Dr Carrie Kollias MD FRCSC FRACS MBA
Dr. Carrie Kollias is an award-winning children’s author and Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeon at BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. She previously served as Deputy Director of Orthopaedics at Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne. She is a speaker and surgeon health researcher with experience leading national studies investigating wellness in Orthopaedic Surgery trainees and surgeons in both Canada and Australia. Carrie has a track record in leading transformation of workplace cultures and improving physician wellness. She speaks frequently on these topics.
Carrie grew up with a farming background in New Brunswick, Canada and then went onto an undergraduate degree at University of Alberta, followed by Medical School and Orthopedic training at University of Calgary. She then completed fellowships in Paediatric Orthopedics and combined Adult/Paediatric Limb Reconstruction (Limb Deformity) in Melbourne, Australia through Royal Children’s Hospital and various adult centres, where she acquired expertise in limb lengthening and deformity correction using Taylor Spatial Frame as well as other devices, under the tutelage of Dr Chris Harris and Dr Leo Donnan. Carrie is known as an innovator in systems and procedures and was the first surgeon in Canada to perform a leg lengthening using the ‘Precice’ lengthening nail (remote controlled) in 2014.
Dr Kollias is a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Canada (FRCSC) as well as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS).
Originally from New Brunswick, Canada, she worked as a consultant surgeon in southern Alberta where she built adult Limb Deformity Reconstruction and Paediatric Orthopaedic services from 2012-2018. During that time, she has served as an elected board member for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta (provincial medical regulator). Carrie returned to Melbourne to join the Orthopedic team at Royal Children’s Hospital as a consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon in early 2019, became Deputy Director of Orthopaedics in 2021, and was awarded the Tass Paxinos Award for Excellence in Orthopaedic Teaching from the Australian Orthopaedic Association in 2023. Carrie joined BC Children’s Hospital Orthopaedic Department back in Canada in 2024. Carrie currently serves as Director of Mentorship & Wellness for UBC Orthopaedics, Associate Division Head, Pediatric Orthopedics and was elected to the board of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia in 2025. She completed a Master of Business Administration from Imperial College London Business School in 2024.
Carrie’s main Orthopaedic interests include Limb Deformity Reconstruction and foot and ankle surgery. She is the author of children’s book ‘Maria’s Marvelous Bones’ (published 2018, winner of International 2019 Purple Dragonfly Book Awards (1st place in STEM, 1st place in Health), which features her two children.
A Q&A with Author Dr. Carrie Kollias
Why did you write Maria’s Marvelous Bones?
I got the idea for Maria’s Marvelous Bones nearly ten years ago when I was an orthopaedic trainee. Thousands of kids get fractures every year and I thought knowing what happens next would comfort them. As I now have my own kids, I also wanted to write a book that explained the science behind bone healing. Most children’s books about the body are quite dry and uninteresting to young readers, but my book draws them in through a narrative and educates them with accurate and age-appropriate information.
Gender and ethnic diversity within the healthcare professions is an area where we have some work do to. Orthopaedic surgery is the least diverse of all medical specialties. In the USA, only 6.1% of orthopaedic surgeons are women, and even less are visible minorities. In Maria’s Marvelous Bones, the characters come from variable demographic groups, teaming up to provide great care. I hope that kids from all cultural and social demographics will read this book and set their sights on whatever career they wish. Maybe I will even get to work with one of them someday as a future orthopaedic colleague!
How do you feel Gill Guile’s illustrations enhance Maria’s Marvelous Bones?
I was very fortunate to work with Gill on this project. She is an experienced illustrator who understood my desire for medical accuracy as well as my goal of showing diversity in members of the healthcare team. Some of the characters in this book are real people, which she captured amazingly. I also gave Gill many pictures of medical equipment and even X-rays to ensure that her drawings were accurate reflections of how we treat kids with a similar injury. I love how cute these illustrations are and am still amazed by how she was able to capture personality, especially in Maria and Taso.