Peter Skillington received his undergraduate degree at the uni of Tasmania, graduating in 1977. He completed his Cardiothoracic Surgery Fellowship in 1987. During his cardiothoracic training, he spent time at the Alfred Hospital, Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and the Prince Charles Hospital, in Brisbane. He worked in cardiac and paediatric cardiac surgery at the Southampton General Hospital in the UK for 12 months. Then followed a six-month fellowship at the Brigham Women’s Hospital, Boston, USA followed by a further six-month fellowship at the Boston Children’s Hospital. He has been in continuous consultant cardiothoracic surgical practice at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) since 1990. Between 1990-1995, he also worked as a sessional consultant at the Royal Children’s Hospital, and his private practice has been centred around the Epworth Hospital, Richmond.
His major interests have been in aortic valve replacement, where he has pioneered the Ross procedure in Australia. His other main interest has been adult congenital cardiac surgery, where he has grown the adult congenital service at RMH to now performing approximately 60 cases per year. Between 2001 and 2003, he served as the President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons (ANZSCTS). He was one of the Founders of the ANZSCTS Cardiac Surgery Database. He occupied many positions within the Royal Australasian Cardiac Surgeons (RACS), including being Chairman of the FRACS Cardiothoracic Board of Studies. He was Director of the RMH Cardiothoracic Surgery Unit between 2020 to 2025. He continues to work at RMH in an Honorary Teaching role. He has been an author on 70 peer-reviewed publications and has given over 100 presentations at national and international meetings, as well as seven invited lectures at international meetings.
Victor Chang Memorial Lecture
A 15-year-old Victor Chang arrived in Sydney in 1951, after being sent from Hong Kong by his father, to avoid the political unrest and, to further his education. He was enrolled, as a non-English speaking student, into a local high school and by 1962 graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (Distinction in Surgery).
After university, he worked extensively in the UK, and on his return to Australia in 1972 was appointed as a cardiothoracic surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. At this time, he worked alongside eminent heart surgeons Dr Harry Windsor and Dr Mark Shanahan, helping to build the reputation of the cardiothoracic surgical unit at St Vincent’s.
He was instrumental in establishing the National Heart Transplant Program and in 1984, Dr Chang led a team at Sydney’s St Vincent’s Hospital to perform what is regarded as Australia’s first successful heart transplant.
Dr Chang's passion for his work and his Chinese heritage motivated him to lead and fund Australian teams of doctors, surgeons, and nurses to visit Asia to train and teach cutting-edge cardiovascular surgical techniques. Additionally, Asian doctors were brought to Australia to live, study and learn, returning home with greatly improved skills and an opportunity to be at the forefront of cardiovascular management.
Dr Chang was continually improving techniques used in cardiovascular surgery and the management of heart disease. He invented an artificial heart valve known as the “St Vincent’s Heart Valve” and was in the process of finalising the Chang Heart Assist Device (CHAD), an artificial heart, before he was tragically killed on 4 July 1991.
An important aspect of his work and mission continues through the Victor Chang Foundation, a charity that he established in 1984. The Foundation raises money to train heart surgeons from Asia in Australia.
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