Rob Atkinson (surgeon)

Rob Atkinson
Atkinson answering questions at a function, January 2014
Born	(1947-03-21) 21 March 1947 (age 78)
Allegiance	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Rank	Brigadier
Unit	Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
Battles / wars	Vietnam War Gulf War Rwanda (UNAMIR) Operation Bel Isi International Force for East Timor Operation Astute
Awards	Member of the Order of Australia Reserve Force Decoration

Brigadier Robert Neville Atkinson, AM , RFD , FAMA (born 21 March 1947) is an Australian orthopaedic surgeon and retired senior officer of the Royal Australian Army Medical Corps, best known for his contributions to trauma and military surgery. ^[1]

Career

Atkinson graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Adelaide in 1970, completed his residency, then served with the Australian Army as a medical officer during the Vietnam War, specialising in trauma and orthopaedic surgery. He continued his career in the Australian Army Reserve, becoming Assistant Surgeon General (Army) of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). In 1998, he was promoted to brigadier. He was also Emeritus Consultant in Military Surgery for the ADF. ^[2]

His military service included deployment to the Gulf War, ^[3] and peacekeeping missions in Rwanda, Bougainville and East Timor. ^[4] He also served in Aceh, ^[4] and Samoa, ^[5] following the tsunamis of 2005 and 2009.

Atkinson has served on the council of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, ^[1] and received the E.S.R. Hughes Award for distinguished contributions to military surgery. ^[6]

In 2008 Atkinson was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) "for services to medicine as an orthopaedic surgeon and through contributions to professional associations", ^[7] and was admitted as a Fellow of the Australian Medical Association (FAMA) in the same year. ^[8]

In 2014, Atkinson became the President of the Naval, Military and Air Force Club of South Australia. In the same year he unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the South Australian Legislative Council on the independent 'Your Voice Matters' ticket.

Publications

Atkinson has contributed to published papers on medical, surgical and road safety since 1978, including:

• Atkinson, R. N.; Paterson, D. C.; Morriss, L. L.; Savage, J. P. (August 1978), "Bone Scintigraphy in discitis and related disorders in children", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, 48 (4): 374–377, doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.1978.tb04879.x, PMID   282866
• Mah, E. T.; Atkinson, R. N. (February 1992), "Percutaneous kirschner wire stabilisation following closed reduction of colles' fractures", Journal of Hand Surgery (British and European Volume), 17 (1): 55–62, doi:10.1016/0266-7681(92)90012-q, PMID   1640146, S2CID   42039035
• Clayer, M.; Atkinson, R. (May 1994), "A method of pre-operative assessment for posterior cruciate ligament reconstruction", Australian and New Zealand Journal of Surgery, 64 (5): 319–321, doi:10.1111/j.1445-2197.1994.tb02218.x, PMID   8179526
• Mah, E. T.; Wang, W.; Atkinson R. N. (September 1996), "A new clinical sign to aid the diagnosis of locked posterior dislocation of the shoulder", Emergency Medicine, 8 (3): 129–132, doi:10.1111/j.1442-2026.1996.tb00595.x
• Pathak, G.; Atkinson R. N. (April 2001), "Military external fixation of fractures" (PDF), ADF Health, 2: 24–28
• Davey, T. M.; Pollard, C. W.; Aitken, L. M.; Fitzgerald, M.; Bellamy, N.; Cass, D.; Danne, P. D.; Griggs, W. M.; Cameron, P. A.; Atkinson, R. N.; Hamill. H.; Rao, S.; Richardson, D. B.; O'Connor, C. (November 2006), "Tackling the burden of injury in Australasia: developing a binational trauma registry", The Medical Journal of Australia, 185 (9): 512–514, doi:10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00668.x, hdl: 10072/14143 , PMID   17137457, S2CID   46404729
• Grossbard, G.; Atkinson, R.; Cass, D.; Woolley, J.; Corben, B.; Whear, M. (2013), "2020 Vision Zero: to share or not to share the way" (PDF), Journal of the Australasian College of Road Safety, 24 (4): 57–59

See also

• Candidates of the South Australian state election, 2014
• List of Australian Army brigadiers

Footnotes

1. RACS Surgical News 2003, p. 10.
2. Australian Defence Force Journal 2002, p. 23.
3. Atkinson 2013, p. 31.
4. Courtenay 2013, p. 21.
5. McLean 2009.
6. Short, Bruce, ed. (2000), "Award" (PDF), ADF Health, 1 (1 September 2000): 92
7. Member of the Order of Australia (AM), Atkinson, Robert Neville, 9 June 2008, itsanhonour.gov.au,
8. Australian Medical Association 2008.

References

• Atkinson, Rob (2013), Courtenay, Brett (ed.), "The First Gulf War 59 Days at Sea" (PDF), Bulletin: Newsletter of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, 34 (2): 31
• Admission to the AMA Roll of Fellows, 30 May 2008, Australian Medical Association Limited, 2008, retrieved 1 February 2014
• Courtenay, Brett, ed. (2013), "Orthopaedics on the Front Line: Australia's military and civilian responses" (PDF), Bulletin: Newsletter of the Australian Orthopaedic Association, 34 (2): 21
• Blackburn, John, ed. (2002), "The Role of Defence Health in Military Operations Other than War – A Research Proposal" (PDF), Australian Defence Force Journal, 154 (May/June 2002): 23
• Massaro, Dr. Vincenzo, ed. (2003), "College Council Profiles: Robert Atkinson" (PDF), RACS Surgical News, 4 (1): 10, archived from the original (PDF) on 19 February 2014, retrieved 1 February 2014
• McLean, Tamara (3 October 2009), "Mourning a mate, last Australian heads home", The Age, vol. 46, no. 1, Melbourne
• Distinguished Award Recipients, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 2014, retrieved 2 February 2014

External links

• SALife7 Interview with Rob Atkinson – Simpson and his Donkey – unveiled!