Team CQOSM
Dr Willem J Pretorius
MB.CHB (UFOFS) MMED (UP) FRACS
Dr. Pretorius was born on a rural property in South Africa, many moons ago. During the final year of his medical degree in 1987 at the University of the Free State, he discovered his love for Orthopaedics.
He completed his Orthopaedic degree at the University of Pretoria in 1997. After that he spent another year finessing his adult reconstruction (shoulder, hip and knee arthroplasty) and sports medicine (shoulder- and knee arthroscopic and reconstruction surgery) skills at 1 Military Hospital in Pretoria. He ventured into Private Practice in 1998 at the “Wilgers” Private Hospital in Pretoria where he later met the love of his life and now wife. He and his family moved to Rockhampton in December 2005. He started working for the Mater Hospital in private practice in 2006. He gained his Fellowship in Orthopaedics from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2007 and also welcomed his second son into the world. In 2018 he ventured out on his own and started his own private practice – Central Queensland Orthopaedics and Sports Medicine (CQOSM).
Most weekends you will find him on the gholf course with his mates, or nowadays as the only pit crew member for one of his boys on the Go Kart track. He has an infinite passion for learning and is constantly reading or watching videos about research, techniques and development in Orthopaedics. He loves what he does and regularly tells his boys how important it is to do what you love. He’s also not too shabby as a sous chef in the kitchen and knows his way around a barbeque.
Membership and Qualifications
Our Staff
We have a small, but mighty team here at CQOSM, but what they lack in size, they make up for in passion, dedication and compassion.
Melissa Armstrong
Practice Manager
Melissa is the full-time practice manager at CQOSM. She has been a part of Dr. Pretorius’s work family for nearly a decade. She’s a courageous and kind- hearted lady that grew up in Rocky. She knows her way around the medical community of which she’s been a part of since she left school. She has a Certificate III in Business – Medical Administration. Since she’s been part of our team, we’ve seen her get married and build a beautiful family. She’s the proud mum of two gorgeous little ones that keep her on her toes.
She is very organized and knows the ins and outs of our Orthopaedic practice as well as all the relevant hospital admin and procedures. She takes pride in making everything run on well-oiled wheels and loves to make every part of the process for our patients as easy as possible.
Sharon Case
Medical Receptionist
Sharon is our full-time medical receptionist here at CQOSM. She’s been part of Dr. Pretorius’s work family for so long, that she’s basically part of the inventory. You won’t find a more local lady than her. She was born in Rocky and raised three beautiful children here. She’s an extremely proud grandmother of two gorgeous grandbabies. She loves everything French and is very well traveled. She could probably give you some great advice on your next holiday.
She’s a vibrant and compassionate lady, that’s been part of the local healthcare community for the last 20+ years. She worked at the Mater Hospital before she started helping out at the practice and eventually decided that it’s not too bad to stick with us. With her wealth of knowledge and hospital experience, our patients could not be in better hands throughout their treatment process.
