Hepato-pancreatico-biliary & Upper Gastrointestinal Surgery

Community Engagement

In addition to its role within the hospital, our surgical team also maintains an active involvement within the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).  Our surgeons instruct on numerous courses such as ASSET, EMST, Foundation Skills for Surgical Educators and GSA training days and serve of numerous committees, such as the Victorian Regional Committee and the Academic Surgical Committee.

As a sign of our commitment to improving patient outcomes, members of the surgical team have also established the Surgeon’s Impact Fund, a philanthropic foundation with a focus on funding activities that will directly improve the outcomes of patients undergoing surgery.  For details regarding the foundation and the outcomes that have achieved, please visit the Surgeons Impact Fund website.

Unit Activities

• Multiple weekly operating, endoscopy and ERCP lists
• Weekly research meeting (Monday)
• Weekly radiology meeting (Monday)
• Multidisciplinary team meeting (Monday)
• Consultant outpatient clinic (Monday & Thursday)
• Unit audit meeting (Monday)
• Review Clinic (Thursday)

ERCP Service

With regular access to ERCP and four surgeons accredited to perform ERCP, we are able to provide a state-wide referral service for urgent ERCP. Referrals can be made via the ERCP website

International Recognition

Our unit has also established a presence on an international level. Through our research activities we have formed numerous international collaborations. These include collaborations with the Universities of Southampton, Utrecht, Harvard and Stanford. We are also a contributor to the international Esodata dataset, the dataset that is used to establish the oesophageal TNM staging system. These activities have culminated in our unit being recognised as an International Centre of Excellence by OESO, an international society focusing on diseases of the oesophagus, and Stanford University. Through our involvement with OESO, we have also made a commitment to support the training of surgical fellows from sub-Sahara Africa. The first of these fellows will begin their clinical placement at St Vincent’s during 2021.