Doctor Michael D. Bowler

Dr. Michael Bowler was born and educated in New Zealand, attending school in Palmerston North and the University of Otago in Dunedin, where he received his dental degree in 1976. After an initial post-graduate year in Dunedin Public Hospital and the Dental Faculty in Dunedin he was awarded a University of Otago Travelling Scholarship in Dentistry. He studied and trained in the U.K. National Health Service from 1977 until 1982, holding a number of registrar and senior registrar training positions in oral and maxillofacial surgery in a variety of hospitals around the U.K. He qualified as a Fellow in Dental Surgery of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh in 1979 and a Fellow of the Faculty of Dental Surgeons of the Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland in 1982, the latter being an exit tertiary specialist qualification in oral and maxillofacial surgery in the U.K. at that time. He commenced specialist practice in Newcastle in 1984, when he was appointed to the Royal Newcastle Hospital. He is currently in private practice in Charlestown and is a Senior V.M.O. in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery with the Hunter Area Health Service. The John Hunter Hospital, to which he is attached, is the only major trauma hospital between Sydney and Brisbane and sees a significant number of maxillofacial injuries each year. Dr. Bowler’s main interests are in the fields of maxillofacial trauma, temporomandibular joint disorders, facial deformity surgery and implants, particularly difficult cases involving bone grafts. Like most oral and maxillofacial surgeons he carries out a broad range of minor oral surgical procedures as well. He was appointed as a consultant in oral and maxillofacial surgery to the Royal Australian Army in 1991 and holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He has lectured extensively on a wide range of subjects in Australia, New Zealand and overseas. In 1993 he was appointed as the A.D.A. Touring Post-Graduate Lecturer for NSW and the ACT. He has attended numerous courses and conferences overseas and is very conscious of the need to stay up-to-date in his field. He has also worked in a number of developing countries, in particular Bangladesh, where he has operated and lectured. He has served on numerous committees, both in the public and private hospitals in Newcastle and also in the Australian and New Zealand Association of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeons (ANZAOMS) where he has served at both state and federal level. He was elected to the Board of Studies for Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons in 2003.