My story

I had a great upbringing at Redcliffe as one of four siblings. An important influence in my life has been my parents care for my oldest brother, who suffers severe cerebral palsy. I remember that he was operated on when he was twelve years old but the operation was unsuccessful and he was wheelchair-bound ever since. This heightened my awareness of the surgeon’s responsibility to not only the patient but to all the family network. While I didn’t realise it at the time, this event probably had an influential impact on my choice of career later in life.

My career began at the Greenslopes Veterans Hospital, and my Eye Surgery training continued throughout all the major Brisbane Hospitals. I furthered my subspeciality training in Vitreoretinal Surgery and small incision cataract surgery at Moorfields Eye Hospital London, and Royal Liverpool Hospital. I returned as Staff Vitreoretinla surgeon to the Royal Brisbane Hospital, where I worked for about three years, together with part time work consulting for private clinics on the Gold Coast. What I learned was that working in the private field allowed not only meticulous attention to surgical success, but importantly, allowed more direct control of safe and efficient systems to allow more optimal delivery of Eye Care in a more timely manner to a greater number of patients. The aim of doing things perfectly is particularly important in ophthalmology, where there is so much micro-surgery.

So, I formed a partnership with Drs Darryl Gregor and Peter Heiner, who had gained an excellent reputation on the Gold Coast. , We formed The Eye Centre, then opened the Short Street Day Surgery in 1998. Today, we have just one name – Vision Eye Institute.

Dr Robert Bourke

Dr Bourke explains why he became a retinal specialist.

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