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Medical specialties

Regenerative Medicine Diploma

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An evidence-led diploma in regenerative medicine: what platelet-rich plasma, cell-based products and other biologics can and cannot do, what the trials and the regulators say, and how to run a safe and honest injection service.

Twenty-five weekly sessions across five modules take you from the science and regulation of the products, through osteoarthritis, tendon, muscle, bone and spine, to service design and the therapies still emerging, taught live by practising specialists you can question.

Course director
To be announced
Format
25 live weekly sessions on Zoom, in 5 modules
Dates
Confirmed when enrolment opens

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Fluorescence microscope image of cultured mesenchymal stem cells, with green-stained cell bodies and blue nuclei on a dark background.
Image: mesenchymal stem cells under fluorescence microscopy by MFT29 via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Who it is for

Senior trainees, fellows and early-career specialists in sport and exercise medicine, rheumatology, pain medicine, musculoskeletal radiology and surgery, and GPs with a special interest in musculoskeletal care, worldwide.

The programme

25 one-hour sessions in 5 modules, each with its learning objectives. This is the draft programme: the course director reviews and refines it before enrolment opens, so session titles may change.

Module 1 · Sessions 1 to 5Science, products and regulation

  1. 1. Healing biology and the case for regenerative treatment

    • Describe the phases of tissue healing in tendon, cartilage, muscle and bone
    • Explain why tendon, articular cartilage and intervertebral disc have limited capacity to heal
    • Distinguish repair from true regeneration in published claims
    • Identify the biological mechanisms that regenerative products are proposed to target

  2. 2. What is in the syringe: platelet-rich plasma

    • Compare commercial and laboratory PRP preparation methods and the products they yield
    • Classify a PRP preparation using a published classification system
    • Report a PRP protocol in enough detail for others to reproduce it
    • Judge whether differences in preparation explain conflicting trial results

  3. 3. Cells: bone marrow, adipose and culture-expanded products

    • Define mesenchymal stromal cells using the ISCT minimal criteria
    • Describe harvest and processing of bone marrow aspirate concentrate and adipose-derived products
    • Estimate the true progenitor cell content of point-of-care preparations
    • Correct misleading 'stem cell' claims when talking to patients and colleagues

  4. 4. Regulation, ethics and anti-doping in the UK, Europe and the US

    • Classify a regenerative product as minimally manipulated tissue or an advanced therapy medicinal product
    • Explain the licensing a UK clinic needs before offering a cell-based product
    • Contrast UK and EU rules with the US FDA framework for HCT/Ps and the products the FDA has warned about
    • Advise an athlete on the anti-doping status of PRP and cell-based treatments

  5. 5. Reading the evidence on injectable biologics

    • Appraise a randomised trial of an injectable biologic for bias and placebo effect
    • Interpret pooled estimates from meta-analyses with high heterogeneity
    • Apply minimal clinically important differences to trial results
    • Identify conflicts of interest and selective reporting in regenerative medicine research
Module 2 · Sessions 6 to 10Osteoarthritis and cartilage

  1. 6. Knee osteoarthritis: where injections fit

    • Apply NICE NG226 to build a core treatment plan before any injection
    • Compare NICE, OARSI and AAOS recommendations on intra-articular injections and explain where they differ
    • Select patients for whom an injection is a reasonable adjunct
    • Set expectations with patients using absolute effect sizes

  2. 7. PRP for knee osteoarthritis

    • Summarise the RESTORE trial and the main meta-analyses of PRP in knee osteoarthritis
    • Explain the ESSKA-ORBIT consensus recommendations and their evidence grades
    • Apply the special arrangements NICE IPG637 requires for consent, governance and audit
    • Decide with a patient whether PRP is appropriate for them

  3. 8. Cell-based injections for osteoarthritis

    • Appraise the randomised evidence for cell-based injections in knee osteoarthritis
    • Distinguish structural claims (cartilage regrowth) from symptom outcomes in published studies
    • Explain the regulatory status of each cell product in the UK and the US
    • Counsel patients who ask about cell injections advertised online

  4. 9. Hip, ankle, hand and other joints

    • Summarise the evidence for injectable biologics in hip, ankle and hand osteoarthritis
    • Choose the image guidance needed for accurate injection of each joint
    • Recognise when an injection delays surgery that would help more
    • Refer appropriately for arthroplasty or joint-preserving surgery

  5. 10. Cartilage repair and restoration

    • Select patients for marrow stimulation, autologous chondrocyte implantation or osteochondral grafting by lesion size and site
    • Apply NICE TA477 criteria for autologous chondrocyte implantation
    • Identify malalignment, instability and meniscal deficiency that must be corrected first
    • Interpret long-term outcomes of cartilage repair
Module 3 · Sessions 11 to 15Tendon, muscle, ligament, bone and spine

  1. 11. Tendinopathy

    • Design a progressive loading programme as the baseline treatment for tendinopathy
    • Appraise the trial evidence for PRP in lateral elbow, patellar, Achilles and gluteal tendinopathy
    • Explain the short-term benefit and longer-term harm of corticosteroid injection in tendinopathy
    • Decide when an injection adds to loading and when it does not

  2. 12. Rotator cuff disease

    • Summarise the evidence for injections in rotator cuff tendinopathy and partial tears
    • Appraise biological augmentation of rotator cuff repair
    • Interpret retear and functional outcomes after augmented repair
    • Choose between augmentation options in a revision or high-risk repair

  3. 13. Acute muscle, tendon and ligament injury

    • Appraise the PATH-2 trial and what it means for PRP after Achilles tendon rupture
    • Summarise the evidence for PRP in acute muscle injury and return to play
    • Evaluate biological augmentation in ligament reconstruction
    • Advise athletes and clubs who request biologics to speed return

  4. 14. Bone healing and orthobiologics

    • Describe the diamond concept of fracture healing
    • Choose between autograft, allograft and synthetic substitutes for a bone defect
    • Appraise the evidence for BMPs and bone marrow concentrate in non-union
    • Evaluate cell-augmented core decompression for femoral head osteonecrosis

  5. 15. The spine and chronic pain

    • Summarise the evidence for intradiscal PRP and cell therapy in discogenic back pain
    • Select patients for spinal biologic injections only within research or audit
    • Explain the placebo response in interventional pain trials
    • Place biologics within a multidisciplinary chronic pain pathway
Module 4 · Sessions 16 to 20Running a safe, evidence-led service

  1. 16. Image-guided injection technique

    • Explain how image guidance changes injection accuracy at common sites
    • Plan an ultrasound-guided injection, including approach and aseptic technique
    • Recognise the limits of a live online session for learning practical skills
    • Document an injection procedure to audit standard

  2. 17. Safety, contraindications and complications

    • List the absolute and relative contraindications to PRP and cell-based injections
    • Manage anticoagulant and NSAID use around biologic injections
    • Recognise and manage infection and post-injection flare
    • Report serious adverse events through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme or FDA MedWatch

  3. 18. Consent, cost and honest communication

    • Take consent that states the uncertainty of the evidence in plain language
    • Explain the cost and expected benefit so patients can compare options
    • Write patient information and website copy that complies with advertising rules
    • Respond to patients who arrive with unrealistic expectations from online advertising

  4. 19. Measuring outcomes, audit and registries

    • Choose validated outcome measures for each condition you treat
    • Set up an audit that meets NICE IPG637 requirements
    • Contribute data to a registry and interpret registry reports
    • Present service outcomes honestly, including non-responders

  5. 20. Building a regenerative medicine service

    • Design a governance framework for a new injection service
    • Evaluate preparation kits and devices on evidence and cost
    • Estimate the cost-effectiveness of a regenerative treatment
    • Build referral pathways with physiotherapy, surgery and rheumatology
Module 5 · Sessions 21 to 25Beyond musculoskeletal and the future

  1. 21. Licensed cell and gene therapies today

    • Describe the route from laboratory to licensed advanced therapy
    • Give examples of licensed cell and gene therapies and what made them licensable
    • Explain how NICE appraises and funds advanced therapies
    • Contrast licensed therapies with unlicensed clinic products

  2. 22. Wound healing and soft-tissue regeneration

    • Summarise the evidence for platelet products in chronic wounds and diabetic foot ulcers
    • Describe fat grafting and the evidence for its regenerative claims
    • Compare skin substitutes by evidence and cost
    • Refer to specialist wound and plastic surgery services appropriately

  3. 23. Emerging therapies: exosomes, gene therapy and tissue engineering

    • Explain the proposed mechanisms of extracellular vesicle and gene-based treatments
    • Assess the current clinical evidence for each emerging therapy
    • Identify warning signs of unproven products offered directly to patients
    • Discuss emerging therapies with patients without overstating them

  4. 24. Designing a trial of a regenerative treatment

    • Write a focused research question for a regenerative treatment
    • Choose a control and blinding strategy for an injection trial
    • Identify the ethics and regulatory approvals a UK trial needs
    • Find funding and collaborators for a pragmatic trial

  5. 25. Complex case decisions

    • Apply the course's evidence to complex real-world cases
    • Defend a recommendation to offer, decline or refer
    • Recognise when to say that the evidence does not support a treatment
    • Build a personal plan to keep up with new evidence

What the diploma includes

  • 25 live sessions on Zoom, one evening a week, with recordings for the weeks you miss.
  • Practising specialists teaching live, so you can put your questions to them.
  • Weekly MCQs and a final written assessment.
  • A digital certificate carrying your final classification.

Lead or teach the Regenerative Medicine Diploma

We are looking for a course director and faculty from the specialty. Sessions are one hour in the UK evening, live on Zoom, and paid.

Apply to teach