Rate My Professor Christopher Birks

Christopher Birks is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Section of Orthopaedic Surgery within the Department of Surgery and Critical Care at the University of Otago's Dunedin School of Medicine. He earned his MB ChB degree from the University of Otago in 1995 and obtained Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in Orthopaedics in 2005. His orthopaedic residency training was conducted primarily in Dunedin and Christchurch, New Zealand. Following this, he pursued subspecialty fellowship training in knee surgery and foot and ankle surgery in Melbourne, Australia. Birks holds full New Zealand medical registration since 1997 and practices within the vocational scope of orthopaedic surgery.

Birks' expertise encompasses orthopaedic surgery of the lower limb, including hip, knee, and ankle replacements, trauma and sports injury management, deformity correction, and arthritis surgery. He maintains special interests in knee surgery and foot and ankle surgery, as well as addressing orthopaedic complications of diabetes. Clinically, he serves as an Orthopaedic Surgeon and Clinical Director at Dunedin Hospital and practices at Mercy Hospital Dunedin. Academically, he teaches in the Advanced Learning in Medicine (ALM) 5 program, supervises trainee interns, and provides instruction to orthopaedic trainees. Birks is actively engaged in professional leadership, holding roles such as Foot and Ankle Representative and Secretary for the New Zealand Orthopaedic Association (NZOA), where he has also served on the ACC and Third Party Liaison Committee and convened pre-examination courses for trainees in Dunedin. His memberships include the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, New Zealand Orthopaedic Association, New Zealand Knee and Sports Surgery Society, New Zealand Foot and Ankle Society, and American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. He has contributed to scholarly work, including the publication 'The Use of Multimedia as an Adjunct to the Informed Consent Process for Ankle Surgery' in 2012 and a case report on 'Simultaneous multiple tendon ruptures complicating a seizure in a haemodialysis patient' in 2005.