Rate My Professor Julian Speight

Julian Speight is a Clinical Senior Lecturer in the Department of Surgery and Critical Care at the University of Otago, within the Faculty of Medicine. He holds the qualifications BSc, MBBS (London), FRCS (Edinburgh), and FRACS. Speight completed his medical training at St Thomas' Hospital in London and obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh before returning to New Zealand in 2008 to take up the position of Consultant General Surgeon at Southland Hospital, Southern District Health Board. In addition to his clinical role, he serves as a senior lecturer for the Otago School of Medicine, where he teaches medical students and trainee surgeons, contributing to surgical education particularly in provincial settings.

Speight's scholarly contributions include peer-reviewed publications in the ANZ Journal of Surgery. In 2013, he co-authored 'Acute-elective surgery split: Is it feasible in a provincial hospital?' (83 Suppl. 1, 47), examining service delivery models in provincial hospitals. In 2023, he co-authored 'A retrospective study of colonoscopic surveillance in the elderly' (93, 2138-2142), focusing on geriatric endoscopy practices. He has also contributed to national initiatives such as the development of the General Surgery Prioritisation Tool implemented in New Zealand in 2018. Within the surgical community, Speight served as President of the New Zealand Association of General Surgeons, with over 12 years on the executive committee, advocating for training, audit programs including the Otago University Surgical Audit Program, hernia guidelines, and rural surgical equity. His involvement in the Bi-National Colorectal Cancer Audit underscores his impact on regional surgical standards.