Upper GI specialist surgery, right here in Cairns.
Dr Esh Jeyarajan is an Upper GI, Weight Loss and Endocrine surgeon guiding you from first consult to recovery.
Find the right care
Four specialty areas. Pick the one that sounds like you to see how Dr Esh approaches it.
Sleeve, bypass and revision surgery, matched to you and your goals.
Reflux, hiatus hernia, gallbladder, swallowing problems and more.
Thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal surgery.
Hernias, endoscopy, lumps and emergency surgery, including minimally invasive robotic and laparoscopic approaches.
Meet Dr Esh
Dr Eshwarshanker Jeyarajan, known to his patients simply as Dr Esh, is a Cairns based surgeon specialising in Upper Gastrointestinal, Weight Loss and Endocrine surgery.
He grew up in metro South East Queensland, trained around the state and first worked in Cairns more than ten years ago as a trainee. What he saw then stayed with him. There was a real gap in specialist care in the region, the kind of care he'd grown up with easy access to in the city. He decided that when he was qualified, he'd come back and help close it.
Ask him what he loves about the job and it isn't the operating.
“It's the people, and the problem in front of them.”
He likes getting to know his patients properly, their families, their lives and what they need, then solving the problem in front of them. The harder the problem, the more interesting he finds it. He gets a particular kick out of looking after people who feel stuck, who've had complications elsewhere or who've been told nothing more can be done. If something has gone wrong somewhere else, he's happy to take it on.
Trained for exactly this work
Dr Esh trained in Australia, predominantly across Queensland. He completed his general surgical training and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2019, then went on to a subspecialty fellowship in 2020 in weight loss (bariatric), upper GI and endocrine surgery.
That fellowship year is where he trained under some of the country's leading surgeons in the field. He also trained in complex upper GI cancer surgery, oesophageal and stomach surgery, and the full range of weight loss and endocrine procedures. He did all of it with one goal in mind: to bring that level of care back to Cairns.
Dr Esh is also a Board Member of ANZMOSS, the Australian and New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society, and a member of AANZGOSA, the Australia and New Zealand Gastric and Oesophageal Surgery Association.
Qualifications
Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
Subspecialty fellowship, bariatric, upper GI and endocrine surgery
Building a specialist service in the Far North
Building a service that wasn't here before
There were already plenty of specialists doing this work in the metro centres. In the Far North there were almost none. So Dr Esh coordinated with the director at the Cairns Hospital, who set up the role and helped launch the program, and he came home to build a service that hadn't existed here before.
Six years on, that unit has grown from treating almost none of this work in the public system to handling a high volume of complex upper GI, weight loss and endocrine cases, purely because of how much need was waiting in the region. He also teaches and supervises the next generation of surgical trainees, mostly in his own specialty areas.
Three things you can count on
He listens first
Consultations don't feel rushed. Questions are welcome, not a bother. You leave understanding your situation, not more confused by it.
Every option on the table
Dr Esh walks you through all your options, including the ones he wouldn't recommend, and tells you why. Then the decision is yours.
Care that doesn't stop at surgery
Reliable follow-up and a support network, so you've got a service to lean on when you need it, not a surgeon who disappears after the operation.
It starts at the first phone call
Good care, in Dr Esh's words, is patient centred and built around the individual. It starts at the very first phone call, not the operating table.
That means a management plan tailored to you and your life, not a template. It means reliable follow-up and a service you can lean on when you're not feeling well. And it means honesty. Dr Esh will explain every option, including the ones he doesn't recommend, and tell you exactly why he thinks a particular path suits you. Then he backs you to make the call.
Qualified and connected
Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS)
Board Member of ANZMOSS (Australian and New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society)
Member, ANZGOSA (Australian and New Zealand Gastric and Oesophageal Surgery Association)
GESA credentialed for Gastroscopy and Colonoscopy (Gastroenterological Society of Australia)
Member, General Surgeons Australia, and accredited supervisor of surgical trainees
Guides and information, written by Dr Esh.
Diet guides, procedure info and trusted local contacts, so you've got somewhere to turn when you get home and the questions start.
Visit the resource centre →
Not sure where to start?
Know exactly what you need, or just got a problem you want sorted? Book a consult and Dr Esh will help you work out where to go from here.