Surgeon led way in north
EDUCATION has been at the forefront of Order of Australia recipient Dr Alan De Costa’s mind during his 32 years as a member of the Australian Medical Association Queensland.
The Parramatta Park-based surgeon said training was more crucial now than ever before.
“Surgical research and training has been a focus for all of my career,” he said.
“We face some challenges with surgical education.
“It used to be apprenticeship based, but now it is much more complicated and it’s far more steeped in education itself.
“It’s not like it used to be, which is why we’re working to improve education.”
He said his role as a cofounder of the Cairns Surgical Society was helping overcome those barriers.
“The most difficult thing I have done in my career was bringing all Cairns surgeons together, regardless of whether they worked for private or public hospitals,” he said.
“Now I have the support of Far Northern surgeons as well as my JCU colleagues, who are very happy to be involved.”
He said surgeons from across the country were growing more and more likely to move to Cairns to work.
“We’ve started with a small base here but we hope to grow that base of surgeons,” he said.
“We find that when we mention Cairns people’s ears prick up.
“People increasingly want to practise in Cairns.”
Dr De Costa said he was planning on having “a quiet drink” with his daughter to celebrate the news tonight.
He has been an associate professor of surgery at James Cook University’s College of Medicine and Dentistry since 2010 and is a current member of FNQ Surgical Services.
Dr De Costa is also a consultant surgeon for the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, where he has been working since 2000.