Mr. Aman Coonar
BSc.(Hons) MBBS MD MRCP FRCS(Eng. & CTh.)
Consultant Thoracic Surgeon & Royal College of Surgeons Tutor, Papworth Hospital, Cambridge, UK
Also:
- President Royal Society of Medicine - Cardiothoracic Section (2013-15)
- Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery Education Committee
- Senior Clinical Tutor University of Cambridge
Main specialty
General Thoracic Surgery
Clinical Interests
- minimally invasive surgery (also known as MIS, VATS, video-assisted, 'key-hole', 'letterbox', endoscopic and others)
- lung cancer surgery (including advanced cases and patients with poor lung function)
- mesothelioma surgery
- chest wall surgery – reconstruction, pectus abnormalities and trauma
- airway surgery
- lung volume reduction surgery
- surgery for thoracic sarcoma
- resection of metastatic cancer to the chest
Contact Details
LinkedIn
Office: +44 1480 364887
Personal: aman.coonar@nhs.net
PA: katherine.reilly@nhs.net
Training
I went to Haberdashers School in Elstree, Hertfordshire. I then qualified as a doctor from Guy’s & St.Thomas’ Hospitals, University of London. During that time I also obtained a BSc.(Hons) in Psychology and was a visiting student at Harvard Medical School. Internship was at Guy’s and Lewisham Hospitals. Training included Accident & Emergency (Guy’s) and Internal Medicine (Hammersmith, London Chest and Whittington). I then undertook clinical and basic science research at St.George’s Hospital, London being awarded British Heart Foundation Fellowships. I was awarded the ‘Young Investigator of the Year’ in 1997 for locating the first confirmed gene for a heart condition, ARVC. This was then followed by general surgery training at Guy’s & St.Thomas’ Hospitals. Specialist cardiothoracic surgery training was at Guy's, St Thomas's, King's, Royal Brompton and the London Chest Hospitals. During this time I discovered my passion for specialist thoracic surgery. After getting the specialist cardiothoracic surgery qualification I gained further experience at one of the ‘homes of thoracic surgery’ the Toronto General Hospital in Canada taking senior fellowships in general thoracic surgery and lung transplant surgery.
The team at Papworth
When appointed to Papworth in 2006 I became the only pure thoracic surgeon. Subsequently as clinical lead I have focused both on delivering a service with excellent results and growing the department. This means I works closely with a multi-disciplinary specialist team including surgeons, nurses, allied health professionals such as physiotherapists as well as radiologists and physicians.
We have been identified as the top specialist thoracic surgery hospital for in-patient experience by Macmillan cancer survey in 2013 and 2014.
Education
I am an active member of the Society for Cardiothoracic Surgery education committee and hold the portfoilios of student engagement and non-clinical professional development. I supervise medical students as a University of Cambridge Senior Clinical Tutor. I am the Royal College of Surgeons Tutor particularly overseeing the development of our younger surgeons. As an active member of the Royal Society of Medicine I have run more than 10 international meetings. I am the President of the Royal Society of Medicine cardiothoracic section.
Research
I actively support various studies and a list of recent publications can be seen here. I undertook the largest number of cases by any surgeon in the last 5 years of the MESOVAT study recently published in the Lancet journal. My main interests have been in minimally invasive surgery, new technologies and chest wall reconstruction and trauma. With respect to new technology I have introduced a robot telescope-assist device to help in minimally invasive surgery.
Medico-legal & Mediation
I have been preparing reports for more than 10 years. I undertake personal injury, clinical negligence and mediation. My most recent refresher legal training was in 2014. Claimants can generally be offered an appointment within 2 weeks with PI reports being produced in a further 2 weeks. CN reports are delivered generally within 1 month of agreeing an instruction.
Mediation is by arrangement but includes rapid fact-finding, establishing agendas, resolution with the aim of minimizing the harm to all parties and restoring high quality patient-centred services. My background includes psychology and now considerable experience of dealing with the complex agendas within hospitals and professional colleagues. This helps me to understand the challenges in re-building relationships and restoring harmony within the pressured environment of modern healthcare. All reports and mediation is on a completely confidential basis. Mediation is generally much more cost effective and faster than litigation.