Surgery

In 2020 the new Master of Surgery program was launched allowing students to develop knowledge and skills in surgical specialty areas as well as non-technical areas such as professionalism and leadership.

The new program has been redesigned to allow students more flexibility to pursue specialised units of study or a research dissertation that is relevant to their interests.

The new graduate certificate and graduate diploma level qualifications also enable students greater flexibility with their level of commitment, with the ability to upgrade to the full master's program on completion.

Students completing the masters' will have the opportunity to complete a dissertation (which is now up to 10,000 words and is worth 12 credit points). The following subspecialties themes are available for dissertations:

Breast surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, colorectal surgery, endocrine surgery, hand surgery, head and neck surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, otorhinolaryngology, paediatric surgery, plastic/reconstructive surgery, surgical oncology, surgical outcomes, transplant surgery, trauma surgery, upper gastrointestinal surgery, urology as well as vascular and endovascular surgery. 

Choose from a:

• Graduate Certificate of Surgery
• Graduate Diploma of Surgery
• Master of Surgery

This is the first formal educational credential for specialist breast surgery in Australia and New Zealand and has been endorsed by Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand Inc (BreastSurgANZ).

Designed to provide breast surgeons with the latest knowledge of breast oncology and breast surgical and oncoplastic techniques, the comprehensive curriculum will supplement the practical experience you acquire while undertaking your BreastSurgANZ training fellowship.

Choose from a:

• Graduate Certificate in Advanced Surgery (Breast Surgery)
• Graduate Diploma in Advanced Surgery (Breast Surgery)
• Master of Advanced Surgery (Breast Surgery)

The comprehensive curriculum will supplement the practical experience you acquire while undertaking your BreastSurgANZ training fellowship. 

Our unique Graduate Certificate of Advanced Clinical Skills is a whole body dissection course and is the only one of it's kind in Australia. This gold standard course, taught by small groups of subspecialist surgeons will enable you to stand out in the operating room.

It provides you with a sound knowledge and understanding of regional surgical anatomy through a series of cadaveric dissections, including head and neck, thorax, limbs or abdomen pelvis and perineum. This will give you added confidence throughout your surgical career.

Units of study from this course can be rolled into the Master of Surgery on completion.

• Graduate Certificate in Advanced Clinical Skills (Surgical Anatomy)

Our Graduate Certificate in Surgical Sciences provides an early pathway for senior medical students (years 3 or 4) or medical graduates to undertake study that will assist them in their preparation for the Generic Surgical Science Examination (GSSE) conducted by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).

• Graduate Certificate in Surgical Sciences

You can choose four subjects from the below list of five course units:

The Doctor of Clinical Surgery combines surgical studies and training with research. It's designed to be undertaken in conjunction with the surgical training program of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons to enhance research, leadership and communication skills.  

• Doctor of Clinical Surgery

The dissertation component of your course should reflect your interest in a particular field of surgery based on a research project written in the format of an academic composition.

Prior to 2020, dissertations had a word limit of 20,000 and equated to 18 credit points of study. In the new program, a disseration should be no more than 10,000 words and counts toward 12 credit points of study

A disseration encompasses self-directed study with supervision by one or more academics, one of whom should be an academic staff member of the University. The Specialty of Surgery is able to assist you if your supervisor is not affiliated with the University of Sydney.

You are ultimately responsible for your own work which is undertaken in collaboration with a local supervisor who is agreeable to be responsible for you offering tailored guidance and constructive feedback throughout the course of your research.

You are responsible for approaching a local supervisor at your hospital and ensuring there is clear communication in terms of individual responsibilities, a common understanding of the aims of your project including key milestones, a realistic working timetable and opportunities for regular meetings with feedback to ensure that the project stays on track. 

Suitable projects for the dissertation may include: the collection and analysis of new data based on a common theme, the analysis of an established dataset, a randomized clinical trial, a meta-analysis, a systematic review, a critical narrative review, a prospective or retrospective cohort study. 

Candidates are required to discuss their project with their local supervisor before commencement of their research including seeking appropriate ethics approval and statistical support. All students are required to comply with the Academic honesty Guidelines of the University of Sydney and all written work must by scrutinized by Turnitin for plagiarism prior to submission. 

The dissertation is assembled in two parts (Dissertation A and Dissertation B) both of which need to be completed in a minimum of one year of full time study or two years of part-time study. 

The format of your dissertation should broadly follow that of an original article as published in the issues of the ANZ J. Surg. It should include an introduction followed by an aim(s) (research questions), the methods used, results obtained, a critical discussion of your findings in light of existing knowledge and nay limitations of the study, followed by concluding remarks and/or recommendations together with a list of pertinent correctly cited references. 

Your dissertation must be undertaken during your candidature such that any work or publications written prior to or outside the enrolment period is not acceptable.

There is an option to submit published work based on research undertaken during the period of candidature and this may be enclosed as an appendix to the detailed body of the work.

You are welcome to view previous dissertations submitted by students. Please contact PEH Surgery via email (peh.surgery@sydney.edu.au) in advance to arrange a time to access the library.

View a list of dissertations completed by previous students (excel, 272 kb)

The dissertation guidelines, submission requirements and cover sheet are accessible below. Please note that all enquiries regarding the dissertation should be directed towards your supervisor in the first instance, or the Postgraduate Coursework Coordinator - Prof Pierre Chapuis. 

Prior to enrolling in Dissertation A and B, please complete and email the dissertation registration form to PEH Surgery at: peh.surgery@sydney.edu.au

• Dissertation guidelines
• Dissertation registration form
• Assessment guidelines

Named after John Loewenthal, an exceptional alumnus of the University, this surgical society was established to maintain a sense of unity among members of the Specialty of Surgery and to acknowledge the outstanding efforts of its namesake.

John Lowenthal had an impressive and varied career in surgery and in the military, before returning to the University as the Chair of Surgery. In this role, he made significant advances to the specialty by decentralising teaching to hospitals across NSW.

Scientific meetings are held each year by the society in November and April to encourage discussion of topics relevant to medicine and surgery. The Annual General Meeting is held in association with the scientific meeting, including a formal dinner at which the John Loewenthal medals are presented for outstanding research.

Membership to the society is open to current and past members of the academic staff, research fellows, and past and present registrars of Professorial Surgical Units. Persons outside the University of Sydney may be invited to membership by a majority of the members of the Society present at the Annual General Meeting.