All Medicare-eligible consultations are bulk billed for patients with a valid Medicare card. Some items, including privately purchased vaccines and consumables, attract a fee.
Nobody wakes up wanting a check-up. But the conditions that take men out early — heart disease, diabetes, bowel and prostate cancer — are quiet for years and very treatable when they're caught in that quiet phase. Tap a reason below.
The four we hear most
High blood pressure has no symptoms. Neither does high cholesterol, early type 2 diabetes, or a bowel polyp. By the time you feel something, the easy window has usually closed. Feeling fine is the argument for coming in, not against it.
"I feel fine, I just want the numbers checked."Saturday and Sunday mornings are the quietest time to come in, and we're inside the shopping centre with free parking, so it fits around the rest of the day. Book online and you'll know roughly when you're being seen.
"Have you got anything Saturday morning?"GPs would far rather see you about something that turns out to be nothing than see you two years later about something that isn't. "I'm not sure this is worth bothering you about" is how a lot of the most important appointments start.
"Probably nothing, but I wanted to get it looked at."Most results come back reassuring, and the ones that don't are usually things managed with a tablet and a follow-up rather than anything dramatic. You're also allowed to say at the start that you'd like to go slowly and only deal with one thing today.
"I'll be honest, I've been avoiding this."Screening isn't one-size-fits-all — what's worth doing at 28 is not what's worth doing at 68. Pick your decade and see what your GP would usually cover.
Choose a topic for the short version first. The detail is there if you want it, and every one of these is something you can book in for.
Heart health
Why it matters Heart disease is the leading single cause of death in Australian men, and it builds silently for decades. Blood pressure and cholesterol don't hurt. You find them with a cuff and a blood test, and both respond well to treatment.
A heart health check looks at your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, weight and waist, along with your smoking history, alcohol, activity, family history and stress. Your GP puts those together into an overall picture of your risk over the next five years, and that number — not any single reading — drives what happens next.
Don't wait for an appointment if you have chest pain, pressure or tightness, especially with breathlessness, sweating, nausea or pain into the jaw or arm. Call 000.
Prostate
The short version The prostate is a gland that sits under the bladder and tends to enlarge with age. A PSA blood test can pick up prostate cancer early — but it also picks up cancers that would never have troubled you, and leads some men to treatment they didn't need. That's why it's a conversation, not a routine tick-box.
Australia has no national prostate screening program, because the evidence doesn't support testing every man. Current Australian guidelines recommend that men at average risk who have been told the benefits and the downsides, and who decide they want testing, are offered a PSA blood test every two years from 50 to 69. If your father or a brother had prostate cancer, that conversation should start earlier.
Urinary symptoms are far more often an enlarged prostate than cancer, and there are good treatments for that too. Either way it's worth raising.
Testicular health
Worth knowing Testicular cancer mostly affects younger men — roughly 18 to 40 — which is exactly the group least likely to see a GP. It's also one of the most treatable cancers there is, particularly when it's found early. If you've noticed a lump, get it looked at this week.
Most testicular lumps turn out to be harmless: cysts, fluid, or varicose veins in the scrotum. But the only way to know is to have it examined, and an ultrasound if needed. The examination takes under a minute, and if it helps, you can ask for a chaperone in the room.
Erectile dysfunction
The bit nobody mentions Erectile difficulty is extremely common and very treatable. It's also worth taking seriously for another reason: the arteries involved are small, so problems there can show up years before anything shows up in your heart. Raising it is a cardiovascular check as much as a sexual one.
Your GP will ask about how and when it started, your medications, alcohol, sleep, mood and stress, then check your blood pressure and arrange bloods including testosterone, cholesterol and blood sugar. Treatment might be medication, adjusting something you're already taking, addressing sleep or alcohol, or a referral.
Tired all the time
Where to start "Tired all the time" is one of the most common things men come in with, and it's worth a proper look rather than a guess. Low testosterone is one possible cause, but it's well down the list behind sleep apnoea, iron, thyroid, diabetes, alcohol, depression and simply not sleeping enough.
Testosterone testing needs to be done properly — an early morning sample, repeated, and interpreted alongside other hormones — because a single random result is easily misleading. Testosterone treatment is subsidised only in specific clinical circumstances and usually needs specialist involvement, so be cautious of anywhere offering it straight off a website.
Mental health
Worth knowing In men, depression often doesn't look like sadness. It looks like a short fuse, drinking more, working more, sleeping badly, losing interest in things you used to like, and telling everyone you're fine. Men are also far less likely to seek help — and account for around three in four suicide deaths in Australia.
If you're in crisis, call 000. Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and MensLine Australia on 1300 78 99 78, both 24 hours.
A GP appointment is a private conversation with someone whose job is to help. A Mental Health Treatment Plan gives you Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions, and there's a psychologist on site so you're not starting again somewhere new. Medication is one option among several, not the default.
Skin checks
Why it matters here Men over 50 have the highest melanoma rates in Australia, and a lifetime of Port Stephens boating, fishing, surfing and outdoor work adds up. A full skin check takes about fifteen minutes.
Your GP examines your skin from scalp to soles with a dermatoscope, photographs anything worth watching, and can remove or biopsy suspicious spots on site. Several of our GPs perform both simple and more complex skin excisions here rather than sending you elsewhere.
Bowel screening
The short version A free kit arrives in the post, you do the test at home in a couple of minutes, and you send it off. It looks for blood you can't see. It's one of the highest-value things you can do for yourself, and roughly half of eligible Australians don't bother.
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program covers ages 45 to 74. Kits are mailed out automatically from 50 to 74 every two years. If you're 45 to 49 you can request your first kit yourself, or ask your GP for one.
Diabetes
Why it matters Type 2 diabetes develops over years without symptoms, and a great many Australians have it without knowing. Caught at the pre-diabetes stage it can often be pushed back with changes you choose yourself, rather than medication.
Screening is a blood test. If your numbers are borderline, that's genuinely useful information and the point at which action works best. If you already have diabetes, a GP chronic condition management plan pulls your care together and opens up subsidised podiatry, dietetics and diabetes education — much of it available on site.
Sleep
Worth knowing If your partner says you stop breathing at night, or you wake unrefreshed and fight sleep in the afternoon, that's worth investigating. Obstructive sleep apnoea is common in men, raises blood pressure and heart risk, and is very treatable.
Your GP will ask about snoring, witnessed pauses in breathing, daytime sleepiness and your neck size, then arrange a sleep study where it's warranted. Treatment ranges from weight and position changes through to a CPAP machine, and men who are treated often describe it as the biggest single change in how they feel.
Weight, alcohol & smoking
How this goes No lecture, no weigh-in you didn't agree to, no judgement about how much you drink. Just an honest conversation about what you'd like to change and what has a realistic chance of working for you.
Most men who cut back on alcohol or quit smoking have tried before. That's normal and it's not a failure — it's data about what didn't work. Your GP can help with medication where it's appropriate, referral to a dietitian or exercise physiologist, and a plan built around your actual week.
Work & injuries
What to expect Whether it's a pre-employment medical, a back that's gone at work, or a shoulder that hasn't been right for months, we can assess it, document it properly and get the paperwork moving.
Pre-employment and commercial medicals are usually paid for by the employer rather than covered by Medicare, so ask reception about the fee when you book. Bring any forms your employer has given you.
Becoming a dad
Worth knowing Around a third of fertility difficulties involve a male factor, and another third involve both partners — so if you've been trying for a while, it makes no sense for only one of you to be investigated.
The first step is straightforward: a conversation, an examination, a semen analysis and some blood tests. Your general health, weight, alcohol, smoking and medications all matter, and several are things you can change. Fathers' mental health after a birth is also real and often missed.
You know your best round of golf and what your ute gets to the tank. These four are more useful. Tap any one to see what it means and how it's measured.
Number one
The pressure in your arteries. Raised for years, it quietly damages your heart, brain and kidneys — with no symptoms at all.
Measured with a cuff in under a minute. Two numbers: the pressure when your heart beats, and the pressure between beats. One high reading means very little — your GP will recheck it, and may ask you to monitor at home, before calling it anything. Treatment starts with what you can change and adds medication only if that isn't enough.
Your GP sets the target that's right for you, because it shifts with your age, your kidneys and whether you have diabetes.
What it meansNumber two
Fats carried in your blood. Too much of the wrong kind builds up in artery walls over decades, long before anything hurts.
A blood test, sometimes fasting. It reports several things — total cholesterol, the sort that clogs arteries, the sort that clears them, and triglycerides — and the ratio between them matters more than any single figure.
Your GP reads it alongside your blood pressure, age, smoking and family history to work out your risk over the next five years. That combined picture, not the cholesterol number on its own, is what decides whether treatment is worth it.
What it meansNumber three
How much glucose is in your blood. Creeps up over years and reaches diabetes long before you'd notice anything.
Usually two tests: a fasting glucose, and an HbA1c that shows your average over the previous three months rather than a single moment. That average is harder to fool, which is why it's useful.
The valuable result is the in-between one. Pre-diabetes is a warning with time still on the clock, and it's the stage where changes you make yourself have the greatest effect.
What it meansNumber four
Measured around the middle, not your trouser size. It predicts heart and diabetes risk better than weight on its own.
Fat around the organs behaves differently to fat elsewhere — it's metabolically active and drives inflammation, blood sugar and blood pressure. That's why two men of the same weight can carry very different risk.
Measured with a tape at the navel, standing, breathing out normally. It's the number that moves first and most encouragingly when things start improving, often well before the scales shift.
What it meansAustralia deliberately has no national prostate screening program — the evidence doesn't support testing every man. Instead, guidelines say you should be told both sides and then choose. Here are both sides. Tap a card.
Prostate cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed cancers in Australian men, and early disease has no symptoms at all.
The test is imperfect, and knowing what it can't tell you is part of making the choice properly.
Reflects Australian clinical guidelines for the early detection of prostate cancer. General information only — your own risk, history and preferences are what matter, and your GP will work through them with you.
No gowns, no stirrups, nothing invasive unless there's a reason for it and you've agreed. Here's the whole thing.
Fully clothed, sitting down. What's been going on, how you're sleeping, what you're drinking, how work is, what runs in your family. This part does most of the diagnostic work.
Flip backA cuff on your arm, under a minute. If it's high your GP will recheck it rather than act on one number, and may ask you to monitor at home for a week.
Flip backA tape measure around the middle, because that predicts risk better than the scales. No commentary, no judgement — it's a measurement, same as the others.
Flip backCholesterol, blood sugar, kidney and liver function, iron and thyroid — one arm, one needle. Pathology is on site, so it's done before you leave the building.
Flip backEither a quick look at anything worrying you, or a full check with a dermatoscope if you're due. Book a longer appointment if you want the whole skin check done properly.
Flip backBowel screening from 45, a prostate discussion from 50, and immunisations. Your GP works out what's actually due for you rather than running everything at everyone.
Flip backYour GP will ask about mood, sleep, stress and drinking. "Fine" is an acceptable answer, but if it isn't true, this is the moment to say so. It won't be written down as a character flaw.
Flip backWhat was found, what happens next, when results are due and who's contacting whom. We contact you about results either way — not only when something turns up.
Flip backMost men get to the car park and remember the thing they actually came in for. Tap whatever applies — your list builds as you go, and you can print it to take with you.
Every GP here can look after men's health. The doctors below have told us it's an area they particularly enjoy and have built experience in. Seeing the same one each time is worth more than most men realise.
Our GPs hold general registration with AHPRA. Areas listed are special interests within general practice rather than recognised specialist registration. If you need a urologist, cardiologist or another specialist, your GP will refer you.
Pick your situation and what you're coming in for. We'll show you what to expect before you book.
What are you coming in for?
Figures shown are what you pay at the clinic for the appointment itself. Medicines, devices, imaging and specialist fees are set elsewhere. Reception will always confirm the cost with you before anything goes ahead.
A conversation first, fully clothed, about how you're going. Then the measurable things: blood pressure, weight and waist, and one blood test covering cholesterol, blood sugar, kidney and liver function, iron and thyroid. Depending on your age your GP may also raise bowel screening, prostate testing, a skin check and your mental health. Book a long appointment so there's time to do it properly.
It's common, and nobody will make a thing of it. Book one appointment and let your GP work out what's worth checking. Most men who come in after a long gap need far less done than they'd been quietly dreading.
That's genuinely your decision, and it's meant to be. Australian guidelines recommend offering a PSA test every two years from 50 to 69 to men at average risk who've been told both sides and want it — there's no blanket screening program, because the evidence doesn't support testing everyone. If your father or brother had prostate cancer, start the conversation earlier.
Usually not. The main test is a blood test. A physical examination is sometimes useful, but it's discussed with you first and you can decline it — plenty of men are assessed without one. Nothing happens without your agreement.
Medicare-eligible consultations are bulk billed for patients with a valid Medicare card, so the appointment, examination and referrals cost you nothing. Some things sit outside Medicare — privately purchased vaccines, consumables, and most pre-employment medicals — and reception will tell you the fee before anything goes ahead.
Yes, subject to doctor availability on the day, and we're open seven days. Booking online through HotDoc means less time waiting, and if you want a proper check rather than one quick thing, ask for a long appointment.
The program runs from 45 to 74. From 50 a free kit is posted to you automatically every two years. Between 45 and 49 you can request your first one yourself, or just ask us at any appointment and we'll organise it.
Yes — pre-employment medicals, job assessments, WorkCover certificates and ongoing injury management. These are usually employer-funded rather than Medicare items, so ask reception about the fee when you book, and bring any forms your employer has given you.
Please do, and write them down — a list in your phone is ideal. Just ask for a long appointment when you book so there's time. A standard consultation is built for one issue, and most men have been saving up three.
Yes. What you tell your GP stays between you and your GP, including about drinking, drugs, mental health and sexual health. There are rare exceptions where a doctor must act, mainly where someone's at serious risk of harm, and your GP will explain those before you start.
You don't need a reason. "I haven't had anything checked in years and I'd like to start" is a perfectly good appointment.
Heart and blood pressure checks, diabetes screening, prostate and PSA conversations, skin checks, sleep, fatigue and mental health, in one appointment if you book a long one. The clinic is open seven days, so it can fit around work.
You will find us at Shop 5, 2 Town Centre Circuit, Salamander Bay, inside the shopping centre, a few minutes from Nelson Bay, Corlette and Soldiers Point and an easy drive from Anna Bay, Medowie and Lemon Tree Passage.
Book online with HotDoc at any hour, or call (02) 4008 4400.
From the health journal
