Meet your doctors.
Valley Plastic Surgery was started by reconstructive surgeons Dr Matthew Peters and Dr Raymond Goh to offer an extensive range of services to the Brisbane and wider region. From minimally invasive procedures to comprehensive reconstructive and aesthetic plastic surgeries, and even dermatology services, the highly trained team at VPS can offer you the treatment and solutions you need.While they are based in Fortitude Valley, they also have satellite practices at Redlands Specialist Centre opposite Mater Private Hospital, Northlakes Hospital on the Ground Floor, and Ramsay Place Consulting Suites at North West Private Hospital, where patients are greeted by a friendly and knowledgeable team. They aim to provide consistent care throughout the entire treatment process, ensuring a familiar face stays with each patient throughout their entire journey.Consisting of five specialists, the Valley Plastic Surgery team is quite an impressive one. To help you get to know them a little better, we asked them a few questions to help you get to know the doctors behind their surgical mask. Check out our
day in the life of the Valley Plastic Surgery team to see just how busy their day to day schedule is.
DR MATTHEW PETERS
Tell us a bit about Valley Plastic Surgery
Ray and I established VPS as we wanted a collegiate workplace that was able to offer our patients the best available care, from the best available practitioners. We felt that our respective surgical interests were complementary, and have selected other surgeons whose skills in other areas eclipsed our own.Our goal was to create a space that didn’t feel ‘medical.’ We bought a building based on location and access to free car-parking, aiming to break the usual inconveniences attached to medical specialty appointments. We commissioned a building crew that focused on the history of the building, preserving the wooden floors, beams and high ceilings so as to give patients an experience, not just a destination.We chose staff who go the extra mile, using their knowledge of medical procedures in conjunction with professional-level customer service to minimise patient stress. Our nurses, front desk staff, behind the scenes admin and marketing teams are all unique, creating an experience that matches our initial vision perfectly. The feedback from patients makes it worth the effort.
What drew you to your area of specialty?
Having to apply complex technical skills to fix problems that are unique to each patient – no two operations are ever the same in plastic surgery.
How long have you studied for?
I haven’t stopped. It took 17 years to achieve my formal plastic surgery qualification but I’m still learning daily, from the patients and their outcomes in conjunction with regular reading and conference attendance.
What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
Working with great patients to achieve an outcome we are both happy with.
How do you stay motivated?
I love what I do – it’s enough to ignore the hours and associated stress. That, and four kids school fees.
If you weren’t a surgeon, what would you be doing?
I’d be a struggling artist with a paint brush.
Something you enjoy doing outside of work?
Sunday lunch with the kids.
DR RAY GOH
Tell us a bit about Valley Plastic Surgery
Valley Plastic Surgery is a multi-specialist medical practice that aims to provide professional services in plastic surgery and dermatology to the highest standards and level of care. At the time of our commencement, there were no multi-surgeon plastic surgery practices in Brisbane, and my practice for the previous five years was based in a hospital. Myself and my co-director Matthew Peters decided to set up our practice in a building that was pleasant, spacious, and reflective of our standard and style of work. We wanted to form a practice that provided a collegial environment where each surgeon would bring into the practice their individual experience, style, and approach to surgery. Each of us have our special areas of interest and sub-specialisation. In that sense, our practice is synergistic, in that we can provide each other professional support and are also able to form discussion around tricky cases, all of which will benefit our patients.
What drew you to your area of specialty?
What drew me to the field of Plastic Surgery stemmed from seeing the variety of challenging cases that required creative thought to be formulated and executed from both a functional and aesthetic perspective. Plastic surgery allows me to apply a visual, three-dimensional, and artistic flare to surgery, which is normally very rigid, disease focused, and anatomy based. It is also an area that is continually advancing, and we’re always learning and developing new ways of achieving better results. I also enjoy the interaction I have with my patients, from the time I meet them through to the end of their surgical journey. As each and every plastic surgery patient is unique, carrying their own set of physical and emotional goals, my treatment plans must similarly be considered and tailored individually.
How long have you studied for?
To get to the stage of being called a Specialist Plastic Surgeon took 10 years beyond medical school. After an internship and surgical residency, I went on to the training program of general surgery, before finally entering the training program of plastic surgery. After attaining my Royal College of Surgeons fellowship in Plastic Surgery and becoming a member of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons, I went overseas to gain a further two years of experience in aesthetic plastic surgery.
What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
What rewards me most in my job as a plastic surgeon is seeing the improvement I can bring to people’s self-esteem, confidence, and identity. Plastic surgery can change their life and those closest to them. I work very long hours, and complex cases can be physically and mentally exhausting, but seeing happy patients continues to drive me to do my very best for each patient every day.
How do you stay motivated?
My patients are my number one motivator – if their surgery has changed their life for the better, then that motivates me to apply my experience and skills to others just like them. The other factor relates to my desire to find better ways of achieving a good result – this motivates me to continue learning, teaching, and taking on challenging cases.
If you weren’t a surgeon, what would you be doing?
I would be a professional fisherman with my own travel fishing show.
What is something you enjoy to do outside of work?
Fishing, swimming, pilates, and spending time with my family.
DR KATE DE AMBROSIS
What drew you to your area of specialty?
There are many facets to my job from helping a family treat their child with eczema, to the surgical management of skin cancers, to prescribing and explaining the science behind topical treatments in skin diseases – and many others in between. The diversity each day brings was, and still is, a massive drawcard to my specialty.
How long have you studied for?
I completed an undergraduate five year medical degree, then residency, my basic surgical training and then the four year dermatology training program – 14 years in total!
What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
Finding the right treatment for the right patient, and observing the happiness and confidence that restoring skin health can bring.
How do you stay motivated?
The balance between home and career is a work in progress, but the wonderful doctors and practice staff at VPS are my second family, and are always ready to support, lend a hand and even babysit the pram when I’ve been at work recently.
If you weren’t a surgeon, what would you be doing?
Growing up I wanted to be a journalist. I’d love to create an ‘all things skin’ magazine for patients at our practice, but somehow there never seems to be the time.
Something you enjoy doing outside of work?
Enjoying time at home with my husband and our twins aged 7, toddler, 2, and newest addition 8 week old Jack!
DR ALYS SAYLOR
What drew you to your area of speciality?
Firstly because I love it! I’m fascinated by the history of the profession, the ‘artistry’ involved, and the privilege of being part of a patient’s need (or desire) for undergoing a surgery that can be life changing.”
How long have you studied for?
Following six years of medical school, I studied for a further 10 years whilst working full time to become a plastic surgeon.
What’s the most rewarding thing about your job?
Each patient is different and every challenge a new one. If every day I can restore normality or create an enhancement that improves a patient’s quality of life, I achieve the ultimate professional satisfaction. I’m excited to go to work each day just in anticipation of this.
How do you stay motivated?
I don’t find it hard at all to stay motivated as a plastic surgeon, especially as a breast specialist. And it’s ultimately the patients I see each day that motivate me and present me with an infinite variety of canvases to work on to achieve an ideal ‘finished work.’
If you weren’t a surgeon, what would you be doing?
My friends tell me I should become a chef and open a restaurant ‘in my spare time’! But honestly, having decided I wanted to be a surgeon in my teens, and having spent 24 years studying and then working as a plastic surgeon, I can’t imagine doing anything else, nor would I want to.
What do you like to do outside of work?
I spend my time doing what most people do to relax in their down time, but something I’ve become really immersed in lately is specialised training in medico-legal reporting. It adds an extra dimension to the surgical work I undertake day-to-day.
DR DREW CRONIN
What drew you to your area of specialty?
I loved that plastic surgery required you to think laterally to find novel solutions to individual problems. It demands not only an understanding of surgical principles and human anatomy, but also a healthy dose of imagination and the ability to think outside of the box.
How long have you studied for?
Forever. And it never ends – plastic surgery continues to evolve and techniques are refined all the time. It’s exciting to learn about new developments and changes as they occur.
What’s the most rewarding thing?
Being able to create lasting change in people’s lives. At its core, plastic surgery is the specialty that puts people back together. Whether it’s recreating a breast for a woman that’s had a mastectomy, or performing a tummy tuck on a mother after she’s had her family, we have the ability to give people back something that, for whatever reason, they had lost. The most rewarding thing is when you can see that translate into how they feel about themselves again.
How do you stay motivated?
It’s demanding, but it’s very rewarding. My motivation is always to provide the best outcome I can for every patient. Happy patients make it all worthwhile.
If you weren’t a surgeon, what would you be doing?
Hard to say, I haven’t thought of anything else for the past 15 years. Maybe an architect?
What do you do in your spare time?
Spend time with my wife and daughter. Preferably at the beach.
