Bio and CV
Biography
Paul Cowling has been a consultant shoulder and elbow surgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospitals since August 2016. He was previously an orthopaedic trainee in the Northern Deanery, and completed fellowship level training at both Leeds and Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
In 2016 he was awarded the British Elbow and Shoulder Society (BESS) Travelling Fellowship, and visited world renowned upper limb surgeons in Dallas USA and Ontario, Canada.
His main areas of speciality are keyhole surgery to the shoulder, and both primary and revision shoulder replacement surgery. He works at a major trauma centre, and specialises in the treatment of complex upper limb trauma.
He has published on shoulder replacement surgery using National Joint Registry data, as well as rotator cuff surgery and adult trauma. Paul has an active involvement in research performed at the Leeds Biomedical Research Centre, and the Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering.
He is a panel member of the national ODEP Committee for shoulder replacements, and on the ’Beyond Compliance’ committee for the establishment of new shoulder implants. He was previously on the BESS ‘Mix and Match’ shoulder replacements committee.
He is the current Elective Shoulder and Elbow lead for Leeds Teaching Hospitals. He was elected Chair of the North and West Yorkshire Shoulder and Elbow Society in 2019.
He is a keen medical educator, and has completed a PGCME. He is currently the Educational lead for Core Trainees in the orthopaedic department in Leeds, and sits on committees for the assessment of annual competency for surgical trainees.
He teaches on Medical Ethics at the University of Leeds, and holds a position on the Ethics and Law Management Team (ELMT) Committee for the University’s medical school. He is a committee member of the Leeds and District Medicolegal Society.
He became the Clinical Lead for elective orthopaedic surgery at Leeds Teaching Hospitals in February 2024.
Medical Employment History
Foundation FY1/2 2005-7:
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Trust
Surgical Training ST1/2 Northern Deanery 2007-9
Trauma & Orthopaedics Registrar Training, Northern Deanery 2009-2015
Post-CCT Fellowships
August 2015-February 2016:
Upper Limb Fellowship, Mr Roger Hackney, Leeds Teaching Hospitals.
February – August 2016:
Upper Limb Fellowship, Mr Graham Tytherleigh-Strong, Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge.
Locum Consultant post
August 2016 – June 2017
Locum Upper limb consultant surgeon, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Chapel Allerton and Leeds General Infirmary)
Substantive Consultant post
June 2017 -
Upper limb consultant surgeon, Trauma and Orthopaedics, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (Chapel Allerton Hospital and Leeds General Infirmary)
Qualifications
2005. MBBS University of Newcastle upon Tyne
2011. MSc Evidence-based Orthopaedics, University of Teesside
2013. Post-graduate certificate in Medical Education, University of York
2014. FRCS Trauma and Orthopaedics, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh
2015. Certificate of Completion of Training
Learned Societies
Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons
British Orthopaedic Association
The British Elbow and Shoulder Society
North and West Yorkshire Shoulder and Elbow Society
University of Leeds, Ethics and Law Management Team (ELMT) Committee
Leeds and District Medicolegal Society
Recent courses, conferences & meetings attended
June 2016: GCP Training update, Leeds Teaching Hospitals
June 2016: BESS Conference, Dublin
Sept 2016: Optimising outcomes from shoulder arthroplasty, York University
Sept 2016: Medicolegal Training Certificate, Medco
April 2017: Arthrex shoulder arthroscopy course, Munich, Germany
June 2017: EFFORT Conference, Vienna
June 2017: BESS Conference, Coventry
Oct 2017: Advanced shoulder arthroscopy course, Watford
Sept 2017: Optimising outcomes from shoulder arthroplasty, York University
Sept 2017: British Orthopaedic Association annual meeting, Liverpool
June 2018: BESS conference, Glasgow
October 2018: Optimising outcomes from shoulder arthroplasty, York University (speaker)
November 2018: Premex medicolegal conference, Birmingham
March 2019: Upper limb trauma approaches, Newcastle (faculty)
June 2019: EFFORT Conference, Lisbon
June 2019: BESS Conference, Harrogate (organising committee member)
September 2019: FRCS Exam preparation (faculty)
October 2019: Optimising outcomes from shoulder arthroplasty, York University (speaker)
January 2020: Basic shoulder arthroscopy course, North Tees Hospital (faculty)
Sept 2020: British Orthopaedic Association annual meeting, online
Sept 2020: Arthroscopic shoulder skills, Arthrex mobile lab, Leeds.
March 2021: The Bone Club Live Webinar: Olecranon fractures (guest speaker)
June 2021: EFORT Conference, Vienna (Virtual)
June 2021: BESS Conference, Newcastle (Virtual)
November 2021: BESS Optimising outcomes of shoulder and elbow surgery, Manchester, UK
June 2022: BESS Conference, Liverpool (presenting x2 podium research presentations and x2 posters)
June 2022: EFORT Conference, Lisbon, Portugal (presentation of research poster)
June 2023: BESS Conference, Newport (presenting x1 podium presentation)
September 2023: British Orthopaedic Association meeting, Liverpool
November 2024: SICOT Conference, Cairo, Egypt (presenting x1 podium research presentation)