Breast Endocrine Surgery
We care for people requiring breast and endocrine procedures.
What we do
The Breast and Endocrine Unit is Australia’s most established oncoplastic breast centre.
We provide a tertiary referral service for complex benign and malignant breast and endocrine conditions for individuals both in South Australia and interstate, as well as patients referred from rural and remote areas.
The RAH Breast Clinic provides comprehensive diagnostic services including a “one-stop” radiology (mammography / breast ultrasound) and biopsy service. Breast magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is available at the RAH for selected patients.
Services include:
- adrenal lesions
- breast reduction
- One Stop Breast Clinic
- parathyroid disease
- thyroid disease.
All unit surgeons provide oncoplastic breast surgery including:
- skin and nipple-sparing mastectomy
- tissue expander reconstruction
- direct-to-implant (DTI) reconstruction
- Latissimus Dorsi reconstruction
- therapeutic mammaplasty
- perforator flap partial breast reconstruction.
In addition to the provision of specialist breast and endocrine surgical services, surgical staff participate in the emergency general surgery and trauma on-call roster.
Where to find us
Outpatient clinic, Level 3 (ground floor), Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Check appointment information and screens on arrival at the RAH, for the specific location.
Who we are
Consultants
- Dr Melissa Bochner – Head of Unit
You need a referral from a GP or medical practitioner to access this service.
Once your referral has been received it will be triaged according to clinical urgency.
If your referral is accepted, you will either:
- receive a letter, phone call or text message confirming your appointment time, date and location
- receive a letter confirming you have been waitlisted for an appointment.
If the referral is declined, your GP or referring medical practitioner will be notified.
Outpatient services
Find out information about specialist outpatient appointments, how to be referred, plus information when attending an outpatient clinic.
Your outpatient appointment
Contact us to:
- change your appointment time
- cancel your appointment
- find out triage status
- general outpatient enquiries.
If you need to cancel or change your appointment time, let us know as soon as possible.
Preparing for surgery
The healthier you are going into surgery, the stronger you will be coming out. Find tips and resources to help you get ready for surgery.
We accept GP and specialist referrals to this service.
eReferrals are preferred.
To ensure timely triage, include all demographic and clinical details.
The service triages referrals according to clinical urgency.
REFERRAL GUIDELINES REQUIRED - IS IT ON CPC? OTHERWISE, REQUIRE GUIDELINES TO PUT ON THE PAGE
Urgent and serious referrals
If you are concerned about the appointment being delayed or if the patient's condition is deteriorating, contact the registrar to discuss.
Registrars are on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Patients requiring immediate assessment should be sent directly to the Emergency Department.
Discharge guidelines
Patients whose medical condition has stabilised or resolved, and where no further appointment has been made, will be formally discharged.
If medical assessment is required again, a new referral should be made explaining the reason.
Find out about research and education opportunities within the Breast Endocrine Surgery Unit.
The Unit has a strong history of contributing to national and international clinical trials in breast cancer.
We work closely with Medical Oncology and Radiation Oncology, providing patients with the opportunity to participate in numerous clinical trials assessing new breast cancer treatments.
The Unit also has a longstanding history in clinical and translational research, having published hundreds of articles in scientific journals relating to new advances in breast and endocrine surgery.
The Unit is accredited as a post for intern training (CEPTSA), pre-fellowship surgical training (RACS SET training) and by BreastSurgANZ for post-fellowship training in breast and endocrine surgery.
Trainees working on the unit will be responsible to the Head of Unit and can expect significant exposure and training in:
- management of both benign and malignant breast disease
- experience in level I and level II oncoplastic breast surgery (including skin-sparing mastectomy, tissue expander reconstruction, DTI reconstruction, Latissimus Dorsi and TRAM Flap reconstruction, therapeutic mammoplasty, perforator flap partial breast reconstruction etc.)
- experience in endocrine surgery (including thyroid surgery, neck dissection, minimally invasive parathyroid surgery and adrenal surgery)
- emergency general surgery
- breast/thyroid ultrasound
- teaching and training of junior staff
- conduct research with the aims of publication in peer-reviewed journals and presenting papers at national/international meetings
- outpatient clinics in both specialist breast (1-2 per week) and endocrine surgery (1 per week)
- multidisciplinary meetings for both breast and endocrine cases
- multidisciplinary clinics at BreastScreen SA
The Breast Endocrine Fellow position is funded by the Surgical Specialties Directorate as a senior registrar with terms and conditions in accordance with the South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. The Fellow provides remote call for the unit’s emergency commitments.
At the end of their year the Fellow can expect to gain confidence in managing high volume elective and complex breast and endocrine cases, and to develop well rounded evidence-based decision-making skills.
The Unit is accredited as a post for intern training (CEPTSA), pre-fellowship surgical training (RACS SET training) and by BreastSurgANZ for post-fellowship training in breast and endocrine surgery.
Trainees working on the unit will be responsible to the Head of Unit and can expect significant exposure and training in:
- The management of both benign and malignant breast disease
- Experience in level I and level II oncoplastic breast surgery (including skin-sparing mastectomy, tissue expander reconstruction, DTI reconstruction, Latissimus Dorsi and TRAM Flap reconstruction, therapeutic mammoplasty, perforator flap partial breast reconstruction etc.)
- Experience in endocrine surgery (including thyroid surgery, neck dissection, minimally invasive parathyroid surgery and adrenal surgery)
- Emergency general surgery
- Breast/thyroid ultrasound
- Teaching and training of junior staff
- Conduct research with the aims of publication in peer-reviewed journals and presenting papers at national/international meetings
- Outpatient clinics in both specialist breast (1-2 per week) and endocrine surgery (1 per week)
- Multidisciplinary meetings for both breast and endocrine cases
- Multidisciplinary clinics at BreastScreen SA
The Breast Endocrine Fellow position is funded by the Surgical Specialties Directorate as a senior registrar with terms and conditions in accordance with the South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. The Fellow provides remote call for the unit’s emergency commitments. At the end of their year the Fellow can expect to gain confidence in managing high volume elective and complex breast and endocrine cases, and to develop well rounded evidence-based decision-making skills.