Dr Cooter completed medical school at The University of Adelaide and then undertook a research-based Doctorate in Medicine. After further training in Adelaide and Leeds UK, he received a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS) in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Dr Cooter has held a range of professional appointments including Director of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and is currently in private practice in Adelaide with a specialist breast interest including aesthetic and reconstructive procedures and research interest in improving patients’ safety.

While President of the Australian Society of Plastic Surgeons Dr Cooter established a national registry for breast implants at Monash University in Melbourne.

He is the founder of the International Collaboration of Breast Registry Activities (ICOBRA) that now has over 20 international collaborators and the International President of ICOPLAST, an organisation of over 50 national plastic surgery societies and about 20,000 plastic surgeons.