Colorectal Unit, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
specialising in surgery of the colon and rectum, small bowel, inflammatory bowel disease, colorectal cancer as well as multidisciplinary care of complex and recurrent pelvic cancer and pelvic floor disorders
The Colorectal Department at RPAH is a multidisciplinary academic clinical and research unit that provides tertiary referral service for all aspects of diagnostic and therapeutic surgery for Diseases of Colon & Rectum. This unit provides multidisciplinary cancer care and leads clinical based research for all aspects of colorectal cancer as well as complex and recurrent pelvic malignancy of all origins. The colorectal unit also specialises in the treatment, teaching and research of inflammatory bowel disease and in the diagnosis and multidisciplinary treatment of pelvic floor disorders (continence and prolapse).
The colorectal unit promotes the application of clinical trials, economic evaluation and methods for evidence-based patient choice to surgical operations and diagnostic tests related to surgery. The aim of the Unit is to achieve quality surgical care in an evidence-based academic unit approach to improving clinical practice and achieving the best possible outcomes for patients with colorectal and pelvic disorders.
The colorectal surgeons at RPAH have extensive experience in clinical research and have published over 140 papers in the past 15 years. Professor Solomon is the Founding Director and Head of the Surgical Outcomes Research Centre (SOuRCe) at the University of Sydney which was established as a multidisciplinary, academic research unit dedicated to the advancement of evidence-based surgical practice through the conduct of outcomes-orientated surgical research. The Unit supervises the Notaras Scholarship at the University of Sydney which is a 3 year academic post-fellowship scholarship to train a colorectal surgeon with a future in academic surgery.
Clinical epidemiology and research methods are taught to postgraduate students and surgical fellows and the unit currently supervises three PhD students and 6 Masters students, all of whom are academic surgeons. The surgeons have obtained over 7 million dollars in peer-reviewed funding for colorectal research and have been on many national and international colorectal advisory committees, including the Chair of the Australian NHMRC Guidelines for the Prevention, early detection and treatment of colorectal cancer in 2006 as well as the Editorial Boards for the Colorectal Disease, the International Journal of Colorectal Diseases and Diseases of the Colon & Rectum. The unit’s surgical expertise is in multi-disciplined complex pelvic surgery for advanced and recurrent malignancy, inflammatory bowel disease and pelvic floor disorders as well as laparoscopic colorectal surgery.
Staff
Surgical Staff
| Research Director/Academic Head | Prof. Michael Solomon MSc (Epid) |
| Administrative Head of Department | Dr. Tony Eyers M.Ethics |
| Director of Surgical Services RPAH | Dr. Christopher Young MS(Colorectal) |
| Senior Lecturer & Head of Cancer Family Services | Dr. Caroline Wright |
| VMO | Dr. Christopher Byrne MS(Colorectal) |
Colorectal Research Staff
| 1 CRC Cancer Clinical Trials Coordinator | NSW Cancer Institute |
| 2 Full time Colorectal Research Coordinators | 1 RPA Trust/1 University |
| 2 Part time Colorectal Nurse Coordinators | CR Res Trust Fund |
The Unit deals with a total of 1659 admissions and 1390 operations of which 449 are major operations (2004 data presented to external review board of RACS and has published .
Teaching and research
The Colorectal Surgeons are actively involved in teaching and research. Professor Solomon Heads 2 research departments one devoted to colorectal surgery and a second to Surgical Outcomes of all surgery (SOuRCe). Professor Solomon is Chairman of the National Training Board for post-fellowship training in Colorectal Surgery. Dr Christopher Young is Director of Surgical Services at RPAH as well as the State RACS Director of Advanced General Surgical Training. Dr Caroline Wright co-ordinates the resident staff education of the colorectal department and is their supervisor. Dr Eyers continues an active role in ethics committees within the SSWAHS.
The surgeons are actively involved in the Masters of Surgery by coursework program and supervise 3 separate 6 units of study courses:
- SOuRCe 1: Surgical Health Outcomes Theory: Epidemiology of Clinical Surgical Research. Prof Solomon
- SOuRCe 2: Surgical Health Outcomes Practical: Design of Research Grants and Clinical Trials in Surgery. Prof Solomon
- LAPRAA Course. Laparoscopic abdominal, pelvic and retroperitoneal advanced anatomy course. Dr Christopher Young
Objectives
The goal and aims of the RPAH Colorectal Unit, at a glance:
