Concord Hospital visiting neurosurgeon Dr Ben Thomas takes learnings back home to PNG.
 

Neurosurgeon Dr Benjamin Thomas is keen to take the lessons he has learnt at Concord Hospital back to Papua New Guinea (PNG) and help expand the availability of his specialty in his home country. 

“It's been a very valuable opportunity for me to come and work here and learn from the neurosurgeons here,” Benjamin said. 

Benjamin has been working at Concord alongside neurosurgeon Dr Prakash Damodaran on a Rowan Nicks Fellowship awarded by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.  

The Rowan Nicks Fellowship is offered annually to young surgeons and anaesthetists who have been identified as surgical or medical leaders of the future.  

Recipients such as Benjamin learn from senior clinicians in their field, and become involved in teaching, research and administration. 

“[My focus] is mainly spine because 95 per cent of my work is cranial and 5 per cent spinal,” he said. 

“It's been a good exposure for me to learn from the guys here on the spine, so that is one big thing that I will take back when I return.” 

A feature of Concord Hosptial, the Neurosurgery Department has particular focus on minimally invasive and complex spine, brain tumour surgery, pituitary surgery, skull base surgery, treatment of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) disorders and trigeminal neuralgia. 

The Department is also committed to research and education, and works closely with other departments and the Concord Cancer Centre.  

Benjamin has extended his initial five-month stay at Concord to a year and said he hoped to build on the connections he had made here. 

“Dr Damodaran has already made two trips up to PNG and we've done some cases together but I’m thinking definitely there will be a lot more visits,” Benjamin said.