July 27, 2022Dr Paul Goodyear is the surgeon you go to for “anything from your eyebrows, down to your clavicle.”
Paul is an Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeon at Northern Health. An ENT surgeon specialises in diseases of the head and neck, except for the brain.
“ENT can get as extreme as head and neck surgery, where you can take someone’s voice box out, or are removing part of someone’s jaw, usually for a cancer surgery,” Paul said.
“My interest is head and neck cancer surgery, which we hope to develop here. It’s the first ENT service at Northern Health in about 12 to 18 months. Given the population of this area, it is an expanding part of Melbourne, so the north definitely needs an ENT service.”
Before coming on board to Northern Health in June, Paul underwent 12 years of training to become an ENT surgeon. He attended university in Manchester, UK, and trained in Leeds and Liverpool. He then worked as a consultant in Glasgow, before coming to Australia and working in Melbourne, Alice Springs and Launceston.
“I enjoy the variety of ENT surgery. You can go a day with seeing children, to very elderly people,” Paul said.
“There is also a big non-surgical element to ENT. You are just not sure what you are going to see everyday. Typically, I would operate in the morning, and do a clinic in the afternoon.”
Paul currently has around four operating lists a week and up to three clinics a week, with plans to grow the service to cater for the growing northern suburbs.
“It’s still early days. At the moment, we are doing general ENT procedures like tonsillectomies and nasal surgery. That’s the bread and butter of ENT,” Paul said.
“I am talking to a few ENT surgeons, and looking to start an on-call service to serve the community. There is a high demand for this service.”
Dennis Gyomber, Divisional Director Surgery, said, “It has been exciting to have Paul come on board and re-invigorate the ENT service at Northern Health. Paul has clear vision to grow the service and I am confident under his leadership this will be achieved.”
We welcome Paul to the Northern Health family!
