 |
|
Emeritus Consultants Biographies
John Wheeler was born in Subiaco on 5th February 1939, the son of Thomas Wheeler, manager of an insurance company, and Thelma (nee) Sims, a nurse. At the start of his career John worked briefly as a laboratory assistant in the Department of Haematology at the Royal Perth Hospital. He then went to the University of Adelaide to study medicine, after completing his first year at the University of W.A. In due course he transferred to the University of Western Australia graduating MB BS in 1962. Following a period as a Resident Medical Officer at the Royal Perth Hospital, John went to the United Kingdom in 1966 to study plastic surgery and worked at the Greenock Royal Infirmary in Scotland, the Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead, the Bangour General Hospital and the Sick Children's Hospital in Edinburgh. He was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh in 1967. He returned to Perth in 1970 and was appointed Senior Registrar in Plastic Surgery at the Royal Perth Hospital. John was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1971. He was appointed Consultant in Plastic Surgery at the Royal Perth Hospital in 1971. He also held appointments as Visiting Plastic Surgeon at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, Fremantle Hospital, Hollywood Repatriation Hospital and the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. John married Helen Koivisto in 1966, they met at the Royal Perth Hospital where Helen was a registered nurse on the Plastic Surgery Ward. They had four children one daughter and three sons. Helen died in 2000. John married Siew Ngo Lim in 2001. He has two stepchildren, one a Plastic Surgeon and the other a General Medical Practitioner. John enjoyed his association with colleagues in Plastic Surgery at the Royal Perth Hospital during the development of the Plastic and Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, the south-east extension and particularly the trainee registrars who have gone on to excellence in this field. Other highlights included seeing and participating in the development of an anatomical basis for flaps, breast reconstruction and hand surgery. John particularly enjoyed his trips to Papua New Guinea with Interplast and his trip to China in 2002 where he performed leprosy reconstructive work with his wife, Siew, as his interpreter. John Wheeler retired in June 2002 and was appointed Emeritus Consultant Plastic Surgeon. |
