Robert Howells studied medicine at the University of Melbourne, graduating in 1985. He worked as an intern and surgical resident at the Austin Hospital, and was a registrar on the Victorian orthopaedic surgery training program from 1989-1992. He became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in January 1993.

Rob undertook further postgraduate training working as an orthopaedic / joint replacement fellow at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, in the UK in 1993. In 1994, he worked at The Lipscomb Clinic at Saint Thomas Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, obtaining an Arthroscopy Association of North America (AANA) fellowship in arthroscopic surgery and sports medicine.

Rob Howells returned to Melbourne in 1995, and has worked as an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon at the Alfred (to January 2005) and Box Hill Hospitals (to the present day).

Rob's private surgical practice at the Park Clinic specialises in surgery of the hip, knee and shoulder, with particular expertise in arthroscopic surgery and reconstructive techniques. He has extensive experience in joint replacement surgery, including revision surgery for loose or worn implants. Rob performs around 1000 operative procedures each year in his public and private practice.

Rob maintains a keen interest in sports medicine and has treated the spectrum of athletes, from professionals to recreational weekend warriors.