Dr Merten is a fully qualified plastic surgeon, trained under the auspices of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons, which is the only statutory recognised body for training of surgeons in Australia.

After completing 5 years of medical school at Sydney University, Dr Merten trained for a further 11 years to become a plastic surgeon. This included several years in general surgery, a year in academic research, as well as 5 years of dedicated plastic surgery training.

At the completion of his plastic surgery training, Dr Merten spent a further year as a Fellow in Breast Reconstruction at the University of British Columbia, Canada and as a Fellow in Aesthetic Surgery at the Melbourne Institute of Plastic Surgery and Monash University.

Dr Merten is active in the training of future plastic surgeons as well as an invited demonstrator in anatomy at the University of Sydney.

Dr Merten regulary attends conferences to keep abreast of new methods and techniques in plastic and cosmetic surgery.

Dr Merten is currently Head of Plastic Surgery at Concord Hospital, a major teaching hospital in Sydney, Chair of the NSW Chapter of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), as well as Director of Pure Aesthetics.