A multidisciplinary team approach
The Melbourne Prostate Institute (MPI) takes a team approach to caring for men with prostate cancer. Based at The Alfred – a major tertiary referral and teaching hospital – the MPI is serviced by highly experienced and specialised staff, and modern cutting-edge equipment, ensuring the best possible advice, treatment, and follow-up care for men with prostate cancer problems.

MPI Radiation Oncologists, Urologists, Radiation Therapists and Physicists work together in the theatre to perform perfect implants.

MPI philosophy
There are four critical values that form the core of the MPI philosophy:

	A patient centred approach, valuing the importance of the individual patient who has presented with the prostate cancer problem.
	Technical excellence, achieved by thorough planning, a systematic approach, and an emphasis on staff training and development.
	A multidisciplinary approach, encouraging collaboration between multiple specialist groups to maximise professional expertise and ensure the best outcomes.
	A scientific attitude, supporting ongoing research into the problems experienced by men with prostate cancer.

Working together
The MPI prostate team meets at weekly multidisciplinary sessions that follow a patient clinic. Patients can be referred to the patient clinic by their doctor or specialist.

The clinical meetings bring different medical specialists together to discuss problems experienced by individual prostate cancer patients and to formulate a management plan.

If required, the MPI’s expert urologists perform surgery at The Alfred or a private hospital, while brachytherapy implant operations are performed by the MPI team in The Alfred operating theatres on a weekly basis. Radiation planning is performed at the William Buckland Radiotherapy Centre’s radiation-planning computer facilities.

Progress of brachytherapy patients undergoing follow-up consultation at external private rooms is reported back to the weekly MPI meetings.

The meetings also provide an opportunity to plan and facilitate research activities, to present research results, and to discuss published medical literature.