Urological Specialists


WC Urology 17

Mr. Grills was raised in rural western Victoria and attended secondary school in Geelong.

He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1991. In 1994, after 2 years as a hospital based surgical resident he taught Anatomy and Physiology at the University of Melbourne. He worked in Africa in 1995 and was the surgeon at Chikankata Hospital in rural Zambia. After 2 years of General Surgery training, based at Royal Melbourne Hospital Mr. Grills entered the Urology training program of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and completed his fellowship in 2001. He subsequently worked in Tanzania at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre and then obtained a Fellow post at Stepping Hill Hospital in Manchester U.K. where he was instrumental in establishing their laparoscopic urological surgery program. He then completed travelling fellowships in Linz, Austria (further laparoscopic training) and Ulm, Germany (bladder reconstruction).

Mr. Grills returned to Australia in 2003 and established his public and private practice in Geelong. Originally based at The Geelong Private Hospital Mr. Grills moved to The Specialist Centre, SJOG at 83 Myers Street in 2009 when West Coast Urology was established. In addition to his Geelong based practice Mr. Grills also provides monthly on site consulting and operating services in Hamilton and monthly remote Telehealth services to these locations.

Richard has appointments at University Hospital Geelong (Barwon Health), St John of God Hospital, (Geelong), Epworth Hospital (Geelong) and Western District Health Service (Hamilton).

 

Special Interests

  • Prostate Cancer including robotic prostate cancer surgery
  • Laparoscopic and robotic kidney surgery
  • Uro-Oncology – including kidney and bladder cancer
  • Minimally invasive stone surgery
  • Bladder reconstruction
  • Surgical and non-surgical management of benign prostate disease.
  • Vasectomy 

 

Additional Professional Activities

Mr. Grills is the Director of Urological Surgery at Barwon Health (Geelong Hospital), Head of Surgical Services at St John of God Hospital, Geelong and Deputy Chair of the Medical Advisory Committee at St John of God Hospital, Geelong.

Mr. Grills is involved in teaching of medical students and has an appointment as a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University Medical School.

Mr. Grills has a significant involvement in training of the next generation of Urologists in roles with the Board of Urology of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) / Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ) – the training authority that administers the specialist Urology Training Program in Australia and New Zealand

 

  • Chair of the Board of Urology (2014-2016)
  • Chair of the Victorian Section, Training, Accreditation Education Committee, Board of Urology of RACS / USANZ, 2011 – 2014
  • Supervisor of Urology training at Barwon Health (Geelong Hospital) 2005 – 2011
  • Chair of the International Medical Graduate Subcommittee of Board of Urology, 2016 -

 

Mr. Grills is involved in leading courses for surgeons that train other surgeons at RACS including the ‘Keeping Trainees on Track’ and ‘Foundation Skills for Surgical Educators’ courses.

Mr. Grills has made a number of working trips to Africa and spent a total of almost 2 years based in hospitals there, most recently at the Mnazi Mmoja Hospital in Zanzibar in 2013. Each year since 2009 Mr Grills has led a surgical team to Vanuatu under the auspices of the RACS Pacific Islands Project to provide specialist urological services. In that time he has been able to establish a basic self-sufficient urology service. Click here to read more.

Mr Grills presents at international and national meetings and has published articles in leading journals on – kidney cancer, prostate cancer, bladder cancer, kidney stone disease and surgical education. He leads the research activities of the Urological Surgery Dept. at Barwon Health. Current research activities include:

 

  • Laparoscopic renal surgery in >80yrs pts
  • Urethral stricture disease
  • Telehealth evaluation of effectiveness
  • Flexible Pyeloscopy – durability and effectiveness of instruments
  • Establishing a Urological Service in Vanuatu.

 

Mr Grills is a member of:

  • Urological Association of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ)
  • British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS)
  • Societe Internationale d’Urologie (SIU)
  • European Association of Urology (EAU)
  • Australian Medical Association (AMA)