Top honours have been bestowed on two Tauranga surgeons.

The Royal Australasian College of Surgeons has awarded Tauranga Hospital orthopaedic surgeon Mr Chris Dawe the ESR Hughes Medal for distinguished contributions to surgery at its annual scientific congress in Brisbane.

Mr Chris Dawe receiving his award.

'It's a very big personal honour,” says Chris.

The honour, which covers all surgical specialties, had never previously been awarded to a New Zealand orthopaedic surgeon.

'However, I see it as a collective honour for all my mentors, teachers and colleagues over the years.”

Urologist Professor Peter Gilling was walking across the hospital carpark on his way out to dinner when he got a call from the president of the Royal College.

'I thought it was a hoax,” says Peter.

Urologist Professor Peter Gilling.

It was no hoax. He had been awarded the Excellence in Surgical Research Award, an honour created to recognise significant contributions to surgical research from a pre-eminent surgical scientist. He is only the second urologist and second New Zealander to receive the award in its16-year history.

'You would expect the college to favour general surgery and orthopaedics because they are such an enormous part of the organisation and urology is a very small component.” However, Peter is still very pleased to receive the award.

Peter acknowledged the contribution of his business partner and fellow Tauranga urologist Mark Fraundorfer.

The professor has an international reputation in benign prostate hypertrophy research. He is Head of the Bay of Plenty District Health Board Clinical School and is known for his pioneering work with holmium laser prostatectomy.

His current research includes projects investigating diseases of the prostate as well as bladder and renal conditions.

Chris has been a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Tauranga Hospital since 1981 and specialises in paediatric orthopaedic surgery, deformity correction, joint replacement surgery and general orthopaedics.

Previous awards for this past president of the Paediatric Orthopaedic Society of New Zealand was the Orthopaedic Association's Presidential Medal in 2008 for his services to orthopaedics.