Mr Vishal Shah

Vishal obtained his MA in Medical Sciences in 2012 and graduated with a BM BCh in 2014 from the University of Oxford. He received merits in clinical school and was awarded a triple merit distinction for two consecutive years at the undergraduate level. He won an academic scholarship from Lady Margaret Hall of £350 per annum for two years running and the University-wide Amos Griffiths Scholarship of £1,000. He passed the Duke Elder Undergraduate Prize Examination in 2014 and ranked in the top 20 candidates nationally.

Vishal completed his foundation training in South London and was awarded the Foundation School Prize for F1 Audit. He remained in South London for his specialty training in ophthalmology, during which he has published multiple articles in peer-reviewed journals, presented at both national and international conferences and won multiple prizes including the HEE Leadership Prize twice and the Best Video prize at the UK & Ireland Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (UKISCRS) Annual Congress 2019.

Vishal serves as representative for his region on the Ophthalmologists-in-Training Group (OTG) and UKISCRS Young Ophthalmologist’s Programme. He has a keen interest in teaching and has performed a range of roles from examiner and clinical skills tutor for King’s College London to delivering lectures at Moorfields for University College London and serving as postgraduate teaching coordinator at St Thomas’ Hospital.

Vishal was recently admitted to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth) signifying his completion of all the professional examinations required of a Consultant Ophthalmologist.

Reason for applying for the scheme

Vishal’s motivation for the National Medical Director’s Clinical Fellowship stems from his firm belief that clinicians are best placed to serve as leaders in healthcare. This belief was founded at clinical school during which he attended weekend management–in-medicine seminars. This led Vishal to set up a novel special studies module, and through this, he carried out his first project looking at clinicians as innovators in healthcare management. This was presented at the inaugural FMLM conference in 2012 and marked the start of his interest in the field.

As a junior registrar he worked with the CEO of Moorfields to propose a model for trainees to demonstrate formal learning in management and NHS organisation, and went on to present this work at the annual Trainees in the Association for the Study of Medical Education (TASME) conference 2019.

Vishal views the fellowship as an excellent opportunity to transition from a senior registrar with a keen interest in leadership to an aspiring leader as a future consultant. He has chosen to work with his professional body, the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, to provide exposure to college subcommittees, opportunities to collaborate with arms-length bodies and gain an understanding of the financial mechanisms that underpin decision-making at scale.

Vishal’s goal is that completion of this scheme and the skills acquired from it will empower him to seek strategic leadership roles, once he is an established consultant in clinical practice, and this will enable him to make a positive impact in his chosen clinical setting.