Personal Profile
He studied medicine at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and completed his orthopaedic training in Antwerp, Belgium, Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia. He worked for four years in the University Hospital Groningen in the Netherlands, before he moved to the UK.
He has practised in Bury St Edmunds since 2001. Mr Schenk has more than twenty years of consultant experience. He is committed to giving patients a well-balanced opinion on orthopaedic conditions and trauma disorders.
He has a keen interest in sports injuries around the knee, as well as degenerative disorders. He is a specialist arthroscopic surgeon, performing key-hole surgery for cartilage, meniscus and cruciate ligament conditions
Mr Schenk has been the first surgeon in the UK to regularly use the Ligamys system for direct anterior cruciate ligament repairs. This system provides a direct repair of the cruciate ligament after a rupture and allows active patients to get back to their previous level of sports without the need of a formal cruciate ligament reconstruction. This work has been published and presented nationally and internationally.
Since 2001, Mr Schenk has successfully treated hundreds of patients with the Oxford medial uni-compartmental knee replacement. This replacement of the inner half of the knee has given many patients a new lease of life and enabled them to resume a more active lifestyle. This particular type of knee replacement allows the surgeon to restore the knee to a near normal function, while preserving as much of the native knee as possible, particularly the ligaments, making the recovery significantly quicker.
In recent years he has also used the Fixed Lateral Oxford knee for lateral knee arthritis, to treat pain on the outer side of the knee. He has also managed arthritis behind the kneecap with a Patello Femoral knee replacement.
In the case of a severely degenerated knee, a total knee replacement can be considered. This procedure will dramatically reduce the pain in the vast majority of cases. If there is a malalignment associated with the arthritis, then this can be adjusted in most cases.
Mr Schenk has been leading enhanced recovery in Bury St Edmunds for many years. He has worked tirelessly promoting hospital performance improvement and patient engagement in their own recovery, in order to improve the outcome of joint replacements. He participated in a knowledge exchange project with the United States, organised by the department of Health.
He has been clinical lead for Trauma and Orthopaedics in the West Suffolk Hospital and has been a member of the Medical Advisory Committee of the St Edmunds Hospital, helping to ensure that the best clinical outcomes possible are achieved in Suffolk.
Mr Schenk also works as an ambassador for international best outcomes and excellence in training and performance in his specialty; he is a clinical lead for trauma and orthopaedics for the International Surgical Training Programme for the Royal College of Surgeons. Mr Schenk has organised placements for Belgian trainees in the West Suffolk Hospital since 2004 and has been their educational supervisor. He also set up a link with Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan orthopaedic registrars, where they have come to Bury St Edmunds since 2010. He is also an external examiner for the Post Graduate Institute of Medicine in Colombo for trauma and orthopaedics.
Mr Schenk is registered with all insurance companies and charges within the fee schedules of these companies, avoiding additional costs for patients. He is also available for NHS patients at the St Edmunds, who chose to be referred to the St Edmunds hospital via their GP by utilising the choose and book (eRS) arrangement.
