The Dr Lena Elizabeth McEwan and Dame Joyce Daws Churchill Fellowship to learn new techniques in the field of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery

Jenny’s Fellowship at MSKCC and JH allowed her to meet surgeons who are performing highly specialised surgery using innovative techniques and collecting robust outcomes data. She was privileged to be taught about and observe their practices and learnt many new techniques and ways of approaching patients with lymphoedema and facial weakness. Surgery is a very schedule dependent field and unfortunately, she didn’t get the opportunity to see every procedure available in each unit. Despite this, Jenny was able to learn a great deal from many dedicated and talented surgeons. //Jenny’s recommendations are not only useful to surgeons, during her Fellowship Jenny realised that by educating the wider medical field (doctors, allied health, nurses) many patients with lymphoedema or facial nerve weakness could benefit from these procedures. Lymphoedema is a debilitating consequence of some cancer treatments and can be a constant ongoing reminder of past treatment as well as reducing quality of life. By developing new surgical techniques with reduced morbidity and greater efficacy, we can provide better long term outcomes for patients with lymphoedema. The field of facial paralysis surgery is constantly changing with exciting and more reliable techniques which can benefit a much larger group of patients than was previously thought. By tailoring our techniques to each patient, we can improve the lives of many patients with facial weakness. //Keywords: Plastic and reconstructive surgery, lymphoedema, facial paralysis, facial reanimation, head and neck cancer, head and neck reconstruction.