Dr. Paul Trotman wears many hats. He’s a medical doctor, writer, producer, photographer and cartoonist. While he has a strong background in the entertainment arts, Dr. Trotman also in a seasoned doctor, having extensive experience with family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, urology, surgery, orthopedics, geriatrics and coronary care.
Working at multiple hospitals over the past two decades in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Dr. Trotman served in many roles, including senior house surgeon, registrar, senior lecturer and medical officer. In addition, he was the team doctor for the 1991 World Transplant New Zealand Olympic Team and was medical advisor and researcher for Natural History New Zealand, Ltd., a production company that creates a plethora of medical/health documentaries. In addition, Dr. Trotman was a medical advisor for the Otago Settlers Museum in New Zealand, advising on its extensive collection of antique and other medical items.
In the past four years, Dr. Trotman has developed more than 14 hours of television for Discovery Health Channel, Discovery Channel and TLC, including Kill or Cure,Stomachs of Steel, Search For a Miracle, The Man Who Has Everything and Medicine at the Edge. His most recent project The Curse of the Elephant Man, which he co-produced and directed, was produced for and aired on Discovery Health Channel. This special documentary also aired on Discovery Channel, NHK (Japan) and Channel 4 UK, among other networks and was described by Simon Andrae, head of science at Channel 4 UK, as "one of the best bits of television I’ve seen." It recently won the Arte prize for best artistic film at the Villa Real Film Festival in Portugal and a bronze medal at the New York Film Festival.
Dr. Trotman’s latest project has him moving in front of the camera with an all-new series for Discovery Health Channel called Dr. Know. For this 20-part series, Dr. Trotman doubles as "Dr. Know" and debunks, deflates, discredits and demystifies medical and health myths, folk tales and truisms passed along from generation to generation. The series premieres December 27.
Recently, Dr. Trotman formed his own production company, PRN films. ‘PRN’ is the medical abbreviation for ‘take as required,’ written on prescriptions and drug charts. PRN Films delivered its first film to Television New Zealand and is commissioned for a second in 2006.
Dr. Trotman has diverse interests and accomplishments, which include multiple publications of his cartoons in New Zealand, the United States and the United Kingdom, including in the coveted Private Eye magazine. His photographs have appeared on posters, flyers and in numerous glossy magazines and newspapers around the world and have been exhibited in galleries in New Zealand, Japan, London and Edinburgh. He has written and produced theater in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and for the Edinburgh Festival, and he has written sit-com for BBC radio.
Working in hospitals around New Zealand and the United Kingdom since he graduated, Dr. Trotman now holds a part time job in the emergency departments at Oamaru and Dunedin hospitals in New Zealand, which has allowed him to pursue a career in television and other areas of interest. Interestingly, Dr. Trotman has an extensive collection of electric shocking machines, quack remedies and rather strange looking devices with nozzles.
