How one orthopaedic surgeon is pushing regenerative surgery forward

From helping patients avoid amputation to exploring whether damaged cartilage can repair itself, orthopaedic surgeon Dr Gordon Slater has built his medical career around one question: how can he improve outcomes for his patients?

After completing a medicine degree at UNSW Medicine & Health, Dr Slater went on to study advanced foot and ankle training at New York’s Hospital for Special Surgery – one of the leading orthopaedic hospitals in the world. After returning to Australia, he worked in trauma before moving into private practice, where he specialises in foot and ankle conditions, sports injuries and trauma.

He was among the first surgeons in Australia to adopt minimally invasive techniques, and today he continues to push into new territory through regenerative medicine – exploring ways to help the body repair or restore damaged tissue.

Saving limbs, changing lives

For many doctors, a career in medicine begins because of a simple motivation: helping people. For Gordon, that purpose became especially clear through his work in trauma and limb salvage – helping patients who might otherwise need an amputation to keep their lower limbs.

Australia has a high rate of lower limb amputations, with more than 8,000 cases each year (Limbs4Life). More than half of these amputations are linked to type 2 diabetes (Diabetes Australia), giving Australia one of the highest rates in the developed world.

“When I looked into the statistics on amputations in Australia, I was shocked,” says Gordon. “It made me think, ‘Well, why wouldn’t you try and salvage them?’”

Limb salvage is not always possible. But when it is, it’s life changing. “When you can avoid an amputation, it’s almost like you’ve cheated biology,” says Gordon. “People are just so grateful.”

For Gordon, one of the most rewarding parts of orthopaedics is that the results are often visible. A decade later, he might see someone walking on a leg that could have been lost. “It makes it all worthwhile,” he says.

It is those moments that have shaped how Gordon thinks about the value of his work. “In medicine, you have the opportunity to make an immense impact,” he says. “Even if you improve the life of one person, that matters.”

Pushing the boundaries of medicine

Gordon believes the future of orthopaedic care lies not only in repairing damaged joints, but in helping the body heal itself.

Since moving into private practice a decade ago, Gordon has focused on foot and ankle conditions, developing expertise in minimally invasive surgery and exploring the possibilities of regenerative medicine.

“Medicine has been fascinated by the possibility of being able to regenerate not only just cells, but also whole limbs,” says Gordon. “A lot of this has come from the Mexican salamander, which amazingly can regenerate even complex organs like hips, knees and their feet. From here, we’ve taken on the possibility that we could regenerate a cartilage surface.”

Regenerative medicine is about helping the body repair or restore damaged tissue. In Gordon’s work, that means exploring ways to regenerate damaged ankle cartilage caused by severe arthritis or injury – with the goal of preserving the joint.

One treatment he uses is distraction arthroplasty. It involves placing a special metal frame around the outside of the leg and ankle, connected to the bones with thin pins or wires. The frame holds the ankle in a controlled position, gently separating the worn joint surfaces to reduce pressure and rubbing inside the joint. The aim is to give the damaged cartilage a chance to rest and repair itself.

Gordon is now working with the University of Technology Sydney’s Biomedical Engineering and Information Technology team to research regenerative medicine further – and explore how far cartilage regeneration can go. “We’re pushing the limits of scientific knowledge,” he says.

Why medicine is a team sport

Gordon’s advice for future doctors is simple: make friends and look after them.

“I don’t think there’s any degree like medicine in terms of having a big cohort where you’ve got enormous camaraderie with each other,” he says. “They are your colleagues; they are your friends. They’re not people to fight with. They’re people to love and get along with.”

For Gordon, those relationships are not just part of the university experience. In medicine, the people you study with often become the people you work alongside, learn from and lean on throughout your career. “You’ve got to look after your peers, be in contact with your peers, discuss things with your peers.” 

That doesn’t end at graduation, either, notes Gordon. Those relationships can become part of the foundation that carries doctors through. “You will need them, and they will need you, at some stage in your career.”

What Gordon valued most about studying at UNSW