Our doctors – three of Sydney’s leading urogynaecologists
Professor ANDREW KORDA AM
AM MA MBBS MHL FRCOG FRANZCOG CU
Prof Korda currently performs Urodynamic testing at the Newtown, Bankstown & St Leonards rooms.
Andrew Korda is currently Conjoint Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Western University, Sydney. He is Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board at the Sydney Day Surgery, and Trustee of the Australian Bladder Foundation.
He has in the past been Lecturer in Gynaecology at the University of Sydney, Chairman of the Pelvic Floor Unit at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Senior Gynaecological Surgeon at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
He is a past Chairman of the Urogynaecological Subspecialty Committee of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Associate Editor of the International Urogynaecological Journal, Chief Examiner in Urogynaecology of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Examiner for the Membership in the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, Head of the Department of Gynaecology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He has been involved in numerous RANZCOG educational activities over the years.
Andrew Korda is a graduate in Medicine from the University of Sydney (MB BS). He is a Fellow of the RANZCOG (FRANZCOG) with Certification in Urogynaecology (CU) and is a Fellow of the Australian College of Legal Medicine (FACLM). He holds Masters’ degrees in Arts and Health Law from the University of Sydney.
Andrew Korda is currently involved in four significant professional activities: membership of the faculty of medicine and Western University Sydney School of Medicine; running a private general gynaecological and urogynaecological practice at the Royal Prince Alfred Medical Centre and running urodynamic diagnostic services in six major centres in Sydney: Newtown, St Leonards, Chatswood, Bankstown, Liverpool and Penrith.
Andrew Korda was awarded the Mabel Elizabeth Leaver Prize for Obstetrics and the Aisling Memorial Society Prize by the University of Sydney; was Chenhall Travelling Fellow in Gynaecology and recipient of the Searle Travelling Fellowship.
He has held research and consultant positions in Sydney, Oxford (UK), Banbury (UK) and New York (USA).
He has published extensively in the medical literature on pelvic floor and urinary dysfunction in women, is the author of ninety-eight original articles in refereed journals and chapters in books.
He is a member of the International Urogynaecological Association, International Continence Society, the Urodynamics Society, the Australian Medical Association and the Medico legal Society of New South Wales.
Andrew Korda has had many years experience in medico-legal work, providing independent medico-legal opinions to plaintiff and defence lawyers and is accredited to give medico-legal opinion in general gynaecology and urogynaecology by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
View Dr Korda’s LinkedIn profile here.
Dr Korda is also has a wikipedia page.
Associate Professor CHRISTOPHER BENNESS
MBBS MD FRCOG FRANZCOG CU
Prof Benness currently performs Urodynamic testing at the Newtown, Chatswood & Liverpool rooms
Christopher Benness is an Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Sydney and is Head of the Urogynaecology Unit at The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney where he is a Senior Gynaecological Surgeon. He is Chairman of the Urogynaecology Committee for The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and is Head of the Department of Gynaecology at the Mater Hospital. Professor Benness is an examiner in Urogynaecology for The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He is active in research and teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and has many scientific publications.
He is a past Chairman of the Medical Board at The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and also past Chairman of the NSW Regional Committee of The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. He has previously been Head of Department of Gynaecology at The Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Professor Benness was also previously the Australian representative on the Board of the International Urogynaecological Association. He was an inaugural member of the Urogynaecological Society of Australasia and served on its first Board. Professor Benness is a Director of Sydney Urodynamic Centres. He continues to have an active clinical practise in Urogynaecology and general Gynaecology, working in both the public and private health sectors.
Christopher is a graduate of The University of Sydney and is a Fellow of both the Australian and UK Royal Colleges of Obstetrics and Gynaecology. He is one of only 41 Certified Urogynaecologists in Australia, having trained in both London and Sydney. His MD Thesis with the University of Sydney was on `Steroid Hormones and Female Lower Urinary Tract Dysfunction’.
The use of mesh in pelvic surgery has been a prominent issue in recent years. Professor Benness has made presentations to the National Senate Enquiry regarding this matter, on behalf of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, and also to the South Australian Senate Enquiry. He is accredited to both insert and remove mesh and is Head of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Pelvic Mesh Service. He is a member of the NSW Health Department’s, `Transvaginal Mesh Taskforce’.
Professor Benness has a strong interest in training specialists from the developing world in Urogynaecology. To this end there have been gynaecologists from Indonesia, the Philippines, Hong Kong, India and Jordan come to train at the Urogynaecology Unit at RPAH. Professor Benness has also operated and taught in Indonesia, the Philippines, Jordan, Nepal, Ghana and Tanzania, including participating in fistula treatment camps in Africa.
Christopher is married to Linda, a family medical practitioner and two of his three sons are doctors.
Professor HANS PETER DIETZ
MD PhD FRANZCOG DDU CU
Prof Dietz currently performs Urodynamic testing at the Penrith & Liverpool rooms
Prof. Hans Peter Dietz was born in Tuebingen, Germany, in 1963. After Primary and Secondary School he studied Medicine at Heidelberg University, Germany. He graduated in 1988 and obtained an MD at Heidelberg University in 1989.
After emigrating to New Zealand in 1990, he arrived in Australia in 1997 and completed his FRANCOG training in 1998 at Royal Women’s Hospital, Brisbane, Queensland. Between 1999 and 2002, Dr Dietz undertook urogynaecology subspeciality training in Sydney at the Royal Hospital for Women, St Vincent’s Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and obtained a PhD with the University of New South Wales in 2003.
Former Professor of O/G at the University of Sydney (2008-2021). He is Editor of ‘Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology’ and Associate Editor of the ‘Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology’. He is active in a number of national and international scientific societies such as CFA, RANZCOG, IUGA and ISUOG and has published 260 peer-reviewed papers (H factor 56), and 14 book chapters, the vast majority relating to ultrasound imaging in Urogynaecology. He has been active in urogynaecological imaging research since 1986. Since 2002 he has organised over 50 imaging workshops at urogynaecological and imaging meetings.
His current research interests include imaging in urogynaecology, pregnancy and childbirth- related pelvic floor trauma and the ethics of professional conduct, in particular as regards the industry- research interface. He is married with two sons and lives in the Blue Mountains west of Sydney, Australia.
Associate Professor CLARA (Ka Lai) SHEK
PhD FRANZCOG FRCOG FHKCOG
Dr Shek currently performs Urodynamic testing at the Liverpool & Bankstown rooms
Dr Ka Lai (Clara) Shek is Chinese and born and raised in Hong Kong. After graduating from the University of Hong Kong, she started specialty training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Tuen Mun Hospital in the New Territories, a tertiary institution serving a population of more than one million. She undertook subspecialty training in Urogynaecology at the same location and became an accredited Urogynaecologist in Hong Kong in 2005. Dr Shek came to Australia in 2006 to undertake a PhD in Medicine with the University of Sydney. The subject of her thesis was the effects of childbirth on the pelvic floor. She completed her thesis and was awarded her PhD in 2010. Her research interests include pelvic floor imaging, the effects of childbirth on pelvic floor structure and function and slings and mesh implants used in pelvic reconstructive surgery. Currently she is a member of the Editorial Board of the Australian and New Zealand Continence Journal and is Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the Western Sydney University.
In 2012 she was appointed as senior lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the Nepean Clinical School, University of Sydney. In 2013 Dr Shek was apointed as Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology with the University of Western Sydney, Liverpool and Campbelltown campuses.