Rate My Professor Mark Thompson-Fawcett

Associate Professor Mark Thompson-Fawcett, MB ChB (University of Auckland), MD, FRACS, serves as an academic and clinician in the Department of Surgery and Critical Care within the Dunedin School of Medicine at the University of Otago. As a colorectal surgeon specializing in procedures such as transanal endoscopic microsurgery, he leads the Functional Bowel Disorder Clinic in collaboration with clinical nurse specialists. His professional roles extend to clinical practice at Dunedin Hospital, where he contributes to general and colorectal surgery. Thompson-Fawcett holds positions as a fourth-year home tutor, team supervisor for trainee interns, and the department's education representative. He is a member of the fifth-year OSCE committee at Otago Medical School, the Clinical Examination Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and serves as the surgical representative on the New Zealand Society of Gastroenterology Executive.

Thompson-Fawcett's research specializations include ileal pouch microbiota and pouchitis, functional bowel disorders, colorectal cancer, and student assessment in clinical skills using OSCEs. He contributes to the Colorectal Translational Research Group, focusing on colorectal cancer and inflammatory bowel disease outcomes, leads projects evaluating colorectal surgery results in Otago, and develops DNA-based stool analysis for detecting adverse bacterial profiles. Current initiatives involve a clinical trial investigating probiotics for pouch inflammation. His scholarly output encompasses over 65 publications, with more than 1,800 citations documented in academic profiles. Notable works include 'The Impact of Metachronous Colorectal Neoplasia Requiring Surgery After Cessation of Colonoscopic Surveillance at Age 75' (Manasawala et al., ANZ Journal of Surgery, 2025), 'Recurrence after transanal endoscopic microsurgery for benign and malignant rectal tumours: Experience of a single New Zealand centre' (Hart et al., ANZ Journal of Surgery, 2024), 'The impact of prolonged delay to loop ileostomy closure on postoperative morbidity and hospital stay: A retrospective cohort study' (Turner et al., Colorectal Disease, 2022), 'Has network meta-analysis resolved the controversies related to bowel preparation in elective colorectal surgery?' (Woodfield et al., Colorectal Disease, 2022), and 'Role for colorectal teams to support non-colorectal teams to improve clinical outcomes and adherence to ERAS guidelines for segmental colectomy: a cohort study' (Mallard et al., BMC Surgery, 2021). His contributions advance colorectal surgical practices and medical education methodologies.