Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery

Background

The Chair of Surgery at Cabrini Hospital was established in 1998, as a first of its kind in the Victorian private medical sector and one of the first in Australia, and as a joint venture between Cabrini Clinical Education & Research Institute and Monash University. Adrian Polglase was appointed as Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery with the chair being endowed as the Fröhlich West Chair of Surgery in 2004.

Our Department

The Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery headed by Professor Adrian Polglase has a demonstrated commitment into research and education. Bowel health and disease provide a primary focus for the department, however, research into surgical developments that improve patient outcomes are also embraced.

Education

The teaching focus of the Department of Surgery embraces undergraduate, postgraduate, as well as para medical and lay public programmes. The department has a role in undergraduate and post-graduate medical education. Mr Simon Woods is the Clinical Dean and with Dr Michelle Levinson is responsible for organising the teaching of undergraduate Monash University medical students. Mr Paul McMurrick is a senior lecturer in the department and Mr Peter Carne and Mr Stephen Bell were appointed lecturers in 2004.

In addition, the Department supports post-graduate surgical seminars and with the support of Johnson and Johnson administers the Sir Edward Hughes Memorial Clinical Research Prize in Surgery. This prize, awarded annually, is the first to be established in Australia and New Zealand to provide a forum whereby clinical research among surgical trainees can be presented, adjudicated and a prize awarded.

Since 2000 the department has developed the Tackling Bowel Cancer Foundation (www.tacklingbowelcancer.com) a community awareness program with the goal of raising community awarenss of bowel cancer and to reduce the mortality from the disease. To date the foundation has. “Tackling Bowel Cancer” was inspired by the UK and US campaigns- “Beating Bowel Cancer” and “Confronting Colon Cancer” respectively and “tackling” was chosen because of Trevor Barker, the captain of St Kilda football club, dying at age 39 of bowel cancer and his great skill of “tackling”.

Research

The department has an active research program, which explores the areas of prospective trials in surgical practice predominantly around colorectal and upper gastrointestinal surgery, development of new surgical equipment and technologies, and fostering genetic studies into bowel cancer. The department is supported by a Surgical Research Fellow.

• A prospective randomised trial comparing laparoscopic and conventional open surgical treatments of colorectal cancer in adults
• A prospective randomised double blinded trial comparing continuous wound infusion of local anaesthetic compared with placebo for post-operative pain control following colorectal surgery
• A multicentre study to determine the effect of an anti-inflammatory medication in the recurrence of neoplastic polyps in the large bowel
• Pilot study on the use of a new form of endoscope (the Optiscan flexible confocal endomicroscope) which enable microscopic views (1000x) to be obtained of the lower and upper GI tract.
• Evaluating the effectiveness of a telephone based support program for men newly diagnosed with colorectal or prostate cancer in association with the Cancer Council.
• Assessing the effects of patient information presentation on patient decision-making
• Prospective data collection for colorectal surgery
• The significance of Microsatellite Instability (MSI) in Colorectal Cancer treatment.
• Association of Hereditary Colorectal Cancer with the APC I1307K gene variant in the Ashkenazi Jewish Population.
• Retrospective examination into outcomes for surgical patients
• Prospective pharmaceutical trial for upper gastrointestinal  treatment “ Does the use of nizatidine as a prokinetic agent, improve gastric emptying in patient post oesophagectomy”.

The Cabrini Monash University Department of Surgery is grateful for the support of private benefactors and institutions.