From Queen’s University, Porter attended the University of Alberta where he received a Master’s in Medical Sciences (epidemiology) in 1996 and completed a five-year residency in General Surgery in 1998. He came to the Department of Surgery at Dalhousie University in 2000 after completing a two-year fellowship in Surgical Oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas

Porter is currently a Professor in the Department of Surgery as well as in the Department of Community Health and Epidemiology at Dalhousie, and holds the Gibran and Jamile Ramia Chair in Surgical Oncology Research. In addition, Porter is the Expert Lead, Clinical Care at the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC), Canada’s national cancer control organization. He also serves as Director of the Cancer Outcomes Research Unit in Halifax, where he has worked to generate standard research metrics in the forms of publications and grants, as well as significant knowledge translation and exchange activities, resulting in tangible clinical change. He has served in many other administrative roles, including as the Head of the Cancer Care Program in Halifax, as well as the Chair of Surgical Quality Control for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). His research interests are broadly categorized as cancer health services research related with a specific focus on cancer surgery. Porter has published more than 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, has made over 150 peer reviewed and invited scientific presentations, and has contributed chapters to several textbooks related to cancer.