"You tend to think that what you do is not terribly significant.
"I’m retired now, although I still do a lot of teaching at the university.
"I guess I’ve moved on a bit in my career, so when I heard about this, it was a surprise."
The prestigious award put him in good company because it had been won by prominent surgeons around the world who were at the forefront of surgical advancement, he said.
It had also been won by non-surgical fellows, including Bob Geldof, Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter.
Mr Matheson graduated as a doctor from the University of Otago in 1973 and was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to attended the University of Oxford, where he completed a research master of science degree in articular cartilage studies.
While in the United Kingdom, he also passed Primary Fellowship surgical exams and worked in clinical orthopaedics at the Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre and John Radcliffe Hospitals.
In 1983, Mr Matheson was appointed a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at Dunedin Hospital and senior clinical lecturer at Otago University Medical School.
By 1986, he had also commenced private practice at Mercy Hospital.
Since 2001, the University of Otago orthopaedic surgery department at Dunedin Hospital has offered a yearly arthroplasty fellowship and he has helped train four Irish Fellows, three of whom are now professors of orthopaedic surgery and surgical leaders in Ireland.
He helped carry out collaborative clinical research studies with Irish surgeons, resulting in publications in peer-reviewed journals.
He also advised on setting up an Irish national joint registry, based on the successful New Zealand national Joint Registry, initiated in 1999.
"As a result, I’ve developed a close personal and professional relationship with them."
He retired from Dunedin Hospital in 2015 and private practice in 2020.
He continues to teach fifth-year medical students and postgraduate orthopaedic surgery trainees.
During the course of his career, he has been the New Zealand Knee Society president, a New Zealand Sports Medicine National Federation executive member, and New Zealand Orthopaedic Association president.
He has also received numerous University of Otago teaching awards, as well as certificates for outstanding surgical service and community service by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, the ESR Hughes Award for distinguished contributions to surgery and teaching and is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow.
