Meet Dr Nikhil Mahajan, Townsville’s new transplant surgeon

An Indian doctor and transplant surgeon has become the latest, key piece to be added to Townsville University Hospital’s unopened Kidney Transplant Service.

Transplant surgeon Dr Nikhil Mahajan is the latest addition to Townsville University Hospital's staff.

A desire to be part of ‘creating history’ has sparked the latest addition to Townsville University Hospital and brought the hospital’s Kidney Transplant Service one massive step closer to becoming reality.

Dr Nikhil Mahajan, who was born and raised in India before plying his trade at John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, had returned to his homeland for a workshop when he saw the transplant surgeon position in Townsville being advertised.

“I called my wife and told her I had just seen a job that completely aligned with my specialty and was an opportunity to set up a new unit, something that comes along once in a lifetime,” Dr Mahajan said.

“I wanted to be part of creating history.”

Dr Mahajan’s experience includes twelve years as an active transplant surgeon, having gained vital, hands-on experience during his years of study.

Transplant surgeon Dr Nikhil Mahajan is the latest addition to Townsville University Hospital's staff.

“I trained at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh,

one of most prestigious and busiest public transplant centres of the country,” Dr Mahajan said.

“This institute is the best in India for transplant training doing around 300 transplants each year.

“As the majority of transplants in India are from living donors, it gave me the opportunity to get trained in laparoscopic donor nephrectomy a skill very difficult to attain in Australia which has a limited number of living donor surgeries.”

Despite coming to Australia to pursue a fellowship opportunity initially, Dr Mahajan had never planned to settle here initially, but fate had other designs in mind.

“I wanted to work and serve in India,” Dr Mahajan said.

“Little did I know back then that destiny had different plans for me and here I am.”

Despite finding himself in a new home abroad, Dr Mahajan is intent on staying true to his desire to serve the community, saying he’s looking forward to working with his first patient in North Queensland.

“The opportunity to make a difference in patients’ lives was a major drawcard for Townsville,” he said.

“The feeling of giving back to the community is so important to me and being a transplant surgeon helps me achieve that even more as it, quite literally, means giving people back their lives.

“The team here has been so welcoming, and they have done so much hard work in developing this service and I’m very excited for the future and our first patient.”

The Kidney Transplant Service is set to open in the coming months, with recruitment still ongoing.

Originally published as Meet Dr Nikhil Mahajan, Townsville’s new transplant surgeon