Perth International Plastic and Reconstructive Fellowship

Welcome to the sunny city of Perth, Western Australia. The PIPRS fellowship is an established 6 or 12 month fellowship program open to overseas plastic surgeons eligible for temporary medical registration in Western Australia. Based at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Nedlands, this position is intended for recently qualified plastic surgeons or final year plastic surgery trainees who are seeking additional training in reconstructive surgery.

Together with the local senior trainee, the fellow will be leading the day to day management of the plastic surgery unit at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. In many cases, he/she will be expected to be the primary operating surgeon. The fellow will also be encouraged to supervise and teach the junior surgical registrars in the unit. On call is on average, a 1 in 5 rota covering Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital only. Research and publications are encouraged but not essential. The fellow will also have the opportunity to participate in the regular consultant led teaching sessions, a program which is recognised as one of the most intensive in the nation.

The Plastic Surgery Department at SCGH is staffed by 12 Plastic Surgeons, 3 local advanced trainees, 2 service registrars and 3 residents. No paediatric surgery is performed in this hospital. Subspecialty interests in the unit include:

• Hand Surgery – trauma and elective cases
• Reconstructive surgery following resection of skin cancer, breast cancer, sarcoma and head and neck cancers
• Craniomaxillofacial Surgery – congenital and trauma

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is one of Australia’s leading teaching tertiary hospitals for adults. The Hospital has over 600 beds and employs approximately 5,000 staff who treat over 420,000 patients every year. Located opposite Kings Park at the Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre, it is only 4km from Perth city centre, 1km from the Swan River and 5km from the Indian Ocean.

Surgical services apart from Plastic Surgery include Urology, Cardiothoracics, General Surgery, Endocrine Surgery, Breast Surgery, Orthopaedics, Vascular, Opthalmology and ENT. The hospital houses the state referral centre for Neurosurgery and Sarcoma. The majority of major trauma are referred to Royal Perth Hospital and Burns to Fiona Stanley Hospital.

The recently completed Perth Children’s Hospital located adjacent to the QEII site provides the fellow a great opportunity to experience tertiary level paediatric plastic surgery where time permits.

The Hospital has strong links with all the major universities in WA. It is a teaching hospital for medical graduates from the University of Western Australia and the University of Notre Dame Australia. SCGH has an international reputation for ground-breaking medical research and is home to Nobel Laureate Professor Barry Marshall, who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 2005 for his groundbreaking work discovering H. pylori. It is the first hospital in Western Australia to be awarded Magnet status, an international accreditation for delivering excellence in nursing and patient care. Other Magnet Hospitals include world-renowned medical facilities such as Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles and the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota.

Perth is consistently rated as one of the world’s most livable cities. While it may be the most isolated capital in the world (the next closest capital city is a three hour flight), you will hardly have a dull moment as surfing (with board, sail or kite), 4-wheel driving, diving, hiking, yachting, cycling, sky diving and camping are just some of the activities to keep you entertained. If you fancy eating out, you won’t be disappointed as Perth has more restaurants per capita than any other Australian city. The city sits on the banks of the Swan river and is overlooked by Kings Park, the biggest inner-city park in the world. A ten minute drive will take you to the white beaches of the Indian Ocean.

If you decide to venture South out of the city, you’ll discover the wine regions of the South West and the famous surfing grounds of Margaret River. To the East, you’ll encounter the Goldfields on the way to the vast Outback. To the north, you’ll find the Ningaloo reef, home of the whale sharks. Venture even further north and you’ll be in true wilderness of the Kimberleys.

Perth is welcoming regardless of whether you are travelling alone, with a partner or with young children.