AOA Vic Winter Welcome: Reflecting on My Foot & Ankle Fellowship
Last week I had the privilege of presenting a Fellowship Reflection at the 2026 Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) Victorian Branch Winter Welcome, held at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The Winter Welcome is one of the highlights of the Victorian orthopaedic calendar, bringing together surgeons, trainees and researchers from across the state for an afternoon of clinical presentations. Rather than a case series or a research paper, I was invited to present on something more personal: a look back at my subspecialty fellowship training in foot and ankle surgery at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Oxford, UK, and the Swiss Ortho Center in Basel, Switzerland. I decided to present a pictorial essay collating cases and photographs from my time overseas.
Why Reflect on Fellowship
Fellowship is one of the defining chapters of an orthopaedic surgeon's training, yet it is rarely discussed in detail outside informal conversations between colleagues. With a room full of trainees, registrars and consultants at various stages of their own careers, I wanted to speak candidly about what fellowship actually involves, from the mechanics of the application through to the day-to-day reality of operating in a foreign health system, so that those considering the same path have a clearer picture of what lies ahead.
The Fellowship Application Process
The process begins years before you leave. Securing a subspecialty fellowship of this calibre meant identifying the units I wanted to train with, reaching out well in advance, and working through the associated paperwork, references and interviews while continuing to operate as a consultant. There is a significant logistical undertaking that runs alongside the clinical application: visas, medical registration in a new country, and planning a relocation abroad with a young family, all of which needs to be organised long before a single case is scrubbed into.
Training at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Oxford
Oxford was our first stop. The Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre has a long-standing international reputation in foot and ankle surgery, and the fellowship gave me exposure to a high volume of complex reconstruction, deformity correction and total ankle replacement under some of the most experienced surgeons in the field. Working within the UK's NHS system, alongside fellows from around the world, sharpened both my technical skill set and my approach to decision-making in complex cases — and living in Oxford itself, with its history and academic tradition, was an experience in its own right.
The Swiss Ortho Center, Basel
From Oxford we moved to Basel, to train at the Swiss Ortho Center. Switzerland offered a genuinely different perspective: a different healthcare system, different implant philosophies, and a strong emphasis on precision and biomechanics that is characteristic of Swiss surgical training. Operating in a German-speaking environment came with its own learning curve, but the contrast between the UK and Swiss approaches to foot and ankle reconstruction was invaluable, and it is that combination of training environments that continues to shape how I plan and perform surgery today.
Life Abroad, and Travel Along the Way
Fellowship is a big undertaking, and of course professional one. Uprooting a to live and work on the other side of the world for an extended period is not a small decision, and a great deal of the reflection I shared was about that side of the experience — the adjustment, the support of a partner willing to take the leap, and the perspective that comes from living, rather than just visiting, somewhere new. Once our formal training commitments in Oxford and Basel were complete, we took the opportunity to travel further afield before returning home, time that gave us a proper reset before starting the next chapter back in Melbourne.
Returning to Melbourne and Building a Practice
Returning to Australia, I resumed consultant work at Western Health and began building my private practice in foot and ankle surgery through the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group in Windsor. The techniques, implant experience and clinical judgement developed across both fellowships now sit at the core of how I manage everything from ankle arthritis and ligament reconstruction to complex trauma and revision surgery. It was genuinely rewarding to stand in front of the next generation of Victorian orthopaedic trainees and share how that pathway unfolded — application, training, travel and the return home — and I am grateful to the AOA Victorian Branch for the invitation to present.
Foot & Ankle Surgery in Melbourne
If you or a patient is dealing with a complex foot or ankle condition — from ankle arthritis and instability to trauma — I welcome referrals to my rooms at Melbourne Orthopaedic Group in Windsor. To make a referral or enquiry, please contact my rooms on (03) 9124 7960 or email talia.admin@mog.com.au.