Meet Dr. Sherry Salter
Meet Dr Sherry Salter
Dr Sherry Salter MB ChB, FRACS, PFET (Transplant) is the first female of Pacific Island heritage to qualify as both a General and a Renal Transplant Surgeon in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. She is a generalist in the field of surgery that has grown more subspecialised, and she has kept her practice broad on purpose. She has been operating since 2003 and has been a Consultant Surgeon since 2013.
Her work spans operating on gallbladders, hernias, skin lesions and the appendix as well as renal access surgery and kidney transplants for patients with renal failure. She is fellowship trained in both Transplantation, Acute Surgery and Trauma, and cares for patients across Melbourne's Inner South and South East, Bayside and the Mornington Peninsula, in both private and public settings.
For Dr Salter, surgery has never been purely a clinical act. It is an expression of a deeper belief that her skills, her time and her care exist to serve people. Dr Salter is straightforward with patients about the benefits, risks and whether surgery is the right course of action for them. For Dr Salter, duty to serve means never operating when it is not needed and never leaving someone without the information they deserve.
Sherry’s path to surgery was shaped by a simple but powerful directive from her father: choose a life of service.
Background
Dr Sherry Salter’s path to surgery was shaped by a simple but powerful directive from her father: choose a life of service. Rooted in Samoan values of respect, duty and community, that belief shapes everything about the way she works, the care she takes with patients, the collegiate spirit she brings to her peers and the investment she makes in the next generation of surgeons coming through after her.
She graduated in Medicine from the University of Otago, New Zealand in 2003 and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in General Surgery in 2013. She completed sub-specialty training and obtained a Fellowship in Renal and Pancreas Transplantation Surgery at Westmead Hospital in Sydney and Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, and, in 2012, a Fellowship in Trauma and Acute Surgery from Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand.
Surgery is not a solo act. Dr Salter seeks the counsel of colleagues when a case is complex, mentors surgical trainees and medical students, and publishes research related to her work.
Outside the operating theatre, Dr Salter is happiest watching her three young sons play soccer, and holidaying with her family.
Consulting and Surgery Locations
Dr Salter consults and operates privately at Cabrini Malvern, Cabrini Brighton, Cabrini Local - Sorrento, Jessie McPherson Private Hospital in Clayton and St John of God Berwick Hospital. She holds a public hospital appointment at Monash Health. She sees patients from across Melbourne's Inner South and South East, Bayside and the Mornington Peninsula.
Private practice
Surgery as Service
Gallbladder Surgery
Removal of the gallbladder (cholecystectomy) to treat patients with gallstones, polyps and inflammation of the gallbladder (cholecystitis).
Skin Lesions
Removal of moles, cysts, lumps, lipomas and skin cancers.
Hernia Surgery
Repair of groin (inguinal and femoral), umbilical and incisional hernias.
Appendix Surgery
Removal of the appendix (appendicectomy), most often for appendicitis and usually performed as keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery.
Emergency Surgery
Acute and after-hours cover for abdominal emergencies, including appendicitis, bowel obstruction, abscesses and pain and inflammation from the gallbladder.
Renal Access Surgery
Dialysis access for patients with kidney failure, including arteriovenous fistulas, PD catheters and permcaths.