Paediatric orthopaedic surgery from Switzerland to Melbourne with Associate Professor Erich Rutz

Associate Professor Erich Rutz is a Swiss-trained paediatric orthopaedic surgeon. For 15 years, he worked at the University Children’s Hospital in Basel, Switzerland, where he was Head of their Neuromuscular Hip Surgery Program and Gait Laboratory. Then, in April 2020, Erich was recruited to the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne to commence as a consultant paediatric orthopaedic surgeon and the Director of the RCH Hugh Williamson Gait Laboratory. While Erich is an expert in the surgical correction of musculoskeletal deformities suffered by children with cerebral palsy, he is also a very accomplished researcher and in March 2022, he became the inaugural Bob Dickens Chair of Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgery at The University of Melbourne. Erich’s research interests are directed toward understanding complex gait disorders and in the future he hopes to improve the management and functional outcomes for children with cerebral palsy.