Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis

Pioneering Orthopaedic Surgeon, Humanitarian and Keynote Speaker

Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis is an orthopaedic surgeon who has pioneered the revolutionary technology known as osseointegration – complex reconstructive and robotic surgery – which has helped hundreds of amputees improve mobility, reduce pain and improve their quality of life.

Born in Baghdad, and forced to flee Iraq as a young Doctor, having refused the orders of Saddam Hussein to mutilate army deserters’ ears, Munjed is also a humanitarian who volunteers his time as a surgeon and as a human rights advocate.

Munjed is a clinical lecturer at Macquarie University and The Australian School Of Advanced Medicine. He has written two books that draw on his life experiences.

More about Associate Professor Munjed Al Muderis:

A/Prof Munjed Al Muderis graduated from Baghdad College High School (The American Jesuit) in 1991. He studied medicine at Baghdad University from 1991 to 1997.

Forced to flee Iraq as a first year resident, Munjed travelled to Australia via Christmas Island, then spent 10 months in detention at the Curtin Detention Centre, stripped of his identity and assigned a number. It was an experience he describes as ‘hell on earth’ and only improved when he was sent to solitary confinement in prison, having questioned the treatment of refugees within the detention centre.

Finally released in 2000, Munjed pursued his dream of becoming an orthopaedic surgeon. In 2004, he was accepted into the Australian Orthopaedic Training program, and he obtained his surgical fellowship in 2008.

Munjed commenced his private practice in 2010 and specialises in hip, knee, trauma and osseointegration surgery. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and Chairman of the Osseointegration Group of Australia, he is at the fore of ground-breaking advances in orthopaedics and prosthetic limbs.

His pioneering technology has been used to enable amputees to live more mobile lives, giving Australian and British soldiers who have lost their legs the ability to walk again. He has also used his expertise to help people back in his old country. In 2017, in response to a request from the Australian government, he travelled back to Iraq with a team of volunteers to perform life changing osseointegration surgery that gave war amputees a second chance. His story was presented on ABC’s Foreign Correspondent.

In 2014 his memoir Walking Free was published by Allen and Unwin, and his second book Going Back was published in early 2019.

A/Prof Munjeb Al Muderis talks about:

  • Munjed’s story – Munjed tells his story about his journey as a refugee to Australia, describing the challenges he faced on this journey, the importance of resilience and the holding on to life goals.
  • Osseointegration – The history of osseointgration, what it means for amputees and where the future is headed.
  • Animal Kingdom – The journey of junior medical staff to medical specialists.
  • Wheel of Fortune – An overview of Munjed’s story and his current life – how things can change so quickly and how we cope.

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