Medical Education - Surgical Training

Eastern & Greater Southern Surgical Skills Training Network

The Eastern & Greater Southern Surgical Skills Training Network offers a comprehensive surgical education and training program to prepare and support Surgical SRMOs, Unaccredited Registrars and PGY 1 & 2s interested in pursuing surgical careers. Through the program, trainees develop core surgical competencies for application to vocational training as part of an accredited SET position under the auspices of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

We combine a long standing tradition of excellence in patient care and surgical training in subspecialty and general surgery.

The program offers exposure to a wide range of training including workshops; skills labs; lectures; professional development and career guidance.

SET Training

Each specialty college has a different process for selecting and allocating SET trainees. For more information go to the Royal Australian College of Surgeons website.

EGSSTN Positions for 2023 Clinical Year

Advertising and recruitment for the 2023 Annual Junior Medical Officer Recruitment campaign is coordinated by the NSW Ministry of Health through the Recruitment Onboarding System.

26 positions for the 2023 clinical year will be advertised from 26 July 2022 until 16 August 2022. Interviews will be conducted on 30 August, 31 August and 1 September. 

The 2023 Clinical Year commences on 6 February 2023 and concludes on 4 February 2024.

From 2023 Clinical Year onwards, Network Surgical SRMOS and Unaccredited Trainees will be based at either Prince of Wales Hospital or St Vincent's Hospital and only rotate through their alma mater hospital's affiliated training terms. 

Prospective applications for interview will be asked for their preference of alma mater training contract. 

For SRMO positions, there are 6 positions based at Prince of Wales Hospital and 5 positions based at St Vincent's Hospital.

For Unaccredited Trainee positions, there are 8 positions based at Prince of Wales Hospital and 7 positions based at St Vincent's Hospital.

The affiliated alma mater training terms are outlined in the table below. 

Questions regarding recruitment for 2023 Clinical Year should be directed to the Surgical ESO Tina Zhou at tina.zhou@health.nsw.gov.au.

EGSSTN Information and Q&A Evening

Our Virtual Information Evening was held on Wednesday 6 July 2022 from 6.00pm - 7.00pm, via Zoom.

The following speakers presented:

Dr Mark Muhlmann, Network Director of Surgical Training

Dr David Evans, St Vincent's Site Director of Surgical Training

Dr Joel Rabindran, St Vincent's Surgical Superintendent

Dr Katherine Pearce, Surgical Registrar

Dr Aaron Adonopulos, Surgical SRMO

Dr Thomas Warburton, Surgical Research Society President

Ms Tina Zhou, Surgical ESO

The presentation is available here. 

Surgical SRMO Terms

Surgical SRMO terms in the Network are 3 months in length.

Surgical Unaccredited Registrar Terms

Surgical Unaccredited Registrar terms in the Network are 6 months in length.

Surgical Skills Network Management

Network Director and Site Director of Training – Prince of Wales Hospital

Dr Mark Muhlmann is a Colorectal and General Surgeon with more than 10 years of consultant experience. He is a Visiting Medical Officer at the Prince of Wales Public Hospital and the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick and also practises at the Prince of Wales Private and Double Bay Day Hospitals. He has an interest in all aspects of colorectal surgery specialising in minimally invasive laparoscopic and robotic procedures. He has been the Surgical Site Director of Surgical Education at Prince of Wales Hospital since 2013 and is currently the Network Director of the Eastern and Greater Southern Surgical Skills Network. In his spare time he likes to run marathons, learn Mandarin and teach his children Beatles’ songs.

Site Director of Training – St Vincent’s Hospital

Dr David Evans is a Vascular, Endovascular and Transplant Surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney. He has trained in multiple hospitals across Australia. He has been the Director of Prevocational Surgical Training at St Vincent's Hospital since 2016 and is actively focused on the ongoing education and wellbeing of junior doctors during surgical training. He is currently a supervisor of the Eastern and Greater Southern Surgical Skills Network - Surgical Research Society and Vascular Research Group, with an interest in the health outcomes of Indigenous Australians and people experiencing homelessness. In his spare time, he enjoys ocean activities including diving and fishing. 

Site Director of Training – Griffith Base Hospital

Dr S.C Kate FitzGerald moved from Ireland to Scotland to complete her higher surgical training and started as a consultant in breast oncoplastic surgery in 2013. With her family in tow, Dr FitzGerald moved to Griffith from Scotland in 2018 where she continues to do oncoplastic breast surgery with a wide ranging general surgical practice due to her regional location. Dr FitzGerald is a keen teacher, EMST instructor and has always been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate teaching. She enjoys seeing trainees gain knowledge and ability as they progress. Her priority is to ensure junior doctors coming through Griffith receive a consistently high level of surgical education both clinically and theoretically. As a smaller surgical unit, Griffith Base Hospital offers a close working and teaching relationship between the trainees and consultants.

Site Director of Training – Sydney Children’s Hospital

Dr Guy Henry is a specialist Paediatric Surgeon who has been practicing in Sydney for over 22 years. He is based at Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick. His surgical interests include general paediatric surgery (including circumcision), hypospadias, minimally invasive surgery (keyhole surgery) for both the abdomen and chest, gastroesophageal reflux surgery, oncological surgery and antenatal consultations for foetal malformations. Dr Henry is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and is heavily involved in the activities of the college having served on the NSW State Committee for 8 years. He has recently finished after 11 years as an Examiner in Paediatric Surgery. He is presently on the Board of Paediatric Surgery, RACS. He is also a member (and President) of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Paediatric Surgeons and the Australian Medical Association. He is a keen teacher, involved with teaching junior doctors, undergraduate students as well as nursing and other staff.

Site Director of Training – Wagga Wagga Base Hospital

Dr Anna Giles is a General Surgeon working at WWRRH and surrounding regional sites: Young, Cootamundra, Tumut. She has an interest in skin surgery, hernia, endoscopy and laparoscopic surgeries. She also has a particular interest in teaching medical students and junior doctors and in the progression of women through the surgical training program. She enjoys bike riding, swimming, watching Netflix, listening to True Crime podcasts, cooking and caring for her animals (4 Siamese cats and a dog).

EGSSTN 2022 Recruitment Information Video

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