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Qualifications

MB, ChB(Otago), FRACS, PhD

Special interests 

• Weight loss surgery (Bariatric)
• Gall Bladder Surgery
• Hernia Surgery
• Liver and Pancreas Surgery
• Cancer Surgery

Specialist training

Mr S.K. Wicks trained in general surgery / gall bladder surgery / hernia surgery / and liver and pancreatic surgery in London and Birmingham.

S.K. Wicks is an old boy of Scots College, Wellington. Wicks completed his medical school training in 1991 through the University of Otago. He trained in General Surgery in New Zealand and had a particular interest in hernia surgery. He obtained his FRACS in 2001. Wicks undertook laboratory and clinical research on the topic of obesity, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and was conferred a PhD in Surgery through the University of Otago.

Wicks trained in weight loss (bariatric) surgery with Professor Richard Stubbs at Wakefield Clinic, Wakefield Hospital. He subsequently went to the United Kingdom for 3 years to undertake further training in Upper GI, liver/gall bladder and pancreatic surgery. He was an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Hammersmith Hospital, London and worked with Professor Robin Williamson, a pioneer in pancreatic surgery.

Wicks was the first Upper GI Clinical Fellow at the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital, London and obtained extensive experience with surgery for oesophageal and stomach conditions and further experience in pancreatic surgery. He was fortunate to be awarded the Paul McMaster Scholarship, a surgical fellowship supported by the Australia and New Zealand Hepatopancreatobiliary Association (ANZHPBA) to work at the Liver and Liver Transplant Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham. This scholarship is contested throughout the Australasia region, and Wicks was the first New Zealander to be awarded this scholarship, gaining a wealth of experience in liver, gall bladder and pancreatic surgery and liver transplantation.

Wicks has been a Consultant Surgeon for over 20 years and currently works as a Specialist Upper GI / Hepatobiliary, Laparoscopic and General Surgeon at Southern Cross Hospital, Wakefield Hospital and Wellington Regional Hospital.

He has a special interest in weight loss surgery (particularly laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy), hernia surgery (laparoscopic and open), cholecystectomy (gallstone surgery), and liver and pancreatic tumours. He continues with both clinical and laboratory research and has been affiliated with the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute (GMRI) in Wellington, and is active in teaching medical students at the Wellington School of Medicine, University of Otago, where he is currently an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Surgery.