Mr Lean-Peng(LP) Cheah  MBBS(Hons 1st) MRCS FRACS

Dr Lean-Peng (LP) Cheah was the top medical graduate from the University of Melbourne in 1997. As an undergraduate, he received a full scholarship and won 23 prizes and awards including: the AMA Prize, Rowden White Faculty Prize and the Novartis Prize for being the overall top medical student; the Sterling Prize for Surgery; Exhibition Prize in Anatomy, Melick Prize in Medicine; Herman Lawrence Prize in Dermatology and prizes in otolaryngorology, ophthalmology, occupational medicine, emergency medicine, obstetrics, reproductive medicine and neuroscience.

He has been very busy since he started as a consultant general surgeon in 2006 and has amassed a wealth of experience across the range of short stay general surgery. He has worked in public hospitals in Ballarat, Echuca, Eastern Health(Maroondah and Angliss Hospitals) and Werribee Mercy Hospital. He was one of the busiest general surgeons in the public system in terms of surgical admission numbers in Victoria. In addition he has done locum stints at Broken Hill, Batemans Bay & Moruya.  

His special interest is in short-stay surgery. He is well-known for repairing hernias with short incisions(usually a 3cm incision for an inguinal hernia and even shorter for a paraumbilical hernia). He is also a skilled endoscopist and does scopes at 6 different locations. In addition to doing gastroscopy and colonoscopy, he also treats a lot of haemorrhoids - especially with banding(as a less painful alternative to haemorrhoidectomy). He gets referrals from all over Melbourne(and sometimes from interstate) for pilonidal sinus disease. He performs Minor Plastic Surgery at an affordable cost in his rooms for skin cancers, cysts, lumps, ingrown toenails and haemorrhoids. He also does vasectomy using the scalpel-free technique, perianal surgery, hand surgery(Dupuytren's, carpal  tunnel release, trigger finger), varicose vein surgery, breast surgery(breast cancer, breast lump, nipple inversion) and thyroid surgery, laparoscopic cholecystectomy and appendicectomy. 

In addition, he offers cryotherapy as an option to his patients with skin cancers(BCC and early SCC) and solar keratoses. He also sees and follow up patients with groin pain, cysts in the breast or thyroid, gallbladder polyps and other conditions where the GPs have asked for an expert opinion.

He originally completed his surgical training in Melbourne and also overseas in England. During his surgical training, he has worked at St Vincent’s Hospital, the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Alfred Hospital, Northern Hospital, Geelong and Ballarat. He also trained for overseas at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust(Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester General Hospital and Glenfield Hospital) from 1999 to early 2001. His surgical training included (i) Hernia repairs using tension-free mesh techniques under local anaesthesia - learning from hernia specialists such as Mr Maurice Brygel(founder of the Melbourne Hernia Clinic) and David Fossard(England) (ii) Laparoscopic surgery in particular gallbladder surgery & transcystic common bile duct exploration as well as laparoscopic hernia repair and colorectal surgery (iii)Plastic Surgery rotations in Australia and England in particular for skin cancer surgery, local flaps, skin grafts, carpal tunnel release, ulnar nerve transposition, Duputren's fasciectomy (iv)Endoscopy including advanced endoscopy techniques for polypectomy and dilatation of stricture (v)Pilonidal sinus surgery from the late Mr Paul Kitchen who wrote about the Karydakis surgery (vi)Breast, Endocrine and Melanoma/Sarcoma Surgery as Senior Registrar at St Vincent's Hospital under Prof Michael Henderson

He is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and a Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in England. He is also accredited in gastroscopy and colonoscopy by the Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA).

Privately, he operates at John Fawkner Private Hospital, Western Private Hospital, Western Gastroenterology Endoscopy Centre, Coburg Endoscopy Centre and Mitcham Private Hospital

In the public system, he is commited to providing a service to regional Victoria and he consults in Echuca and Seymour. In addition, he sees a lot of non-English speaking patients(including recent migrants/refugees, overseas students) especially in Footscray. 

He has a strong interest in teaching surgery. He has been a Lecturer in Surgery at the University of Melbourne for 2 years and continues to hold a honorary position as a Fellow. He has also taught surgery in the AMC Clinical Bridging Courses organized by the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) and also in the Surgical Skills Course for General Practitioners organized by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

His research interest is in electronic handover systems and web-based learning for medical students and doctors sitting for the AMC exams. He has also published and presented in topics such as “The Single-visit Colorectal Cancer Follow-Up Clinic”, “Day Case Abscess Service”, “Work-Life Balance in Surgical Training”, “Penetrating Neck Injuries”, “Emergency Abdominal Decompression in Abdominal Compartment Syndrome”, Surgical Training in Private Hospitals and “Improving Communication among doctors - Electronic Handovers”, "Web-assisted Learning" and "Reducing Wastage in the Operating Theatres".