We caught up with Mr Jerome Sison, Senior Clinical Fellow in Oncology and Joint Reconstruction at the Royal Orthopaedic Hospital on what it’s like working for the Oncology Department at ROH and why he chose the programme.

Why did you choose to do your Fellowship at ROH? 

The ROH- Orthopaedic Oncology Department is a leading sarcoma unit with a world-wide reputation for excellence. The massive amount of musculoskeletal tumour surgeries, clinic cases, and publications make it among the most prestigious specialist centres in the world. I wanted to learn from the best.

What do you enjoy about working here? 

Witnessing and participating in complex tumour resections in itself is such a treat, along with reconstructing the whole limb and seeing patients happy with the results make the whole experience complete and worthwhile. The learning that I got from the multidisciplinary meetings involving medical oncologists, radiologists, pathologists, and sarcoma nurses, is something one can only experience at ROH.

What’s the leadership of the programme been like? 

I have been fortunate to experience leadership of 2 clinical leads and 2 fellowship leads during my time in ROH. All have been very effective in ensuring that international fellows get the appropriate education experience that they deserve. Not to mention the other consultant staff who have been influential in my education as a tumour surgeon.

What have been the stand-out moments from your time with us? 

The first ever BOOM meeting organized by the department

Presenting in the British Orthopaedic Oncology Society

Socials with the Oncology staffs

ROH Christmas Events

I also will be forever grateful for the understanding and support the ROH-Oncology department gave me when my first child was born here in Birmingham during my training. They have provided me enough time to take care of my wife and my baby girl without compromising my education. This kindness from ROH I will never forget.

Where are you headed next? 

I’m going back home to my home country Philippines where I will start working as a musculoskeletal tumour surgeon. I am confident that the ROH experience has equipped me with the adequate arsenal to be a confident tumour surgeon in my country. I will always be grateful to ROH and will always reflect its prestige and reputation in my practice back home.

The Royal Orthopaedic Hospital Oncology Service (ROHOS) was founded in the 1980s as the hospital became one of two national referral centres for bone tumours. The hospital received national funding in 1986 for the investigation and management of primary bone tumours treated with endo-prosthetic replacements. The number of referrals significantly increased following that and the unit expanded to its current workforce of eight consultants and two plastic surgeons along with a nurse consultant. The unit now sees greater than 200 primary bone tumours and 270 soft tissue sarcomas as well as dealing with many cases of benign musculoskeletal tumours. The unit now receives approximately 4000 bone and soft tissue referrals per year. The Oncology team is made up of eight consultants, six clinical fellows, two registrars, a nurse consultant, Macmillan specialist nurses, MDT coordinators, patient liaison officers and administrative staff.

Find out more about the Oncology service here: Royal Orthopaedic Hospital - Oncology (roh.nhs.uk)