Meet Will

Qualifications:

BSc (hons) (Otago 1992)
MBChB (Otago, 1997)
FRACS (Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery) Dec 07.

Current Position

Consultant Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon
Dunedin Hospital and Invercargill Hospital
Southern DHB
Private Practice, Mercy Hospital and Fernbrae House 90 Newington Ave Maori Hill Dunedin.

Senior Clinical Lecturer
Otago Medical School, Dunedin School of Medicine

Areas of Specialisation

• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer surgery and management
• Hand surgery
• Breast surgery (reduction, reconstruction and augmentation)
• Aesthetic surgery (abdominoplasty, liposuction, blepharoplasty, etc)
• Burns surgery (scar revisions, releases, skin-grafting etc)
• General Reconstructive surgery
• Micro-surgery

Previous Positions

2009: Fellow in Aesthetic Surgery, Melbourne Institute of Plastic Surgery
I have completed the Advanced Aesthetic Fellowship at the Melbourne Institute of Plastic Surgery.  The Fellowship was primarily a clinical one, providing experience in a wide range of aesthetic and reconstructive techniques, with a particular focus on aesthetic surgery.

2008:  Poche Clinical Fellow, Sydney Melanoma Unit
I was selected for the Poche Clinical Fellowship in melanoma and surgical oncology at the Sydney Melanoma Unit (now Melanoma Institute Australia).  The position is primarily a clinical one providing immersion in all facets of the surgical management of melanoma and exposure to the medical-oncology and radiation-oncology treatment of melanoma.
The MIA is the largest dedicated melanoma treatment unit in the world, seeing and treating in excess of 1000 new patients annually.  A multidisciplinary approach is taken with ‘round table’ discussions occurring weekly to discuss difficult cases.  The year at the MIA was extremely valuable for developing a rational evidence-based approach to the management of melanoma, and for gaining operative familiarity with the more specialized techniques associated with its surgical investigation and treatment.
During my time at the MIA I also developed patient information booklets on regional lymph node clearance, co-wrote book chapters for an upcoming MIA Handbook of Melanoma and was involved in several ongoing research projects.
I was involved in a number of international trials running at the MIA.

Publications

Tube Pedicle Reconstruction of an exposed Mandible following an Electrical Injury
W McMillan et al,
Burns. 2004 May;30(3):286-8.

An Unusual Case of Intra-oral Frostbite
Thomas D, McMillan W, Mills N, Ahmad Z, Brown T La H
Burns. 2004 Mar;30(2):199-202.

The ‘Pillow Burrito’ for hand elevation.
Fullarton AC, McMillan W M, Chinchanwalla S, Brown T La H
Injury. 2004 Oct;35(10):972-3.

Necrotizing fasciitis after the post partum diastasis of the symphysis pubis.
A  Athanassopoulos, T Creagh, W McMillan
New Zealand Medical Journal Vol 119 No1247.  ISSN11758716 2006

Retightening Revision of a Previous MACS Lift Meloplasty
Corrigan B, McMillan W, Ritz M.  Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Jan 2010.
DOI 10.1007/s00266-009-9463-4

Spillane, A., Haydu, L., McMillan, W., Stretch, J., Thompson, J. (2011), Quality
Assurance Parameters and Predictors of Outcome for Ilioinguinal and Inguinal
Dissection in a Contemporary Melanoma Patient Population. Annals of Surgical
Oncology. 18(9), 2521-2528.

Postgraduate Awards

Waikato Hospital Award for Excellence in Clinical Teaching, 2005
Emmett Prize for Best Clinical Research Paper, Australasian Plastic Surgery Training Week, March 2006
‘Risk factors for False Negative Sentinel Node Biopsy in Melanoma; The Waikato Experience last 10

Society Membership

I am an instructor for the EMSB (Emergency Management of Severe Burns) Course.  This is a training course for medical professionals to obtain familiarity with the management of life-threatening burns.

Member of New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons