Dr John F.W. Garvey

Dr Garvey has worked as a Specialist Surgeon in private practice in Sydney for over 25 years. In December 2015, he was appointed Senior Approved Medical Specialist for the Worker's Compensation Commission of New South Wales.

He trained at St Vincent’s Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospitals in Sydney and at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. Dr Garvey undertook his basic surgical research training in the Nuffield Department of Surgery in the University of Oxford (Balliol College) under the supervision of Sir Peter Morris.

Dr Garvey consults and performs surgery on a daily basis and performs a wide range of procedures including hernia repairs, vasectomy and digestive tract endoscopies.

Digestive tract endoscopy for ulcers and cancer is a major interest and Dr Garvey regularly presents his results at peer review studies, which indicate that his technical skills and qualifications are comparable to any diagnostic Endoscopist in Sydney. Dr Garvey occasionally receives referrals for difficult patients who have previously had failed endoscopies from other centres, that require extra technical skills to have their digestive tract endoscopy successfully completed.

In addition since 1990, Dr Garvey has a specific interest in chronic groin pain and specialises in diagnosis and surgery for groin disruption in elite athletes.

In 1999 he established the Groin Pain Clinic at South Sydney Sports Medicine and this pioneering work has resulted in the restoration of many sportsmen's careers. Over 20 years, many elite athletes have been referred for treatment including international athletes, who have undergone successful surgery, and this includes many professional footballers (England Premier League - EPL) who had been unable to play (some said to be "incurable") because of untreated injuries of the groin.

Dr Garvey also undertakes medico-legal assessments and opinions and holds the qualification of Certified Independent Medical Examiner(CIME) from the American Board of Independent Medical Examiners (ABIME), indicating competence in giving an independent medico-legal opinion for Solicitors, Workers' Compensation, Third Party cases, etc. Dr Garvey is active as an Approved Medical Specialist (AMS) for State Insurance Regulatory Authority (which covers the organisations previously known as WorkCover NSW and the MAA) as well as WorkCover Tasmania.

Kristine King

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
American College of Surgeons (ACS)
The Surgical Research Society (SRS)
American Hernia Society (AHS)
European Hernia Society (EHS)
Asia-Pacific Hernia Society (APHS)
Sports Medicine Australia (SMA)
The Gastroenterological Society of Australia (GESA)
Society for Surgery of the Alimentary Tract (SSAT)
Breast Surgeons of Australia and New Zealand Incorporated (BreastSurgANZ)

Sportsman's Hernia or Groin Disruption Injury?. April 2015. 1st World Conference on Abdominal Wall Hernia Surgery. Milan, Italy.

Garvey JF, Hazard H. Sports hernia or groin disruption injury? Chronic athletic groin pain: a retrospective study of 100 patients with long-term follow-up. Hernia. 2014;18(6):815-23

Garvey JF. Sportsman's groin: reaching a consensus. Hernia. 2014;18(6):811-3.

Garvey JF. Computed tomography scan diagnosis of occult groin hernia. Hernia. 2012 Jun;16(3):307-14. Epub 2011 Dec 14.

Garvey JF, Read JW, Turner A. Sportsman hernia: what can we do? Hernia. 2010 Feb;14(1):17-25.

Sports hernia controversies and scepticism. ASPETAR - Sports Medicine Journal [Download PDF]

CHRONIC ATHLETIC GROIN PAIN One Surgeon’s Approach. ASPETAR - Sports Medicine Journal [Download PDF]