Endocrine Surgery

Endocrine Surgery Clinic

The Endocrine Surgery unit specialises in the surgical management of all the major areas of endocrine pathology in the thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal and pancreas glands. We have a dedicated team of surgeons who work closely with endocrinologists, radiologists, nuclear medicine physicians, anatomical and molecular pathologists to ensure the best care for our patients.

Conditions we manage:

  • Thyroid cancers (Papillary, Follicular, Medullary and Anaplastic)
  • Thyroid nodule assessment
  • Multinodular goitre
  • Retrosternal goitre
  • Graves’ disease (when surgery is being considered)
  • Primary hyperparathyroidism
  • Secondary/renal hyperparathyroidism
  • Parathyroid cancer
  • Adrenal incidentaloma
  • Functional adrenal tumours (phaeochromocytoma, Conn syndrome, Cushing syndrome)
  • Adrenocortical carcinoma
  • Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours

We also manage and care for patients with familial endocrine conditions such as MEN, VHL, NF1, SDH mutation carriers, HPTJT syndrome.

Surgery is performed using intraoperative neuromonitoring of the recurrent laryngeal nerve during neck surgery and when appropriate, minimally invasive techniques or laparoscopic (keyhole) surgery are frequently utilised.

 

Our Team

Stephen Farrell 300x217px
Mr Stephen Farrell

(Head of Unit)

Stephen Farrell has 20 years’ experience as a purely endocrine surgeon. He has expertise in parathyroid, thyroid, adrenal and endocrine pancreatic surgery. His special area of interest is Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia and other endocrine tumour syndromes such as parathyroid-jaw tumour, paraganglioma, Cowden and Von Hippel Lindau syndromes.


Jane Harding 300x217px

Ms Jane Harding

Jane obtained her fellowship in general surgery in 2004; completing further sub specialisation in endocrine surgery working with Australia's leading endocrine surgical service at Royal Northshore Hospital, as well as a further year at St Vincent's Hospital Melbourne.  Jane spent most of 2005 working under the supervision Professor Jean-Francois Henry in Marseille, France before returning to Melbourne to establish her own endocrine surgical practice.

  Jason Tan 300x217px
Mr Jason Tan

Jason is a Specialist Endocrine Surgeon. He is an expert in Thyroid, Parathyroid and Adrenal Surgery. After attaining his Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS), he completed further Endocrine Surgery Fellowships at Austin Health, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital/Fremantle Health and Liverpool Hospital. He is a full member of the Australian & New Zealand Endocrine Surgeons and the International Association of Endocrine Surgeons. With a strong interest in surgical education, he is appointed to the Court of Examiners for General Surgery for the RACS and has been the Director of Clinical Training at Western Health.

 

Christina Foley 300x217px

Ms Christina Foley

Christina has undertaken extensive training in the field of Breast and Endocrine surgery.  She attained her Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2008.  She has completed breast and endocrine surgery fellowships at some of the most prestigious and respected institutions worldwide including St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, The Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, USA and the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK.

  Tracey Lam 300x217px
Ms Tracey Lam

Tracey Lam obtained her FRACS in 2013 and has then undergone specialist Endocrine Surgery training in thyroid, parathyroid and adrenal surgery locally in Melbourne and also internationally at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the UK. She returned to Melbourne to begin work as a consultant surgeon at St Vincent’s in 2016. Tracey believes in evidence-based medicine combined with patient centred care.

 We are also supported by a fellow, two surgical registrars, two interns and our Surgical Liaison Nurse, Ms Tracey Simpson.
 

Referral Information 

When referring, please provide the information for the following conditions:

Thyroid nodules, multinodular goitre, Grave’s disease for surgery

  • US report, FNA/cytology report, TFT

    Parathyroid disease

  • Calcium, PTH, U&E, vitamin D results, any relevant imaging reports

    Adrenal nodules, incidentalomas or functional tumours

  • Any relevant imaging reports and blood tests.

To discuss urgent referrals, please call the switchboard on Tel: (03) 9231 2211 and ask for the DOS fellow or registrar.

When completing the Specialist Clinics Referral Form, for “Specialty Required”, please choose Endocrinology and Diabetes and the “Clinic Name” is Thyroid Surgery (for thyroid as well as parathyroid or adrenal conditions). Please address the referral to the Head of Unit, Mr Stephen Farrell.

Clinic Times

Clinic times

Weekly: Wednesday 2pm, runs concurrently with the Medical Endocrinology clinic

Clinic location 

6th Floor Daly Wing Building D outpatients

Resources

Australian and New Zealand Endocrine Surgeons

https://www.endocrinesurgeons.org.au/

Health Pathways

https://melbourne.healthpathways.org.au/LoginFiles/Logon.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f

Cancer Australia – Thyroid Cancer

https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/affected-cancer/cancer-types/thyroid-cancer

Australian and New Zealand Thyroid Cancer Registry

https://anztcr.org.au/ 

Contact Us

GP Enquiries:

Tel: (03) 9231 2898

Monday to Thursday: 8.30 am to 4.30pm

Friday: 8.30 am to 4.00pm

To discuss urgent referrals, please call the switchboard on (03) 9231 2211 and ask for the DOS fellow or registrar.


Health Pathways

HealthPathways Melbourne is an online portal designed to be used by general practice at the point of care to guide best practice assessment, management and referral of common clinical conditions.

Please Note:
This is a public outpatient service. All patients need to be referred to us by a GP. Please see your GP if you believe you would benefit from a referral to this clinic. Many doctors have private consulting suites as well as working in the public hospital system. This is entirely separate from St Vincent’s and our staff do not have any information about the private consulting practices of doctors.