• Home
  • About
  • Advocacy
  • Careers
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Library
  • Surgical News
  • Sign In
RACS logo
  • Become a surgeon
  • Trainees
  • Fellows
  • SIMGs
  • Research & audit

Key Information

  • About specialist surgeons
  • How do I become a surgeon?
  • Selection process and requirements
  • Admission to Fellowship
  • International surgical training
  • View all

Resources

  • eLearning courses & resources
  • College events
  • Interest groups and sections
  • Scholarships and grants

Key Information

  • Trainee Association (RACSTA)
  • The surgical training program
  • Surgical specialties
  • Examinations
  • Training post accreditation
  • View all

Education for Trainees

  • Skills training courses
  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Specialist training program
  • Library
  • View all

Resources

  • Training standards for surgeons
  • Surgeon wellbeing
  • College events
  • Monitoring and Evaluation
  • Interest groups and sections
  • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
  • View all

Key Information and resources

  • 'Find a Surgeon' & 'practice card'
  • Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
  • Reports, guidelines & publications
  • Fellowship
  • Interest groups and sections
  • View all

Fellowship Education and Training

  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Skills training courses
  • Wellbeing
  • Professional development courses
  • Library
  • View all

For supervisors, educators and trainers

  • Academy of Surgical Educators
  • Supervisor Support Hub
  • RACS skills & education centre
  • Become a mentor
  • Post-fellowship training
  • View all

Key Information

  • SIMG overview
  • Pathways
  • Apply
  • Contacts, guidelines and forms
  • View all

Education for SIMGs

  • Fellowship Examination
  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Skills training courses
  • Professional development courses
  • Library

Resources

  • Working in Australia and New Zealand
  • Surgeon wellbeing
  • Member benefits & services
  • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)

Key Information

  • Surgical mortality audits
  • Morbidity audits
  • Research & Evaluation, inc. ASERNIP-S
  • Laparoscopic skills training
  • Trauma Verification program
  • View all

Resources

  • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
  • My audits
  • College events
  • Interest groups and sections
  • Books & merchandise
  • View all
RACS logo
  • RACS login
    Sign In
  • Become a surgeon
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • About specialist surgeons
      • How do I become a surgeon?
      • Selection process and requirements
      • Admission to Fellowship
      • International surgical training
      • View all
    • Resources

      Resources

      • eLearning courses & resources
      • College events
      • Interest groups and sections
      • Scholarships and grants
  • Trainees
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • Trainee Association (RACSTA)
      • The surgical training program
      • Surgical specialties
      • Examinations
      • Training post accreditation
      • View all
    • Education for Trainees

      Education for Trainees

      • Skills training courses
      • eLearning courses & resources
      • Specialist training program
      • Library
      • View all
    • Resources

      Resources

      • Training standards for surgeons
      • Surgeon wellbeing
      • College events
      • Monitoring and Evaluation
      • Interest groups and sections
      • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
      • View all
  • Fellows
    • Key Information

      Key Information and resources

      • 'Find a Surgeon' & 'practice card'
      • Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
      • Reports, guidelines & publications
      • Fellowship
      • Interest groups and sections
      • View all
    • Fellowship Education and Training

      Fellowship Education and Training

      • eLearning courses & resources
      • Skills training courses
      • Wellbeing
      • Professional development courses
      • Library
      • View all
    • For Educators and Trainers

      For supervisors, educators and trainers

      • Academy of Surgical Educators
      • Supervisor Support Hub
      • RACS skills & education centre
      • Become a mentor
      • Post-fellowship training
      • View all
  • SIMGs
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • SIMG overview
      • Pathways
      • Apply
      • Contacts, guidelines and forms
      • View all
    • Education for IMGs

    • Resources

      Resources

      • Working in Australia and New Zealand
      • Surgeon wellbeing
      • Member benefits & services
      • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
  • Research & audit
    • Key Information

      Key Information

      • Surgical mortality audits
      • Morbidity audits
      • Research & Evaluation, inc. ASERNIP-S
      • Laparoscopic skills training
      • Trauma Verification program
      • View all
    • Resources

      Resources

      • Access Morbidity Audit and Logbook Tool (MALT)
      • My audits
      • College events
      • Interest groups and sections
      • Books & merchandise
      • View all
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Careers
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Surgical News
  • Library
In This Section
  • Bernard Catchpole
  • Bruce Neil Procter Benjamin
  • Donald Simpson
  • Richard (Dick) Clayton Bennett
  • Brendan John Dooley
  • Donald Marshall
  • Geoffrey Chiam
  • Neil Bright
  • Thomas Connelley
  • Patrick Cregan
  • James Downie
  • John Lester
  • William (Bruce) Conolly
  • Robert Smith
  • Dean Mackie
  • Brian Shearman
  • Solomon Levitt
  • James McKinnon Watts
  • George Wilson
  • James O’Collins
  1. HOME
  2. About RACS
  3. About the College of Surgeons
  4. In memoriam
  5. Obituaries
  6. Sir Dennis Paterson

Sir Dennis Paterson

Obituary of Sir Dennis Paterson.

Sir Dennis Paterson
Orthopaedic Surgeon
1930 - 2015

Dennis Paterson was educated at St Peter's College and studied medicine at the University of Adelaide graduating in 1953. He married Mary Hardy, a physiotherapist, in 1955. After house officer positions at the Royal Adelaide and Adelaide Children's Hospitals, he followed the well worn trail to England in 1956 to further his surgical career becoming a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1958. Dennis gained his orthopaedic experience at the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital on the Welsh border in Shropshire.

In 1960 Mary, Dennis and three children returned to Adelaide and Dennis entered private practice with honorary appointments at the Royal Adelaide and the Adelaide Children's Hospitals. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Orthopaedics in 1962.

A turning point in his career was when the Australian Orthopaedic Association appointed him the 1965 ABC Travelling Fellow to North America. This trip must have been an eye-opener for the young Australian steeped in the traditions of British orthopaedics.

On the eve of Dennis' departure, the senior orthopaedic surgeon at the Adelaide Children's Hospital, Lance Bonnin, died at a young age and on his return Dennis was appointed his successor. From this moment his practice became increasingly confined to the orthopaedic problems of children and adolescents.

Dennis, was an important member of the generation who developed the Australian Orthopaedic Association orthopaedic training program based around the proper selection of trainees, a structured education program and an exit exam leading to the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in Orthopaedics. He was a member of the first South Australian Board of Studies and remained influential in the further development of Australian orthopaedic education. For 10 years he was an examiner in orthopaedic surgery for the College.

Dennis developed an Orthopaedic Department at the Adelaide Children's Hospital which was the envy of many in terms of its facilities and organisation. Generations of students and young orthopaedic surgeons benefited from his teaching in the lecture theatre, the operating room and at the bedside. He organised a Fellowship program for young paediatric orthopaedic surgeons. Many of these were from overseas and have become leaders in their own communities.

Dennis made significant contributions to the care of children with physical disabilities. He joined the board of the Crippled Children's Association and was made President in 1968. Under Dennis, the Association adopted a vision for a new centre for the care of the young disabled. The Regency Park Centre for the Young Disabled was opened in 1976. CCA, now Novita Children's Services, remains a leader in the provision of services for disabled children, including those with severe head injuries resulting from road trauma. Dennis became Sir Dennis in 1976 and although the citation for his knighthood reads "services to medicine" there is no doubt that this was largely related to the development of the Regency Park Centre.

Sir Dennis was honoured in a number of other ways. In 1980 he was awarded the LO Betts Medal of the Australian Orthopaedic Association for "outstanding service" and in 1984 the degree of Doctor of Medicine (MD) by the University of Adelaide on the basis of his thesis entitled "Electrical Stimulation and Osteogenesis". In 1987 he was elected President of the International Society of Orthopaedic Surgery and Traumatology (SICOT) attending regular board meetings in Brussels and returning to work three days later. In 1989 he was made Clinical Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of Adelaide and in 1996 was elected President of the Australian Paediatric Orthopaedic Society.

In retirement in 1996, Sir Dennis concentrated on his interests in road trauma and was Chairman of the Trauma Services Clinical Advisory Committee and was a member of the National Road Trauma Advisory Council until 2001. He was a supporter of proper systemised trauma care and a strong advocate for safety measures such as the introduction of bicycle helmets.

Away from medicine Dennis had a vineyard at McLaren Vale and was very active in viticulture and was a member of the Board of the McLaren Vale and Fleurieu Visitor Centre becoming its chairman in 1998.

Lady Paterson died in 2004 and he married Kathy Line herself a widow and they had a decade of happiness together. Dennis is survived by Kathy and children Tom, Cecily, Belinda, Lucy and ten grandchildren.

 

Andrew Sutherland AM FRACS

 

While RACS accepts and reproduces obituaries provided, we cannot ensure the accuracy of the information provided and therefore take no responsibility for any inaccuracies or omissions that may occur.

Back to Obituaries
  • Bernard Catchpole
  • Bruce Neil Procter Benjamin
  • Donald Simpson
  • Richard (Dick) Clayton Bennett
  • Brendan John Dooley
  • Donald Marshall
  • Geoffrey Chiam
  • Neil Bright
  • Thomas Connelley
  • Patrick Cregan
  • James Downie
  • John Lester
  • William (Bruce) Conolly
  • Robert Smith
  • Dean Mackie
  • Brian Shearman
  • Solomon Levitt
  • James McKinnon Watts
  • George Wilson
  • James O’Collins
Back To Top
  • For Patients
  • Find a surgeon
  • Home
  • About
  • Media
  • Corporate Partnerships
  • Careers
  • Donate
  • Contact
  • Library
  • Sign in
  • Surgical News
  • About RACS
  • About the College of Surgeons
  • About RACS offices
  • Global Health
  • Specialty societies & affiliated organisations
  • Surgeon wellbeing
  • Building Respect
  • College fees
  • Position papers
  • Policies
  • College events
  • Education
  • Skills training courses
  • Professional Development
  • eLearning courses & resources
  • Specialist Training Program
  • Become a Surgeon
  • About specialist surgeons
  • How do I become a surgeon?
  • Selection requirements
  • International surgical training
  • Admission to Fellowship
  • Fellowship
See all News

  • RACS: Let's make safe roads a shared priority every day, not just during National Road Safety Week
  • RACS makes submission regarding speed limit consultation on 16 Urban Connectors
  • RACS calls on all levels of government for reform
Indigenous motifs
Logo
  • ABN 29 004 167 766
  • Disclaimer and privacy