Dr Robert Simon MBBS FRACS
2024
Completed BreastSurgANZ Perforator Flaps Workshop at the Chris O'Brien Life House in Sydney November 2024 as well as completing the BreastSurgANZ Level 2 Oncoplastic Breast Surgery Workshop for the second time, wanting to stay abreast of any improvements in the 10 years since he first completed it.
Attended the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting in Christchurch NZ in May 2024.
2023
American Association of Endocrine Surgeons Annual Meeting 30th April-2nd May 2023, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
American Society of Breast Surgeons 24th Annual Meeting 26030 April 2023 Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Provincial Surgeons Association Annual Scientific Meeting, 25-28th October 2023, Margaret River, WA.
2022
In November 2022 Dr Simon officially announced that after 34years of dedication to the public hospital system he would be significantly reducing his commitment from 30th June 2023; and, due to the back log of patients on his waiting list, would be unable to accept public referrals from 31st December 2022. For a copy of his letter to his colleagues click here.
Dr Simon continued his commitment to excellence in his areas of expertise in 2022 attending the Australian and New Zealand Endocrine Surgeons 9th Post-Graduate Course: Advanced Techniques in Endocrine Surgery in Sydney in November and the Australasian International Breast Congress in Brisbane in October.
2021
In May 2021 Dr Simon attended the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Virtual Conference.
2020
Dr Simon is a member of Australian and New Zealand Endocrine Surgeons and in early March 2020 he attended the 17th Biennial Congress of the Asian Association of Endocrine Surgeons in Melbourne. He is also maintaining his commitment to fulfilling the requirements for membership of Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand.
On 17th September 2020 Dr Simon was among a small group of surgeons from NSW and ACT invited to participate in an advisory meeting titled "Expert Opinion Round Table on Surgical Considerations for Early Breast Cancer Management".
In November, his thirst for the most up to date information undeterred by the travel restrictions imposed by the Corona Virus pandemic, Dr Simon attended the 19th International Association of Endocrine Surgeons Conference as a virtual participant (the actual event was held in Singapore) with presenters and attendees from around the world.
2019
In 2019 Dr Simon headed to the USA to expand his General Surgery and Breast Surgery knowledge, attending the Duke University General Surgery Update in South Carolina, the Derm2019 Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, and the World Update on the Future of Breast Cancer Treatment in San Diego.
2017
Dr Simon has continued to enhance his skills in his chosen areas of sub-specialisation- Breast and Endocrine Surgery. In June he attended the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons' Plastic Surgery Congress in order to further his oncoplastic breast cancer and breast reduction knowledge and in November he attended the 7th International Thyroid and Parathyroid Conference.
2016
In June Dr Simon directed his last Early Management of Severe Trauma Course in Lismore for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The College will only be running these courses in the major cities from 2017 onwards.
August 18-21st. Breast Imaging course run by the International Institute for Continuing Medical Education.
August 26-27th. Locoregional Melanoma 2016 Conference, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Melbourne.
September 29-October 1st. General Surgeons Australia Annual Scientific Conference 2016, Melbourne.
2015
In 2015 DR Simon attended the following conferences and courses:
Advanced Course in Neck Dissection for Thyroid Carcinoma;
BIOGRAPHY
Rob graduated with his MBBS from the University of Sydney in 1988. He completed his Surgical Fellowship at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, in 1996 and followed this with 2 years working in Breast and Endocrine Surgery at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary in Scotland. Rob was appointed as a Visiting Medical Officer in General Surgery by the North Coast Area Health Service (now Northern NSW Local Health District) in May 1999. Rob has been the Head of the Department of Surgery at Lismore Base Hospital since 2004.
Rob has a special interest in thyroid/endocrine surgery (including minimally invasive parathyroidectomy, parotidectomies and laparoscopic adrenalectomies) and the surgical management of breast cancer and has spent many years honing his skills in these areas.
After 8 years of focusing on the purely curative side of breast cancer including lumpectomies, mastectomies, sentinel node biopsies and when needed, axillary surgery, Rob realised that there was a need for his patients to have access to affordable and timely reconstruction options locally. He has offered this service for the last 5 years to improve the quality of life and psychological wellbeing of his patients. More recently Rob attended the Oncoplastic Master Class with renowned breast surgeon Professor Krishna Clough in May 2011. Since this time he has also been able to provide more complex surgical options with better outcomes for his breast cancer patients. This means that Northern Rivers patients now have a local public and ‘No Gap’ private alternative to the expense and inconvenience of travelling away to access this type of service. While Rob makes no claims to be a plastic surgeon, the results he has achieved provide a realistic and pleasing solution for his many patients who would otherwise not have had this option.
In addition to his special interest in breast and endocrine surgery Rob directs the Lismore 'Early Management of Severe Trauma' (EMST) course which provides instruction to junior doctors and General Practitioners in this important area of medicine. This is one of only 2 rural EMSTcourses offered in NSW each year. Rob was also a member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Early Management of Severe Trauma (EMST) committee for several years.
Rob has maintained a strong commitment to staying in touch with the latest developments in all areas of general surgery throughout his career. Conferences he has attended in the last 3 years include: April 2011- 4th Central European Congress of Surgery, Budapest, Hungary; May 2011- Oncoplastic Master Class, Paris; July 2012- Australian Association of Endocrine Surgeons Post-Graduate Course in Endocrine Surgery, Brisbane; September 2012- General Surgeons Australia Annual Conference, Hobart; January 2013- Surgical and Academic Research Society Annual Meeting, London, U.K.; January 2013- Medicine With Altitude Conference, (as both attendee and lecturer) Chamonix, France; July 2013- Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Annual Scientific Congress in Auckland, New Zealand.
In November 2013 Rob was invited to present a lecture titled ‘Making the Cut in Breast Cancer’ to General Practitioners at The Women’s Health Workshop , Byron Bay and also gave an Invited Lecture on Sentinel Node Biopsy at a Plenary session during the Global Controversies and Advances in Skin Cancer 2013 conference in Brisbane, in November 2013.
