Richard Villar

Hip specialist Richard Villar is one of Britain’s leading orthopaedic surgeons, with experience both as a consultant in top level hospitals, and as a field surgeon operating on soldiers and civilians in conflict zones.

Villar qualified from St Thomas’s Hospital in London before joining the SAS as a Regimental Medical Officer. He has worked in areas destroyed by war and natural disasters, often operating in makeshift hospitals under extreme conditions. It was this intensive experience which qualified him for his position as Surgical Team Leader for the UK’s Disaster Emergency Response Team, where he has worked in the aftermath of the Haiti and Java earthquakes. He has served in over 30 countries, in refugee camps, army barracks and evacuation centres. More recently, he has become a leading surgeon in British medicine, specialising in keyhole hip procedures. He is a founding member of the International Society for Hip Arthroscopy, and has served on the Council of the British Orthopaedic Association as well as an assessor for the General Medical Council.

Because of his vast range of experience in high pressure, stressful environments, Villar has become an expert in leadership and teamwork under exceptional conditions. He has published two books, Knife Edge and Winged Scalpel, as well as speaking worldwide about his passion and expertise. He regularly writes for The Spectator, the Evening Standard and the Telegraph. Not content with just surgery, Villar is also a qualified International Mountain Leader and regularly goes on expeditions.