Biography

Dr. Derek Mendonca is British and American trained and a British Board Certified Plastic Surgeon [FRCS Plastic Surgery] at Al Jalila Children’s and the UAE’s first and only trained paediatric plastic surgeon and consultant. Dr. Derek completed his Specialist Registrar Plastic Surgery training at the prestigious Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom. He obtained the MRCS and FRCS (Plastic) qualification from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow, and is credentialed with the Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT) in Plastic Surgery. He did a National Interface fellowship in Cosmetic Surgery in Leicester, England where he worked at the BUPA and Nuffield private hospitals network. Dr. Derek obtained an advanced fellowship in Craniofacial and Paediatric Plastic Surgery for 1 year at Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, USA, one of America’s top three academic medical centres, whose hospitals (St. Louis Children’s and Barnes Jewish Hospital) are consistently ranked as one of America’s best hospitals.

Prior to joining Al Jalila Children’s, Dr. Derek was Consultant Paediatric Plastic Surgeon at Cambridge University Foundation Hospital in Cambridge, England. Dr. Derek established a new department of craniofacial and plastic surgery in Bangalore, India for 6 years. He was the first surgeon to introduce endoscopic craniosynostosis surgery to South Asia. Dr. Derek maintains a keen academic interest with over 30 scientific publications and is a frequent speaker at national and international plastic surgery conferences.

Dr. Derek is the author of the textbook: Childrens Plastic Surgery. He has 2 patent pending inventions in the field of cleft and craniofacial surgery, which are being further developed by the University of Cambridge. He is a reviewer and member of the Cochrane Wounds Group, Oxford and a Craniofacial surgery reviewer for two prestigious Plastic Surgery journals. Dr. Mendonca is an active member of the American Cleft Palate Craniofacial Assocation (ACPA), American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons [ASMS], British Association of Plastic Surgeons (BAPRAS), British Assocation of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS), and a full member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons,Glasgow(RCPSG).

Dr. Derek’s area of specialist interest is in complex craniomaxillofacial reconstruction, craniofacial distraction, craniosynostosis (endoscopic & open calvarial remodelling), facial fractures and trauma, cleft lip and palate surgery, full range of paediatric plastic surgery, ear and nose reconstruction, facial palsy reanimation surgery, oculoplastic surgery, paediatric hand and foot surgery and complex reconstruction surgery for burns and scars. Dr. Derek also offers expertise in congenital hand surgery, nerve surgery, brachial plexus surgery, burns and scar reconstruction and tendon transfer surgery.