UHP registrar selected for prestigious national fellowship
Chris Wolff, a Geriatrics and General Medicine Registrar at University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust (UHP), has been selected for the Advanced Clinical Training Fellowship in Parkinson’s 2025.
Parkinson’s is the world’s fastest growing neurological condition. The Advanced Clinical Training Fellowship in Parkinson’s 2025 is an opportunity for geriatric specialist registrars, providing them with dedicated time to develop their skills and understanding of the care and treatments for patients with Parkinsons. The fellowship has been funded by Parkinson’s UK, via the Parkinson's Excellence Network, and is being run in collaboration with the British Geriatrics Society. Successful applicants have their employment costs covered for 12 months, enabling them to undertake a year of full-time training in Parkinson’s and related conditions.
The process of applying for the fellowship is highly competitive and being selected is reflective of the quality of both Chris’ existing skills, and the Parkinson’s-related training which is available locally in the south west. Speaking about the opportunity, Chris said: “When I found out I had been selected, I was completely speechless to the extent that I was worried they may change their mind if I couldn’t string a sentence together. I am honoured to be entrusted with this opportunity.
“I’ve always had a draw towards Parkinson’s, even at medical school – it can be quite a diagnostic challenge at times. So much of a patient’s life is impacted by Parkinson’s and it’s treatment, and the holistic approach is perfect. It almost felt like it was fate that I was interested it in and now get the opportunity to dedicate a whole year to develop my skills.
“Devon and Cornwall have some of the oldest population by average age in the country and this is increasing, which could result in a spike of Parkinson’s’ patients in the region. That’s why it is so important that we have responsive, well-networked services which can use innovative solutions such as digital technology. The region is perfect for investment, time and energy to build and develop the Parkinson’s services.”
Chris will start his fellowship in August, spending 9 months at UHP seeing patients in Parkinson’s clinics and as inpatients with supervision from consultants, as well as working with local Parkinson’s UK groups and learning from clinical trial teams. After this, he hopes to spend the last 3 months based within another Trust so he can learn about advanced therapies and work alongside different teams such as a neuro-palliative care team.
“This fellowship will allow me to have a complete focus on this one area – giving me the opportunity to have my whole working time dedicated to developing my expertise in an area I want to spend my life working in.
“By the end of the year I’d like to have built relationships with experts around the region and nationally, as well as relationships with individual patients with Parkinson’s in clinic and within patient groups, and with clinical researchers working with Parkinson’s. I think having these different perspectives will provide me with really good groundwork for how this condition is treated and how this impacts a patient’s life.
“I’m really excited for the opportunity to see how different places and services function to see what works well and what we can bring to Plymouth to benefit our patients.”
Sharing in Chris’ success, colleague and Consultant Geriatrician, Sarah Blayney, said: “This is a brilliant achievement and is a recognition of Chris’ skills and abilities as a registrar at UHP. We are really proud of Chris and what this means for both him and UHP.”
