Fellow profile: Dr Alpesh Patel

What would you do if you had a hard day of surgery? Run, of course, to reduce stress.

Dr Alpesh Patel is passionate about orthopaedics and running. He advocates following one’s passion to his family and colleagues.

Dr Patel grew up in South Auckland. He was born in Middlemore Hospital, where he is now an Orthopaedic Surgeon and Clinical Lead for the Supra Regional Spinal Cord Injury service. As a Governance Group member of the New Zealand Spinal Cord Injury Registry (NZSCIR), he is involved in collaborative research of Spinal Cord Impairment in New Zealand and Canada. He operates on spinal injuries along with adult degenerative conditions, infections, primary and secondary tumours of the spine, and tetraplegic upper limb surgery. However, he noticed a lack of people of colour and women in his chosen speciality – something he feels is “slowly changing, and I was on the cusp of it.” Alpesh is the first doctor in his family.

A sports lover, Dr Patel played hockey growing up. “I gravitated towards Orthopaedics when I saw the injuries on the field. Physically helping people and the hands-on approach of the speciality intrigued me and sparked my interest.”

After completing his medical training, Dr Patel spent six months as Spine Fellow in Middlemore hospital – the first in the hospital. Since he was also interested in hand surgery, he undertook a year’s Fellowship at Sydney’s Royal Northshore Hospital. He then went to Vancouver General Hospital for a year at a Quaternary Spine Referral Centre, which served 4.5 million people. “It was here that I was introduced to the O-Arm, which takes X-rays in a 360-degree arc that connects to a navigation system to allow us to place instrumentation into the spine accurately,” he said.

When Dr Patel returned to Aotearoa New Zealand, there was only one O-Arm at Christchurch “and I was keen to acquire one in our area and helped raise funds for it,” he said. “It has been a great tool, both for patients, and registrars as it gives them confidence placing screws around the spine.” With more than 700 spine surgeries being performed annually at Middlemore Hospital (Dr Patel performs about 200) the O-Arm has been a boon.

For Dr Patel it is the intricacies of spinal surgery – the challenges, the advent of robots, and the ever-evolving field of technological advances – that makes his profession exciting. Earlier in his career he was offered a lucrative job at another hospital but specialising in a different sub-speciality. “I told the surgeon I was working under about the offer and he gave me the best advice, which I share with my colleagues, house officers and registrars. He said, ‘You will be an orthopaedic surgeon for the next 30 years, and you want to go to work every day enjoying what you do. Base your decision on your passion.’”

“In New Zealand it’s tough to get positions, so some young doctors take up the first offer. But if your heart isn’t in your chosen field, it’s best to wait – even if it takes time to understand what this is. It’s a small price to pay for the remainder of your career,” Dr Patel advised.

Dr Patel’s second passion is running, and in May he completed the Hawkes Bay Marathon. “I’ll put my shoes on anywhere I can,” he said, “whether before work, in between work, or after work”.

This love for the outdoors is shared by his doctor wife and three young children. Next month they are going bushwalking with Dr Patel’s mother. They are looking forward to skiing and snowboarding this winter, and come summer the beaches beckon them. The perfect wellbeing antidote for all the family.

What are you:

• Reading? The Happy Runner by David Roche and Megan Roche, MD

• Watching? Seaspiracy

• Listening to? Running podcasts on the way to work, and pop or hip hop at the operating theatre.