Before we plan the operation.
What do you need your shoulder to do?
A guided patient system with five named phases, named contacts at every step, and written plans you can read at home. The shoulder you need back is the one that serves your life.
Hear it directly.
Dr Coory explains his approach to shoulder and upper limb conditions — and what to expect from the Guided Patient System.
Shoulder surgery is not a sub-interest. It is the practice.
A subspecialty shoulder practice on the Sunshine Coast, operating inside a guided patient system.
The shoulder is the most mobile joint in the body, and the one most likely to mislead both patient and surgeon when it goes wrong. Dr Coory has built his practice around the careful management of shoulder problems - the rotator cuff that won't sleep at night, the recurrent dislocator in their early twenties, the arthritic shoulder that has finally lost its lift.
He performs the full contemporary range of shoulder surgery: arthroscopic (keyhole) cuff and labral repair, anatomic and reverse total shoulder replacement, and complex revision arthroplasty - with CT-based pre-operative planning across the spectrum, and Mako haptic-guided robotic burring for selected reverse cases.
He also operates routinely on the elbow (cubital tunnel release for ulnar nerve compression) and on the wrist and hand - endoscopic carpal tunnel release and open reduction internal fixation (ORIF) of distal radius fractures.
The clinical work is held inside a coordinated patient pathway: five named phases, named contacts at each step, written plans before every milestone. You will know where you are.
The Oxford Shoulder Score.
A validated 12-question self-assessment of how your shoulder is affecting daily life. Useful baseline before a consultation - and worth retaking after physiotherapy, injection or surgery to see if it has helped. Runs entirely in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.
Score bands
Significant daily limitation. Night pain usually present. Difficulty with basic tasks such as dressing, reaching, and carrying. A consultation with a shoulder specialist is strongly recommended.
Moderate impact on daily life. Overhead activities and sleeping are often affected. A clinical assessment would clarify options - physiotherapy, injection, or surgical review.
Mild-to-moderate symptoms. Some activities affected but most day-to-day function preserved. Physiotherapy and activity modification are usually the right first step.
Good shoulder function with minimal limitation. A useful benchmark to return to after treatment - retaking the score shows whether physiotherapy, injection or surgery has made a measurable difference.
From the cuff that won't heal to the shoulder that won't lift.
Rotator cuff tear
Partial, full-thickness and massive tears - assessment, when to repair, and what the evidence really says.
Read more ShoulderFrozen shoulder
Adhesive capsulitis - natural history, hydrodilatation, capsular release and the question everyone asks: how long?
Read more ShoulderShoulder instability
Dislocation, subluxation, Bankart and bone loss - when to operate and which stabilisation is right for you.
Read more ShoulderShoulder arthritis
Glenohumeral osteoarthritis - non-operative options through to anatomic and reverse total shoulder replacement.
Read more ShoulderAC joint injury
Separations (grades I-VI), AC joint arthritis and distal clavicle osteolysis - when surgery actually helps.
Read more ShoulderSLAP & labral tears
Superior labrum injuries, biceps anchor disease and the modern shift toward biceps tenodesis.
Read moreMako Robotic-Assisted Reverse Total Shoulder Replacement
Dr Coory was the first surgeon on the Sunshine Coast to perform Mako robotic-assisted total shoulder replacement - CT-based, patient-specific planning paired with haptic-guided burring of the glenoid, for baseplate position aligned to a 3D pre-operative plan. The Mako shoulder application is currently approved for reverse total shoulder replacement only.
Pre-operative 3D planning
A high-resolution CT scan of your shoulder is converted into a 3D model. Dr Coory plans baseplate size, version, inclination and lateralisation to the millimetre before you ever reach theatre.
More about Mako reverse TSR Why it mattersHaptic-guided glenoid burring
The humeral head is removed and the glenoid is exposed. A high-speed burr on the robotic arm enforces a 3D haptic boundary — inside it the burr cuts freely; at the planned edge, the arm pushes back. The constraint is designed to keep bone removal within the planned volume.
How the burring works Who it suitsSelected reverse candidates
The platform is approved for reverse total shoulder replacement only. Within that, suitability depends on glenoid bone stock, wear pattern, soft tissues and overall health.
Am I a candidate?Five named phases. Named contacts. Written plans.
Most patients leave their first orthopaedic consultation with more questions than they arrived with. The GPS was built to fix that. You will always know where you are.
Orientation
From the moment your referral arrives, your care coordinator has a named role. You will be contacted within one business day - not an automated response, a person who has read what you sent.
Preparation
Before you arrive in clinic, the imaging is in hand, the plan is sketched, and the appointment is built around what you need the shoulder to do. The first question is not about the MRI - it is about your life.
Intervention
If surgery is the right answer, Dr Coory performs it personally. The CT plan, the implant choice, the soft-tissue balance - the surgical plan that serves a surfer is not identical to the one that serves a plasterer, even when the anatomy looks the same.
Recovery
Rehabilitation is the operation that lasts. Your treating physiotherapist receives a procedure-specific written protocol on the day of surgery. Reviews are at protocol-defined milestones: 1 week, 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, 12 months.
Lifestyle Design
The measure of recovery is not the post-op X-ray. It is the Monday morning. What can you do now that you could not do before? That is the standard. Phase 5 is the philosophy that governs everything before it.
Elbow and selected hand surgery.
Dr Coory manages the conditions that share the same fellowship-trained instinct for the upper limb.
Elbow conditions & surgery
Tennis & golfer's elbow, cubital tunnel syndrome, ulnar nerve decompression.
Explore the elbow Hand & WristEndoscopic carpal tunnel release
A keyhole alternative to the traditional open release - smaller scar, earlier return to grip, same long-term result.
Read more Hand & WristCarpal tunnel syndrome
Numbness, night pain, weakness - diagnosis, conservative management and when surgery becomes the right answer.
Read more Hand & Wrist · FractureDistal radius ORIF
Volar locking-plate fixation of the displaced wrist fracture - day case, early hand-therapy mobilisation, plate stays.
Read moreBuilt for the GPs and physiotherapists of the Sunshine Coast.
Dr Coory's practice depends on referrers who trust the pathway. The GP & referrer hub includes:
- When-to-refer flowcharts for the common shoulder complaints (cuff, instability, arthritis, frozen shoulder)
- An MBS imaging cheat-sheet for shoulder ultrasound, MRI and CT - and what each rules in/out
- Procedure-specific physiotherapy protocols (downloadable PDFs)
- Direct-to-rooms phone and fax line for urgent referrals, fractures and acute traumatic dislocation
- Letterhead referral template, pre-filled
Consulting and operating across the Sunshine Coast.
Where you will see Dr Coory
Birtinya: Suite 12, Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital, 3 Doherty Street
Maroochydore: Level 9, Maroochy Private Hospital, 12 Future Way
Phone: 07 5493 8038
Sunshine Coast University Private Hospital
A principal site for shoulder arthroplasty, complex arthroscopy and inpatient cases. Mako platform installed. Birtinya, 3 Doherty Street.
Buderim Private Hospital
Home of the Mako robotic-assisted reverse shoulder programme; day-surgery arthroscopy, soft-tissue work and the endoscopic carpal tunnel list.
Maroochy Private Hospital
The new purpose-built private hospital in Maroochydore (Fortius Hospitals, 2026). Dr Coory consults and operates here, including Mako robotic-assisted reverse shoulder replacement. 12 Future Way, Maroochydore.
Your care team
Dr Coory's practice operates inside Sunshine Coast Orthopaedic Group. From your first phone call, a named care coordinator manages your referral, appointments, imaging and hospital bookings. In theatre, the anaesthetic, nursing and physiotherapy team are shoulder-focused - the same faces, every list.
Reception: 07 5493 8038 · reception@scorthogroup.com.au
Teaching, presenting, operating.
Dr Coory contributes to the wider orthopaedic community through conference faculty roles, surgical education and ongoing research with the University of the Sunshine Coast.
Conference faculty
Between cases
Industry engagement
Guides patients come back to.
Practical answers to the questions you are actually asking — recovery timelines, cost breakdowns, surgical decision frameworks.
Rotator Cuff Surgery Recovery Timeline
From day one through twelve months — sling duration, physio milestones, return to driving, work and sport.
Read the timeline Choosing a surgeonHow to Choose a Shoulder Surgeon
What credentials to check, which questions to ask, and why subspecialty training matters more than advertising.
Read the guide Decision frameworkDo I Need Shoulder Surgery?
Which conditions are managed conservatively, when surgery becomes necessary, and what a specialist opinion involves.
Read the guide