Dr Wicks has been a Specialist Surgeon for over 20 years and currently works as a Specialist Upper GI and Hepatobiliary, Laparoscopic and General Surgeon at Southern Cross Hospital, Wakefield Hospital and Wellington Hospital. He is active in teaching medical students at the Wellington School of Medicine where he is a Honorary Senior Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Otago.
Dr Wicks has a special interest in cholecystectomy (gallstones), complex biliary tract disease, liver and pancreatic tumours and diseases. He has trained in all aspects of keyhole surgery and has an avid interest in microwave ablation of liver tumours and the application of robotic surgery in pancreatic and liver disease.
Dr Wicks was educated in New Zealand and went to secondary school at Scots College in Seatoun, Wellington, where in his final year he was Proxime accessit to the Dux. He completed his medical school training in 1991 through the University of Otago. He trained in General Surgery in New Zealand and obtained his FRACS in 2001. He undertook laboratory and clinical research on the topic of surgery and type 2 diabetes, and was conferred a PhD in Surgery through the University of Otago in 2006.
Dr Wicks travelled to the United Kingdom for 3 years to undertake further training in Upper GI, liver, and pancreatic surgery in 2003. He was an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at Hammersmith Hospital, London and worked with Professor Robin Williamson, a pioneer in pancreatic surgery. He was a Clinical Fellow at the Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital, London (the largest cancer hospital in Europe) and gained extensive experience in cancer surgery, including liver and pancreatic cancer. He was fortunate to be awarded the Paul McMaster Scholarship, a fellowship supported by the Australia and New Zealand Hepatopancreatobiliary Association (ANZHPBA) to work at the Liver and Liver Transplant Unit at Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, where he gained a wealth of experience in liver and pancreatic surgery, liver tumour ablation and liver transplantation. He continues with both clinical and laboratory research and has been affiliated with the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute (GMRI) in Wellington. Dr Wicks returned to Wellington, New Zealand in 2006 to set up the liver service at Wellington Hospital.
