Professor Paul Smith AM is one of Australia’s most experienced and highly regarded hip and knee surgeons, having performed over 5000 hip and knee replacement procedures. He is Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the Australian National University, Director of the Trauma and Orthopaedic Research Unit at the Canberra Hospital and the John Curtin School of Medical Research, and Orthopaedic Unit Director at the Canberra Hospital. He is also Director of the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry and former chair of the Australian Orthopaedic Association (ACT Branch) and The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (ACT Branch)
Specialties
Knee and hip replacement surgery
Joint preservation surgery of the hip and knee
Knee ligament reconstruction
Complex revision joint replacement and major bone grafting
Pelvic and acetabular reconstruction surgery
Qualifications
BMBS - Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Flinders University of South Australia)
FRACS - Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
FAOrthA - Fellow of the Australian Orthopaedic Association
HonDUniv - Honorary Doctorate of University of Canberra
Awards
Member of the Order of Australia (AM) - Queen’s Birthday honours
list 2020
Australian Orthopaedic Association Award for Research 2019
Research Foundation Fellowship - AOA Research Foundation 2018
Life Fellow Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association
2013 Ben Wiseman Award for Healthcare - DonateLife Australia - awarded for his role in establishing the ACT Bone Bank
Australia Day 2009 Medal for Services to ACT Health
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons CONROD Fellowship 2007 - awarded for his research studying fat embolism
Inaugural John N Insall Fellowship, International Knee Society in 2002 - awarded for his research in knee joint kinematics
The Ranawat Award (for best paper): AAOS/Knee Society Annual Meeting, New Orleans 1998
The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Marjorie Hooper Travelling Fellowship for 1996-1997
The International Travelling Fellowship in Pelvic and Acetabular Surgery 1996-1997
Consulting Locations
Level 2, Woden Specialist Medical Centre 90 Corinna Street PHILLIP ACT 2606
Queen Street Medical Centre 49 Queen Street MORUYA NSW 2537
Professor Paul Smith AM graduated in medicine from the Flinders University of South Australia in 1986, and went on to complete his orthopaedic surgical training in 1995.
Following Fellowships in adult joint replacement in London, Ontario and The Princess Elizabeth Orthopaedic Centre, Exeter UK, he returned to Canberra to commence private practice in 1998.
Since then he has taken up a full-time clinical position specialising in adult knee and hip joint reconstructive surgery.
Professor Smith is passionate about research and training, as both these lead to improvements in equipment and techniques which translates to better outcomes for his patients.
The Team
Personal Assistant, Sarah has worked with Professor Smith since he commenced private practice in 1998. She has in-depth knowledge of the practice and enjoys developing a rapport with our patients. Sarah’s goal is to use her expertise to assist patients to navigate the process of surgery. Assisting Sarah is Medical Assistant Jessica and together they aim to provide friendly and supportive service to our patients.
Connect with Professor Paul Smith AM:
Surgeon affiliations, associations & memberships
About Prof Paul Smith AM
Professor Smith’s main areas of clinical interest include hip and knee replacement surgery, knee reconstruction, joint preservation surgery of the hip and knee, and complex revision joint replacement surgery. In the trauma field Professor Smith’s major interest is pelvic and acetabular fracture reconstruction and he has performed over 600 pelvic reconstruction procedures.
Professor Smith has a major commitment to the ACT community through his role as chair of the John James Memorial Foundation (JJMF), the ACT regions largest health and medical charitable foundation. The JJMF supports Canberra health charities through its program of annual community grants totalling almost $500,000 each year, and provides scholarships for indigenous students at the ANU Medical School . The Foundation also undertakes major health infrastructure projects, most notably the John James Village in Garran. In 2020 the JJMF will build an early intervention centre for autism in partnership with the AEIOU Foundation.
“Focussed on improving orthopaedic care in Australia, and globally.”
Professor Smith is widely recognised as a nationally leading orthopaedic researcher with over 160 peer reviewed publications and more than 100 conference presentations. He is a regular speaker at national and international meetings.
He has supervised over 15 MPhil and PhD students in their higher degree studies. In the field of knee research alone Professor Smith has published over 40 papers.
Professor Smith is the only Australian surgeon to have been awarded prestigious The Knee Society Insall Fellowship, receiving this fellowship award in recognition of his research in the area of knee kinematics. In 2016 Professor Smith established the Canberra Orthopaedic Research and Education (CORE) Foundation to provide support for research in orthopaedic surgery in the ACT. Professor Smith was awarded Fellowship of the Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) Research Foundation in 2018 and received the AOA Award for Orthopaedic Research in 2019.
