Experience & Expertise

Since completing a fellowship as a Specialist Orthopaedic Surgeon at the Royal Australian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in 1983 and election as Fellow to the Australian Orthopaedic Association (FAOA), Dr Coleman has pursued a career specialising in all aspects of surgery for conditions of the hand and upper limb, and microsurgery. Post graduate study was conducted in the United Kingdom and the United States following fellowship graduation and he then worked in the Hand and Upper Limb Clinic at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane for approximately 20 years as a visiting Senior Hand Surgeon. He was involved in managing trauma and elective hand surgery in the large metropolitan public hospital, as well as training registrars and fellows who were pursuing a career in orthopaedic, plastic surgery and hand surgery.

During this period, he also conducted a private practice exclusively managing all conditions, injuries or pathologies of the hand and upper extremity. Repair, reconstruction and microsurgery of all aspects of hand conditions was undertaken. Dr Coleman was a foundation member of the Brisbane Hand & Upper Limb Clinic in 1995. This clinic grew to a membership of 11 specialist upper limb surgeons. He was accredited at and practised hand and upper limb surgery at the Brisbane Private Hospital, Mater Private Hospital at South Brisbane and Redlands and Sunnybank Private Hospital.

Dr Coleman was closely involved with the Australian Hand Surgery Society (AHSS) and served on the executive and as treasurer, and was elected President in 2010. Dr Coleman has lectured and still lectures locally, nationally and internationally on a wide range of topics involving the hand and upper limb. He has many published articles on these topics and is currently on the editorial and advisory board of several national and international surgical journals.

After gaining widespread experience covering all aspects of upper limb conditions over 35 years, Dr Coleman is using this experience to provide independent expert medical and legal reports. He is a currently accredited member of the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME) to enable accurate assessments of upper extremity permanent impairment. He also is GEPI qualified for WorkCover impairment assessments. He is SIRA qualified for NSW and Victorian assessments. Dr Coleman is a Deputy Chair of Medical Assessment Tribunals for the Queensland Office of Industrial Relations (formerly QComp). Dr Coleman was appointed in 2017 as Chair of the Hand and Wrist Working Group for the current and ongoing Australian Federal Government Review into revision of the Medicare Schedule.

Dr Coleman is in a position to provide independent and unbiased medicolegal reports, assessments and specialist opinions on all aspects of hand and upper limb conditions. Dr Coleman has ensured he is independent in provision of such reports for defendants, plaintiffs, third parties or insurers as well as medical negligence claims. Reports can be provided on hand and wrist conditions such as finger fractures, arthritis, soft tissue injuries, tendonitis, carpal tunnel syndrome and all nerve compression conditions, wrist and hand ligament or instability injuries, tennis elbow, elbow fractures and impairments of shoulder conditions.