Professor Peter Choong, a distinguished surgical leader who has dedicated his career to improving treatments for musculoskeletal diseases including cancer, is the Sir Hugh Devine Professor of Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital, and the Head of the University of Melbourne Department of Surgery.
Professor Choong is the Chair of the Bone and Soft Tissue Tumour Service, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne and recently stepped down as Director of orthopaedics at St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne. He has almost 30 years’ experience in research, teaching and medical leadership.
A graduate of the University of Melbourne in 1984, Professor Choong has practised in the discipline of Orthopaedics and Orthopaedic Oncology in Australia, Sweden, and the USA.
He trained in Orthopaedics at St. Vincent’s Hospital, the Alfred Hospital and Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne under the auspices of the Australian Orthopaedic Association Orthopaedic Training Programme. Under the surgeon scientist programme, he completed his doctorate with the supervision of Prof. T Jack Martin at the St. Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research before joining the staff of the Lund University Hospital, Sweden as a Fellow in Orthopaedic Oncology where he continued his research of sarcoma. Later he joined the staff of Mayo Clinic, Rochester , USA, as a Special Fellow in Orthopaedic oncology. Professor Choong was appointed the inaugural Professor and Director of Orthopaedics at St. Vincent’s Hospital in 1996. In 2009, he was appointed the Sir Hugh Devine Chair of Surgery, University of Melbourne and Head of the Department of Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital. He has also been Assistant Dean of the Faculty and Academic Centre Chair (Eastern Hill Campus) from 2010 to 2012. In 2020, he was appointed the Head of the University of Melbourne Department of Surgery with oversight over all the academic surgical departments of the various clinical campuses.
In 1997-2002, Professor Choong was Programme Director of Surgery and Surgical Services, St. Vincent’s Hospital before being appointed Chief Medical Officer of St. Vincent’s t’s Hospital (2005-2008). He has also been Board Chair in Orthopaedic Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgery (2008-2011) as well as National Director of Orthopaedic Training, Australian Orthopaedic Association. In 2013-14, Professor Choong was the President of the Australian Orthopaedic Association.
Professor Choong has taught extensively during his career, especially on the topic of orthopaedic reconstruction and oncology. Professor Choong also leads an ambitious programme of musculoskeletal research that includes basic science, bioengineering and clinico-epidemiology. These themes underpin the clinical programmes he has led over the last 20 years in orthopaedics and orthopaedic oncology. He is currently the Director of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Total Joint Surgery and is also an NHMRC Practitioner Fellow. He has been supported by recurrent grants totalling >$28 million.
Professor Choong has been on the Board of Directors of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, Genazzano FCJ Ladies College and Musculoskeletal Australia. He is currently Emeritus Director on the Board of Musculoskeletal Australia. In 2013-16, he was appointed Chair of the Musculoskeletal Clinician Leadership Group of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services. He has also been President of numerous international professional societies.
The author of over 400 publications (H score 58), Professor Choong is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Australian Orthopaedic Association and Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science. Professor Choong is also Clinical Professor (U Wollongong) and Adjunct Professor (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University).
Find out more about Peter Choong's experience
Peter Choong's highlights
FEATURED Journal article
Misconceptions and the Acceptance of Evidence-based Nonsurgical Interventions for Knee Osteoarthritis. A Qualitative Study
Read morePeter Choong's selected work
Projects
Displaying the 42 most recent projects by Peter Choong.
Project Types
36
Research Grant
4
Research Contracts
2
Internal Research Grant
Scholarly Works
Displaying the 541 most recent scholarly works by Peter Choong.