Mr Michael Barnes was born and educated in Auckland and graduated from the Auckland University School of Medicine in 1980 then completed his Orthopaedic Surgical Training in New Zealand and was admitted to Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1987. He spent two years of further Post Graduate Training as a Spine Fellow in Australia and the United States (Texas, Atlanta).
Since returning to New Zealand in 1990 Mr Barnes initially worked as a Consultant Orthopaedic and Spine Surgeon at Auckland Hospital and a Consultant Spine Deformity Surgeon at Middlemore Hospital. He then established the Scoliosis Service at Starship Children's Hospital where he performed all the spine surgery for ten years and worked as a Spine Surgeon for a total of 18 years.
He has written chapters in surgical text books and published articles on Orthopaedic and Spine Surgery in the most prestigious Orthopaedic and Spine Journals. He has received numerous awards including the prestigious ABC Travelling Fellowship and until recently was the Chairman of Training for Orthopaedic Surgeons in New Zealand.
Currently his Medical Practice is devoted entirely to conditions of the spine and he is in full-time Private Practice at Michael Barnes in Newmarket, Auckland.