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Mr Vittal Sree Rao is a Consultant General Surgeon specialising in Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric Surgery. He is based in the North Midlands and practises as part of Infinity Surgery in hospitals across the North Midlands. He also practises at Nuffield Health North Staffordshire Hospital.

Mr Rao has expertise in open hernia surgery, incisional hernia surgery, paraumbilical/umbilical hernia, epigastric hernia, and ingrown toenail surgery. He believes passionately in patient safety and this is reflected in his practice.

Mr Rao has a wealth of experience dealing with emergency conditions regarding the gastrointestinal tract and trauma. He gained his medical qualification from the University of Kerala in 1996. He then completed a Master's degree in General Surgery in 1999 at Bangalore Medical College, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences. He became a Fellow of both the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow in 2001. He obtained his medical degree in General Surgery from the University of Hull in 2008.

He then underwent extensive training in benign upper GI surgery and was selected as a Fellow again, this time in General Surgery, by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2010. He obtained his CCT in 2012 and was registered as a Specialist in General Surgery by the GMC in the same year.

He is trained in the treatment of complex reflux disease and functional disorders such as achalasia as well as weight loss surgery (gastric bypass and gastric sleeve) which is one of his research interests. In addition, he has expertise in laparoscopic surgery for hernias and gallbladder surgery, further adding to his broad scope of practice and expertise.

Additionally, Mr Rao is actively involved in research and his publications have had more than 5,000 reads. He is also an editorial board member and peer-reviewer for a number of publications, giving him extensive insight into emerging medical research as well as being actively involved in research himself.

Mr Rao is also a member of the following professional bodies:

• Association of Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeons
• British Medical Association
• British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society
• International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders