The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, alternatively Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute is a major centre for cancer treatment, professional oncologist training, and oncology research in Australia. It is named after Professor Sir Peter MacCallum.The centre is Australia’s only public hospital dedicated to cancer treatment, research and education.It is one of the few cancer treatment facilities in the world that has a fully integrated clinical and laboratory program situated alongside a hospital. This facilitates the translation of research findings into clinical outcomes within the single site.Research programs at the Centre include the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) Cancer Cell Biology Program and the ACRF Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics in Cancer.The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre offers much in the way of integrated services — including medical oncology and radiation oncology facilities and links with allied health services such as physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, speech therapy and social services.HistoryThe Victorian Cancer Institute's cancer hospital was given the title "Peter MacCallum Clinic" after the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Melbourne University, Peter MacCallum, who along with Rutherford Kaye-Scott had a significant role in its founding. At the time it was a common practice not to inform patients that they had cancer. It was thought that, because radiotherapy was also quite commonly used at that time to treat non-cancerous conditions such as severe acne, "strawberry birthmarks", frozen shoulders, keloid scars — and, also, to provide a valuable, non-invasive means for medical sterilization — the name "Peter MacCallum Clinic" would be much less threatening because the "Clinic" could be "positioned" as a specialist radiotherapeutic Centre, rather it being thought of as a dedicated cancer hospital.
- Tags:
- Hospital, Clinic, Healthcare
- Category:
- Hospital, Clinic