In his previous assignment as a consultant surgeon at the St. Franciscus Gasthuis teaching hospital in Rotterdam (The Netherlands), he also was the Head of Surgery and the lead in the high volume bariatric unit (2002-2014). He did his surgical training including a surgical oncological fellowship at the renowned Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven (The Netherlands), where he obtained extensive experience in the complex surgical treatment of locally advanced and locally recurrent rectal cancers.

His total surgical experience of 10000 minimal invasive bariatric procedures, including the whole spectrum of bariatric revisional procedures, makes him one of the most experienced bariatric surgeons in the Gulf region. Besides that he has vast experience in oncological surgery including over 1000 performed laparoscopic colorectal procedures, laparoscopic gastric cancer resections and adrenalectomies.

He has a strong scientific background and was principal investigator in multiple Dutch government registered randomised controlled trials, leading to over 70 publications. Heobtained a PhD on the multimodal treatment of locally advanced rectal and locally recurrent rectal cancer (ISBN 90-367-1418-4).