Dr Malcolm Barlow

Dr Barlow is a Cardiologist with experience in electrophysiology, performing ablations for cardiac arrhythmias and device implantation and follow up.

Having attended secondary school in Melbourne, Malcolm attended medical school at the University of Melbourne. After internship at the Austin Hospital, he undertook specialist physician training in General Medicine, working at the Austin and Repatriation general Hospitals, St. Vincent's Hospital, and Box Hill Hospital. After a short time working as a general physician, he decided to specialise in Cardiology, and completed training in this speciality at the Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide.

Dr Barlow then spent 3 1/2 years undertaking sub-specialty training in cardiac electrophysiology and pacing in Canada. The first 2 years were at St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver, with Drs Charlie Kerr and John Yeung. The last 1 1/2 years I trained at the London Health Sciences Unit in Ontario, with Drs George Klein, Raymond Yee, Andrew Krahn and Allan Skanes.

These were high-volume specialist training centres, serving sizeable areas and populations. Accordingly, he was exposed to a large and varied number of arrhythmias. During training Dr Barlow was the primary proceduralist in >600 electrophysiological and >300 pacing procedures.

After returning from Canada in 2000 Dr Barlow took up a full-time staff specialist position at the John Hunter Hospital. He is, and has been for many years, the Director of Electrophysiology and Pacing at JHH. He is also a conjoint senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle.

Starting in 2000, Malcolm was one of the first in Australia to perform ablation for atrial fibrillation (AF). He has ensured that his technique has remained up to date, by travelling as required to leading EP centres, including (but not limited to) Bordeaux (Michel Haissaguerre), Milan (Carlo Pappone) and Hamburg (Karl Heinz-Kuch). 

Malcolm has been a pioneer in cryoablation for arrhythmias in this country, and remain one of the most experienced operators in cryoballoon ablation for AF. He has had the privilege of training a large proportion of the electrophysiologists in this country in this technique.

Malcolm's expertise is not limited to AF ablation, and he has continued to perform electrophysiological procedures for other indications including supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter, atrial tachycardia and ventricular tachycardia. He is also experienced in paediatric catheter ablation for supraventricular tachycardias and Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, beginning from his early training in Vancouver and continuing through to the present day in regular sessions at JHH.

In addition to the routine implant of pacemakers and defibrillators, including biventricular devices, Malcolm has recently begun implanting subcutaneous defibrillators for specific indications.

Since 2002, Dr Barlow been working part-time in private practice. Malcolm's rooms are located in Croudace House in New Lambton Heights.