Universe is a general surgeon operating on Auckland's North Shore, with appointments at Waitemata DHB in public and in private at three locations: Harbour Surgery Centre at Southern Cross North Harbour, The Doctors New Lynn, and Greenlane Medical Specialists. Virtual appointments via Zoom or phone also available.
At the Harbour Surgery Centre at Wairau, Universe works with a team of two other experienced general and upper gastrointestinal surgeons. Urgent appointments within 24hrs can be offered at this location.
Universe is a subspecialty trained hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and upper gastrointestinal (UGI) surgeon. He undertook fellowships in NZ, USA, Australia, and France. He is an accredited fellow of the Australian and New Zealand HPB Assocation (AANZHPBA). In his public appointment, he is a keen educator and trains general surgeons as well as HPB surgeons.
Universe treats a variety of benign and malignant conditions. Benign conditions include hernias, gallstones, liver and pancreatic cysts, and acid reflux. Malignant diseases include pancreas cancer, gastric cancer, neuroendocrine tumours of the GI tract, gastrointestinal stromal tumours, and liver and biliary cancers. He has an interest and higher training in minimally invasive HPB surgery including advanced laparoscopy, and is a pioneer in robotic HPB surgery in NZ.
Universe speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese. Chinese speaking receptionists are available at the New Lynn and Greenlane Medical Specialists locations.
What is General Surgery?
The role of the general surgeon varies, but in broad terms general surgery can be said to deal with a wide range of conditions within the abdomen, breast, neck, skin and, often, the vascular (blood vessel) system.
While the name would suggest that the focus of general surgery is to perform operations, often this is not the case. Many patients are referred to surgeons with conditions that do not need surgical procedures, but merely require counselling or medical treatment.
