize, and a “highlight paper” at the Orthopaedic Trauma Association.
Mr Nishan Fernando - Cardiothoracic Surgery
Mr Nishan Fernando, (MBChB, MRCSEd, FHEA, FFSTEd), is a Specialty Surgeon in the North of Scotland Cardiothoracic Surgical Unit and I have 16 years’ experience in Cardiothoracics. I am the current SAS representative on the Cardiothoracic Surgical Specialty Board, having started my term in November 2022. I am Scoring Panel Member for the RCSEd. I am a very passionate Educator and I have been involved with Undergraduate Education since 2003. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and a Fellow of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers of RCSEd. More recently I am involved in leadership roles in Education as the Year 3 MBChB Lead and Year 4 Surgical Lead for the University of Aberdeen MBChB.
Mr Lasitha Bhagya Samarakoon - General Surgery
Mr Lasitha Bhagya Samarakoon, MBBS (Col.) MRCSEd MMed (NUS) ChM (UoE) FEBS (EBSQ) FRCSGlasg FRCSEd (Gen) FFSTEd, graduated from University of Colombo in 2010 with First class honours and subsequently completed general surgical residency training and obtained fellowship from the Royal college of Surgeons Edinburgh in 2020. He has been active in clinical practice, academic research and medical education for more than a decade. His involvement in both local and international research projects has resulted in numerous publications in peer reviewed journals, abstracts at national and international conferences. In addition he has authored and published several books. He is a clinical tutor for the Royal College of surgeons Edinburgh, as well as the Leicester Medical School. He takes part as teaching faculty in numerous surgical courses conducted by the Royal colleges of Edinburgh and England as well as the University of Edinburgh. He is also an Examiner for the Intercollegiate Committee of Basic Surgical Examinations [ICBSE] as well as a current a member of the specialty board for General surgery [SSB GS] in Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh. Apart from the busy clinical practice Mr Samarakoon is also an avid chess player, a reader an amateur pilot and an aviation enthusiast. He enjoys teaching, training and mentoring the next generation of surgeons and is extremely passionate about helping SAS LED doctors overcoming hurdles to navigate and achieve full potential in their careers, in a variety of roles and aspects.
Mr. Daniel Odhiambo Ochieng - Neurosurgery
Mr. Daniel Odhiambo Ochieng, LIMIS, BSc Anat (Hons), M.B.Ch.B., MCS(ECSA), FC Neurosurg (SA), FRCSEd (Neuro.Surg), is a Kenyan, South African and British trained neurosurgeon and spine surgeon. With an original background in information technology and artificial intelligence prior to medical school, he was attracted to the similarities between information networks and the nervous system. He developed a keen interest in medical education and has been involved in anatomy teaching as a prosector and demonstrator in human anatomy for medical, dental and pharmacy students. On completing medical school, he then undertook his initial neurosurgical training in Cape Town, South Africa and undertook a traveling fellowship in paediatric neurosurgery at the Boston Childrens’ Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts in the USA. He then moved to the UK and undertook a paediatric neurosurgery fellowship at Kings College Hospital in London, and Orthopaedic Spinal Fellowship at the Royal London Hospital, Barts NHS Health Trust. He has also been a Locum Consultant in Paediatric Neurosurgery at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Daniel is currently the Sir Hugh Cairns RCS approved Complex Neurosurgical spine fellow at the Royal London Hospital. He has a keen interest in improving the welfare and wellbeing of SAS and Locum doctors, especially surgeons in the NHS.
Mr Paul Yang - Vascular Surgery
Mr Paul Yang is a Specialty Doctor in Vascular Surgery at NHS Lanarkshire. After initial medical training, he underwent a period of full-time research, gained MSc (Med Sci) and PhD degrees in cardiovascular science at the University of Glasgow. He was appointed as a Specialty Doctor in 2018. Mr Yang has developed interests in surgical education and research over the years. He is an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, supervising both undergraduate and postgraduate students. He is also a Tutor for the MSc in Surgical Sciences at the University of Edinburgh. He holds a Diploma of the Membership of the Faculty of Surgical Trainers (MFSTEd). Mr Yang has been sitting on several committees representing SAS doctors nationally. He is Deputy Chair of the SAS Committee at BMA Scotland. In addition to his role at the SASLC Committee, he also represents SAS on the Surgical Specialty Board (SSB) in Vascular Surgery at the RCSEd.
Mrs Gillian Winter - Paediatric Surgery
Mrs Gillian Winter graduated from Aberdeen Medical School in 2004 and undertook her paediatric surgical training in Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Birmingham. She was appointed as a Specialty Doctor in Paediatric Surgery at the Royal Aberdeen Children’s Hospital (RACH) in 2017. She was Clinical Lead for Paediatric Trauma for the North of Scotland from 2019-2023. She is currently lead for simulation within RACH and is the chair of the patient safety group within RACH. She is heavily involved in medical education across both undergraduate and postgraduate training.
Mr Rickaz Raheem - Urology
Mr Rickaz Raheem has a strong SAS background and was recently appointed Consultant Urologist after a successful CESR application. He has been a member of the Urology Surgical Speciality Board, RCSEd. He is also the co-chair of the Intercollegiate Surgical Education Committee for SAS/LED and NCHD (ISECSN) and the secretary for the newly formed Section of SAS and Trust Urologists for the British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS). He also represents SAS/LED at the Joint Committee on Intercollegiate Examinations (JCIE). Mr Raheem also holds the position of Educational Tutor for RCSEd. He is passionate about supporting Portfolio Pathway candidates organizing programs and delivering talks to offer invaluable guidance and mentorship.
Mr Shyam Singam - Otolaryngology
Mr Rohan Sawant - Ophthalmology
Mr Prasenjit Goswami - Plastic Surgery
Committee meetings are held three times a year.
If you are an RCSEd member in an SAS or Locum grade, please help us to communicate relevant information to you by ensuring your profile is up-to-date.
Guidance and information from the RCSEd on CPD and Revalidation are available. External guidance on applying for the Specialist Register, contract information and more, are available below.
- GMC - Applying for entry on to the Specialist Register with a CESR (GMC)
- BMA - A UK guide to job planning for specialty doctors and associate specialists
- NES - NHS Education Scotland (NES) SAS doctors' information
If you require any information relating to the Committee's activities, please e-mail saslc@rcsed.ac.uk.