Prof. Eugene Ek is a fellowship-trained hand, elbow and shoulder surgeon, specialising in arthroscopic and reconstructive surgery of the upper extremity and started at the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group in September 2013.

Dr. Ek grew up in Melbourne, Australia and received his Medical Degree with Honours from the University of Melbourne in 2001. He completed his internship and basic surgical training at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, and in 2008, completed a PhD in bone and tumour biology at the University of Melbourne for research into osteosarcomas, under the supervision of Prof. Peter Choong and Prof. Crispin Dass. As part of the RACS Surgeon Scientist program (PhD/FRACS), Eugene then went on to finish his orthopaedic training in Melbourne through the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 2010.

Dr. Ek subsequently spent a further 3 years of subspecialist fellowship training in shoulder, elbow and hand surgery, including 12 months as an Honorary Hand Fellow at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Dandenong Hospital under the supervision of A/Prof. Stephen Tham.

He then continued his training overseas, completing a 6 month fellowship in shoulder and elbow surgery at the Balgrist University Hospital, in Zurich, Switzerland under Prof. Christian Gerber and Prof. Dominik Meyer. This was followed by a further 6 month fellowship in shoulder surgery at the Harvard Shoulder Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA under the supervision of Dr. Jon J.P. Warner. Both these fellowships focused on advanced shoulder arthroscopy and complex reconstructive surgery of the shoulder.

Finally, Dr. Ek went on to work at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), Weill Cornell Medical School in New York, where he completed a 12 month ACGME-accredited fellowship in hand, upper extremity and microsurgery. Here he was exposed to all aspects of hand and upper extremity surgery and was mentored by Dr. Scott Wolfe, Dr. Edward Athanasian, Dr. Andrew Weiland, Dr. Michelle Carlson, Dr. Steven Lee and Dr. Aaron Daluiski. During this fellowship, he was actively involved in the care of professional athletes from several sporting teams including the New York Giants (NFL), New York Mets (MLB), New York Knicks (NBA), and PGA tour golfers. In addition, Dr. Ek gained extensive and unique experience in complex reconstructive elbow surgery, under the direction of Dr. Robert Hotchkiss.

In 2019, he was selected as the Shoulder and Elbow Society of Australia (SESA) Travelling Fellow to the Korean Arthroscopy Society (KAS). And in 2020, he was awarded the prestigious ABC Travelling Fellowship to the USA and Canada, representing the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA).

Dr. Ek continues to be active in both teaching and in clinical and biomechanical research. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed research articles and multiple book chapters and has been a frequent presenter at national and international conferences. He has most recently been awarded the John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship for 2025, which is the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons’ (RACS) most prestigious research scholarship, which recognises outstanding contributions to the advancement of surgery or fundamental scientific research in their active field of work.

He has public/academic appointments at the Austin Hospital, University of Melbourne and at Dandenong Hospital, Monash University, where he holds the position of Professor (Adj. Clinical) within the Department of Surgery, Monash University. Eugene is also actively involved in training both local and overseas surgeons and is currently a co-supervisor of the Melbourne Orthopaedic Group Shoulder/Upper limb Fellowship and also the Dandenong Hand Fellowship. 

In addition, he has served on the Executive Committee of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) as the Scientific Secretary, and currently he is on the Board of Directors of the Victorian Orthopaedic Foundation. In 2019, he graduated from a 12 month postgraduate Surgical Leadership Program (SLP18-19) at Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Current Positions:

Clinical:

• Hand and Upper Limb Surgeon, Melbourne Orthopaedic Group
• Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Austin Hospital
• Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Dandenong Hospital, Monash Health
• Honorary Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon, Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne

Academic:

• Professor (Adjunct Clinical), Department of Surgery, Monash Medical Centre, Monash University
• Clinical Senior Lecturer, Department of Surgery, Austin Hospital, University of Melbourne
• Co-Fellowship Supervisor, Dandenong Hand Fellowship 

Administrative:

• Board of Directors, Victorian Orthopaedic Foundation (VOF)
• Co-Director, Hand and Wrist Biomechanics Laboratory (HWBL), O’Brien Institute, St. Vincent’s Institute
• Co-Director, Hand and Wrist Medical Research Foundation (HWMRF)
• Co-Director, Melbourne Orthopaedic Research Institute (MORI)

Memberships:

• Fellow, Australian Orthopaedic Association (FAOrthA)
• Fellow, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS)
• Member, Shoulder and Elbow Society of Australia (SESA)
• Member, Australian Hand Surgery Society (AHSS)
• International Member, American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH)
• Member, Victorian Hand Surgery Society (VHSS)
• Member, Victorian Shoulder and Elbow Society (VSES)
• International Member, American Association of Orthopaedic Surgery (AAOS)
• Member, AO Trauma Foundation
• Alumni Member, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Hand Club
• Alumni Member, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) Alumni Association
• Member, # Hand Club
• Alumni Member, Harvard Medical School
• Alumni Member, Harvard University
• Member, Codman Shoulder Society
• Corresponding Member, Korean Shoulder and Elbow Society
• Corresponding Member, American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES)