Eastern Health has an excellent surgical training program providing training in general surgery, urology, plastic and reconstructive surgery, otolaryngology, vascular and orthopaedics. With a strong focus on education and research, Eastern Health provides an inclusive and supportive environment for developing any surgical career.

Surgical training will rotate across many Eastern Health campuses including, Box Hill, Maroondah Hospital, Angliss Hospital and our elective surgery hub at Blackburn. In addition, rural terms out to Bairnsdale and Albury Wodonga are also highly sought after. General surgical training at Eastern Health comprises of 10 GSET registrars, with a rural term to Bendigo Hospital

General Surgery Training at Eastern Health offers a breadth of experience in high volume centres of excellence offering:

  • Acute general surgery across Box Hill, Angliss and Maroondah hospitals
  • Upper Gastrointestinal and Hepato Pancreato Biliary surgical training supported by an ANZGOSA Fellow and Research Fellow in a high volume unit
  • Colorectal Surgery with support from a CSSANZ fellow and research fellow in a unit treating in excess of 250 cancers per year
  • Bariatric Surgery
  • Breast and Endocrine surgery across Box Hill and Maroondah Hospital campuses in the newly opened Maroondah Breast Cancer Centre
  • Dedicated weekly research meetings with the Eastern Health Surgical Research Group
  • Fortnightly formal registrar and HMO teaching Monday evenings with additional focus session for trainees sitting their fellowship exams
  • GSET interview practice for trainees applying for specialist surgical training
  • Quarterly journal club
  • Skills training workshops with animal models (with industry support) or simulation

We are flexible in trying to accommodate trainee preference for duration of appointment, part time versus full time employment and training.

For further information, please direct your query to the relevant doctor listed below:

Additional information on applying for surgical training can be found on the GSA website

Blackburn Public Surgical Centre is now fully operational having opened its doors to the first few patients on the 10th of October. Sarah, the Nurse Unit Manager, is excited to get back into surgical. “It doesn’t matter whether they’re public or private patients, they’re still patients, so they still need to be cared for. And I think COVID has had a massive impact on surgical patients lists being put on hold, so I think that’s thrilling really, that we can help these patients finally get their surgery.” Thanks to all our amazing and agile Eastern Health staff who have made this possible and a warm welcome to our new Blackburn teams.

Eastern Health has opened a new hybrid theatre at Box Hill Hospital, aimed at enhancing the quality and safety of surgical procedures. The hybrid operating model brings together a high-tech operating theatre with the advanced imagining capabilities of a digital angiography laboratory. This combination reduces the risk to patients by allowing the entire procedure to be completed in one area in a shorter timeframe, enhancing post-operative recovery and reducing patient length of stay. In the first few weeks of operation, the hybrid theatre has hosted more than 10 procedures, with feedback from clinical staff highlighting the flexibility, safety and convenience of the system where the patient can undergo the ‘open’ and ‘closed’ components of their clinical treatment in the one space.

Vinna An, one of our Supervisors of Training here at Eastern Health describes to our Doctors in Training why a career in surgery might be for them and why he’s chosen to stay at Eastern Health.