Surgeon Captain Professor Rory F Rickard

OStJ KHS PhD FRCS Royal Navy
Emeritus Professor of Military Surgery and Honorary Consultant Plastic Surgeon

Professor Rickard conducted his undergraduate medical training in Belfast, having initially toyed with a career as a Warfare Officer in the Royal Navy. He joined as a Medical Cadet in 1989 and on graduating served with NATO, in the surface fleet and with the Royal Marines. He attained his FRCS (Clinical Surgery in General) in 1999. Specialist training in Reconstructive Plastic Surgery was conducted in Bristol, at the Canniesburn Plastic Surgery Unit in Glasgow, and at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town. His doctorate was in a bioengineering topic related to microvascular surgery. His principal clinical interests are in musculoskeletal cancer surgery and in trauma reconstruction. As a serving medical officer he has broad experience in clinical delivery and in leadership roles on Operations in the Balkans, Northern Ireland, Iraq, Afghanistan, on the UN Mission in South Sudan and most recently in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Professor Rickard was appointed as an Honorary Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Derriford Hospital in 2008 and as the joint Ministry of Defence / Royal College of Surgeons Professor of Military Surgery in 2014. In 2021 he moved into an Emeritus chair. He was appointed an Honorary Surgeon to Her Majesty the Queen in 2021 and to His Majesty King Charles III in 2022.