Balancing scalpel and sport, Filipino-born orthopaedic registrar Diego brings a unique perspective.

Having been raised in Hong Kong and trained as a doctor in London, he’s spent the last several years pursuing his surgical training while expanding into the world of football medicine through the MSc Football Medicine in association with FIFA.

Now in his third and thesis year, he reflects on how the experience has transformed his clinical thinking and added depth to his career to date.

Taking a detour from general to football medicine

I was born in the Philippines and raised in Hong Kong; I moved to the UK in 2010 to study medicine. I always knew I wanted to become a doctor, and what drew me to the UK was the straightforward training structure; no pre-med, just straight into six years of medicine, then onward to practice. I graduated in 2016 and have been working as a doctor for the past nine years. I’m currently in my second year as an orthopaedic registrar and intend to complete my training and attain my fellowship.

I guess I’ve also taken a slightly unexpected route as I am also currently in my third and final year of the master’s in Football Medicine. It’s a distance learning course offered by Bath in association with FIFA.

I’ve always had a thing for soft tissue injuries and have done some work around ACL management and injury prevention. What drew me to this course was its breadth. You don’t just study the anatomical side; it’s also biomechanical, psychological, even cultural. That holistic perspective really appealed to me. As a future surgeon, I don’t just want to fix the problem, I want to understand it in context to proactively address preventative strategies.

Bath has a great reputation for sports science, and I knew they were building something unique and quite special with this FIFA-affiliated course. The opportunity to be taught by doctors and physios who work at an international level, that really excited me. The experience has certainly lived up to expectations.

Of course, doing the master's alongside surgical training hasn’t been easy. Managing my time between theatre lists, clinics, and modules was a challenge, especially during my third year, but there was actually quite a lot of overlap.

Much of what I was learning about rehabilitation and injury psychology, I could immediately apply to my orthopaedics practice. Patients recovering from a hip or knee replacement often have the same fears and questions as footballers returning from injury and I could use that shared understanding to really talk them through it.

Making great connections at residentials

One of the real highlights was the residentials, one in Bath and another in Zurich, Switzerland. In Bath, we got to use motion capture labs and look into kinematics and biomechanics. In Zurich, we trained in the FIFA Museum, took part in pitch-side emergency care courses, and connected with team doctors from across the world. That week was brilliant!

I have also shadowed a classmate abroad who works with a national football team. These moments (being on the pitch, behind the scenes, speaking to elite professionals) are quite unique and memorable.

Our cohort is small, and we only meet face-to-face during the residentials, but we keep in touch constantly and share insights from our own professional worlds or coursework questions. Some of my classmates are doctors for national teams or professional clubs, so it has been invaluable hearing their perspectives - and reassuring to know I’m not the only one juggling clinical chaos with academic work.

I’ve used Moodle discussions a lot and appreciated how easy it’s been to dip in and out of lectures or re-watch sessions when things got hectic. The Bath faculty have been supportive, too. When one of my orthopaedic interviews was scheduled just before a coursework deadline, they were happy to grant an extension. They really understand the pressures of working clinicians.

I am currently doing a thesis that links orthopaedics and football medicine, and I’m hoping that the research methodologies I have developed will carry over into future orthopaedic studies as well.

Long-term, I would love to focus on sports-related orthopaedics, managing ACLs, meniscal repairs, that sort of thing; and this master’s has already given me a more nuanced approach to how I assess and counsel patients.

Outside of my work and studying and thinking long-term

I am a founder and vice president of the British Association of Filipino Physicians and Surgeons. We have been running teaching and welcome events for new international medical graduates, especially those just arriving into the NHS. I’m passionate about making sure people feel they have a voice, and some guidance, early on. We recently secured a grant from the Royal College of Surgeons to keep growing those initiatives.

Career-wise, I’m focused on completing my orthopaedic training, but I am also exploring how to stay involved in football medicine, maybe by working pitch-side at local or semi-pro matches. I’m not aiming for the Premier League, but I would love to keep my skills fresh and stay connected to that part of the world utilising the skills I learned in my FIFA Advanced Pitch-Side Emergency Medicine course.

I would say to anyone thinking of doing this that you get out what you put in. That applies to the master’s, but also to life in the UK more broadly. Build your network early, reach out to people, and take the opportunities that come your way. That is what helped me feel at home here: friendships, collaboration and mentorship.

If you had told me three years ago that I would be doing all this, a master’s in football medicine, travelling to Europe, shadowing international teams, I would not have believed you! Now, not only have I done it, but I’m also bringing it into my day-to-day practice, and planning my future around it. It’s been hard work and stressful at times, yet it’s also been one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done.