Dr Laurence undertook medical school, internship and junior resident training in Surgery in the United Kingdom. He subsequently came to Australia, as a Northcote Scholar, to complete a PhD focused transplantation immunology at the University of Sydney. This was followed by training in General Surgery in Australia, based at Royal Prince Alfred and Concord Hospitals. After the award of the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in the specialty of General Surgery, Dr Laurence completed a two-year post-fellowship training program in Hepatobiliary (HPB) and Upper Gastro-Intestinal (UGI) surgery in Australia. His first year was based at Westmead Hospital with an emphasis on liver, pancreas and oesophageal surgery for malignancy. During his second year, based at the Royal Brisbane Hospital, Dr Laurence received further training with an emphasis on minimally invasive techniques. Dr Laurence then relocated to Toronto to undertake a further two-year fellowship program in HPB oncology and transplantation. During this time he gained extensive experience in visceral vascular surgery techniques including complex resection and reconstruction required for advanced cancer involving major blood vessels of the abdomen.
Dr Laurence returned to Australia to practice as an UGI, HPB and transplant surgeon. He is also appointed as an Associate Professor at the RPA Institute of Academic Surgery and University of Sydney.