Recently semi-retired Aotearoa New Zealand general surgeon Dr Mark Sanders won the 2024 RACS Rural Surgeons Award for his contribution to the Northland community over the past 20 years.

In his role as a consultant in Te Tai Tokerau, he transformed surgical practice through a combination of innovation, leadership, education and a commitment to equity in healthcare.

Dr Sanders grew up and trained in the UK but fancied a change and wanted to gain international experience that would be beneficial to his resume if he were to return.

He was attracted to the lifestyle in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa NZ) but chose the latter due to his wife’s dislike of spiders and snakes.

The couple initially found themselves living close to the Southern Alps in Invercargill and the beauty of the location confirmed their decision to relocate to Aotearoa New Zealand.

Despite his passion for medicine, the pathway wasn’t the only career of interest to Dr Sanders after completing school. He also considered engineering and becoming a pilot.

At medical school, he enjoyed learning about anatomy and appreciated the practical side of surgery. After toying with the idea of pursuing Orthopaedics, he decided to take the general surgical pathway.

“I enjoy the diagnostic challenge as well as the ‘fun’ bit that is the surgery itself. The intensity of the post-op care for the larger cases, while being draining, is also a particular challenge,” Dr Sanders says.

At Te Tai Tokerau, Dr Sanders provided a range of services, from acute trauma care to colorectal and endocrine surgery as well as the usual range of General Surgery.

He was committed to minimising travel for those in rural and underserved communities by bringing medical services directly to patients.

In turn, Dr Sanders appreciated the professional opportunities available to him while working in rural settings.

“One of the things I most enjoy about working in the provinces is the range of surgery that we undertake,” he says. “In Aotearoa New Zealand we are never really that far from a major centre, but with the development of sub-specialisation reaching the provinces I think we now have the best of both worlds.”

“Maintaining a range of surgeries while being able to focus on certain areas and undertaking more challenging operations while being able to keep our patients closer to home and whānau is important to us both professionally and personally for the patients.”

Dr Sanders was instrumental in establishing a colorectal multidisciplinary team and played a pivotal role in the launch of a regional bowel cancer screening program, saving lives and providing better access to vital care. Additionally, he helped design an electronic referral system that has improved efficiency in triaging colorectal patients in the region.

Some highlights of Dr Sanders’ career have been his work as a RACS examiner, which was challenging but highly rewarding, and the face-to-face contact with patients and their families.

“One of the things about practicing in a provincial setting is feeling a little closer to your patients in general; being stopped by previous patients or relatives of people I have hopefully helped over the year in town or in the supermarket is always a pleasant moment.”

He would like to see RACS advocate to hospital boards and management for greater recognition of this kind of work and the day-to-day contribution made by surgeons in educational and governance roles.

Dr Sanders is committed to the education and development of junior surgeons, and advises them to concentrate more on their successes, rather than dwelling on operations that might not have gone according to plan.

“When things don’t go right, and they sometimes don’t, learn from that but don’t dwell on it,” he says. “Continue to learn and progress over your career. It makes the job continually challenging and more enjoyable. Help create a cohesive department. Having colleagues you can rely on and enjoying being part of the team really helps. Surgery should not be a competition, but a team sport.”

In his retirement, Dr Sanders plans to take to the air as a pilot, fulfilling a dream of his youth. He also plans to find ways of indulging his practical side, including gardening, building and making repairs.

“I also plan to spend time out at the beach, enjoying the things that brought us out to Aotearoa New Zealand all those years ago,” he says.