Orthopaedic Clinical Research Fellow

Job overview

The Imperial Orthopaedic Clinical Research Fellowship is aimed at trainees who are post-MRCS and wish to pursue a career in Trauma & Orthopaedics, with a specific interest in developing a substantive research portfolio. The post offers a dedicated opportunity to build academic experience across the full breadth of orthopaedic surgery whilst remaining embedded in a high-volume tertiary clinical environment.

The post will be based across St Mary's Hospital and Charing Cross Hospital, both part of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. St Mary's is one of the busiest Major Trauma Centres in the UK, offering unparalleled exposure to complex trauma, whilst Charing Cross serves as the regional Major Revision Centre for elective orthopaedics.

The research programme is intentionally broad, allowing the fellow to develop and lead projects aligned with their own subspecialty interests and career trajectory.

Applicants interested in pursuing a higher degree alongside this post are welcome to explore this independently; funding for any such qualification would be the responsibility of the successful candidate.

This is a one-year post open to junior registrars or equivalent, including out-of-programme applicants, who wish to dedicate a year to academic development within a world-class orthopaedic department. Applicants must have passed the MRCS and completed Core Surgical Training or equivalent as a minimum entry requirement.

The post is available from October 2026 and is for 12 months.

Main duties of the job

• MRCS or equivalent
• Completion of Core Surgical Training or equivalent
• Qualified medical doctor with full unrestricted registration with the General Medical Council
• Bachelor of Medicine or Bachelor of Surgery degree

• 5 clinical sessions per week (upper limb trauma, lower limb recon / sports / paediatric)
• outpatient clinics, inpatient cover and trauma / elective operating lists
• operating lists include both supervised trauma theatre cover at St Mary’s and elective lists at Charing Cross
• there will be a degree of flexibility to accommodate the successful candidate’s preferences and interests
• 5 protected, ring-fenced non-clinical sessions per week. This includes:
• Dedicated research time
• Candidates are able to speak and write English to the appropriate standard necessary to fulfill the job requirements

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

This post is targeted at junior registrars seeking to develop their experience in T&O, particularly in major trauma, as well as gaining invaluable portfolio experience in surgical education as well as gaining a higher degree. They will be expected to be on-call for T&O for the Major Trauma Centre, sharing the rota with ~20 other registrars. Responsibilities include attending trauma calls; leading the oncall management of patients, running MDTs, as well as attending fracture and elective clinics. They are expected to have passed the MRCS and have completed Core Surgical Training (or equivalent) as a minimum. Due to the clinical and education commitments, this post is designed for applicants with a background and interest in Trauma & Orthopaedics, not for Sports and Exercise Medicine.

The post is across-site (SMH/CXH/HH) but the on-call commitment is shift-based at St Mary’s on a 1 in ~20 rota. The job banding is 1B with London allowance.