Frank Burke graduated from Newcastle University in 1967 and trained in orthopaedics at Oswestry, Shropshire. He did fellowships in hand surgery in Derby, Iowa City and Louisville in the United States of America before becoming a Consultant Hand Surgeon at the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary in 1978. He has been Secretary and President of the British Society for Surgery of the Hand and chaired the Audit & Education subcommittees. He was inaugural President of the British Association of Hand Therapists in 1989. He is a member of the Medical Reference Panel adjudicating compensation for miners considered to be suffering from Hand-Arm Vibration Syndrome. His current research interests involve Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Basal Thumb Arthritis and Rheumatoid Disease affecting the Hand.

Prof Burke has now ceased clinical commitments at the Royal Derby Hospital and is no longer in active clinical practice.