Dr David Wilkinson’s endocrine surgery specialty includes management of simple thyroid nodules and overactive parathyroids as well as complex, recurrent, malignant, functional and hereditary conditions. Having accrued more than 25 years experience in this specialty, Dr Wilkinson performs over 250 thyroid and parathyroid operations per year, and does more parathyroid surgery than any other Queensland surgeon.
Excellent outcomes are achieved when endocrine gland disease is treated by a sub-specialist who performs a narrow range of procedures frequently. Dr Wilkinson is one of a handful of surgeons who genuinely belong in this category. He tailors treatment to suit individual patient circumstances, using surgical techniques that are minimally invasive, where appropriate, thus reducing potential side effects.
His special interests include minimal access thyroid and parathyroid surgery, and intra-operative monitoring of the nerves to the voice box.
Private Practice Now Closed
In 2022, Dr Wilkinson gave up his long-held appointment as a visiting consultant Endocrine Surgeon at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, a major teaching hospital and tertiary referral centre in Brisbane. In 2023, he ceased attending private patients at other Brisbane hospitals, and has now closed his private rooms at Level 4, Alexandra, 201 Wickham Terrace, Spring Hill.
Dr Wilkinson was a member of the Australian and New Zealand Endocrine Surgeons and the Australian Medical Association. He engaged in regular multidisciplinary meetings with specialists in endocrinology, radiation oncology, pathology, nuclear medicine and radiology.
Dr Wilkinson has taught medical students and surgeons. He has convened Royal Australasian College of Surgeons section meetings and oncology specialty meetings and was regularly an invited chairman or speaker. He has also taught surgeons in Tonga and Cambodia through organisations such as AusAID.
Training
After completing his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at the University of Queensland in 1989, and receiving his general surgical fellowship (FRACS) in 1996, Dr Wilkinson undertook a further three years of higher level specialty training and experience as a fellow in breast and endocrine surgery both locally and overseas in Bristol, England, where he worked closely with the late Professor John Farndon at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. He has worked in the breast and endocrine subspecialty since 1996, but now chooses to focus his work even more sharply on the endocrine part of the specialty.
Contributions in Research and Health Education
Dr Wilkinson has authored scientific articles published in a number of peer-reviewed medical journals, contributed clinical cases towards trials, given presentations at scientific meetings and authored a book on food against cancer.
To help understand your condition, please peruse Clinical Information written by Dr Wilkinson for this website: Thyroid and Parathyroid.