Every August, South Africa turns its attention to the women who hold families and communities together, and MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography) sees Women's Month as the ideal cue for women across Johannesburg to treat breast health as an ordinary act of self-care. From its base in Melrose Arch, the centre is urging women to shift breast checks off the "someday" list and onto the calendar, and it has opened its doors to anyone who simply wants to know where to start.

Across the country, Women's Month invites reflection on the health, safety and wellbeing of women. For a breast imaging practice, that reflection translates into something very concrete. Catching disease early is still among the most dependable ways to improve outcomes, and it hinges on women being able to reach accurate imaging and feeling at ease enough to make the call. MAMI is determined that August become the month more women take that opening step.

A centre built around women's imaging

MAMI is the new face of Parklane Women's Imaging Centre. The same staff, radiologists and state-of-the-art equipment have all come along, now settled into a roomy, easy-to-reach department in Melrose Arch. Parklane held the distinction of being Africa's first internationally accredited breast imaging unit, and that lineage still guides how the team practises.

Patients at MAMI are cared for by highly experienced doctors using the latest imaging technology for Mammograms, ultrasound and biopsy. Medical excellence is the goal, yet the team gives equal attention to keeping the atmosphere calm and considerate. What holds many women back is rarely the procedure itself, it is the worry surrounding it, and the practice has designed both its rooms and its manner to soften precisely that.

Arranging a Mammogram here is simple, and the staff are well practised at walking first-time patients through what lies ahead, from the first moment to the last. That reassurance counts, because a woman who understands what will happen is far more inclined to come back for her next routine check.

Accreditation that stands behind the results

MAMI stands alone in South Africa as the only unit to receive the Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation from the American College of Radiology. That honour came from the ACR in 2022, capping a run of individual accreditations, mammography in 2017, MRI in 2018, stereotactic biopsy in 2020 and breast ultrasound in 2021.

The ACR gold seal marks the highest standard of image quality and patient safety. Only facilities that satisfy ACR Practice Parameters and Technical Standards earn it, and then only after a peer-review assessment carried out by board-certified physicians and medical physicists. That review scrutinises image quality, staff qualifications, the suitability of equipment, and the quality control and quality assurance programmes in operation. For a woman weighing up where to be scanned, the accreditation is a plain assurance that the images her doctor depends on meet an internationally recognised benchmark.

A full range of breast services

A single test is only the beginning of what the centre provides. Beyond mammography, MAMI offers breast ultrasound, breast biopsies carried out under ultrasound or mammographic guidance with local anaesthesia, bone density and body composition scans, and breast cancer scar management massage. It is also the sole practice in the nation to provide cancer cryoablation, a service that underlines its standing among South Africa's foremost breast cancer teams.

Because of that range, a patient can travel from an initial Breast Examination right through to any follow-up imaging or procedure inside the same accredited unit, overseen by radiologists already familiar with her history. Should a biopsy be required, small samples are drawn with a biopsy needle and forwarded to the pathologist for microscopy and further testing, which help establish whether a lump is a cancer and, if it is, what type. Holding that whole pathway under one roof cuts down both the waiting and the anxiety that so often accompany breast investigations.

The practice welcomes a broad spread of patients, from women arriving for their very first routine screening to those returning for follow-up after an earlier finding. That variety is part of why the team leans so heavily on continuity of care. When a woman is scanned, assessed and, if necessary, biopsied within one accredited unit, her radiologists assemble a clear view of her breast health as the years pass. It is often the comparison between this year's images and last year's that lets a subtle change surface early.

Why the timing matters

Women's Month makes a natural nudge, yet MAMI is deliberate in casting breast health as a year-round habit rather than a one-off gesture. Screening delivers the most value when it is regular, and the practice urges women to picture it as a continuing routine shaped by their age, family history and their doctor's advice. The awareness August generates is worthwhile exactly because it can convert good intentions into a booked appointment.

The team is also mindful that women shoulder so much of the responsibility for everyone else's health, frequently at the cost of their own appointments. This month's message is uncomplicated: looking after your own health is no indulgence, and a scan booked today is one fewer thing to keep putting off. By easing both the practical and emotional obstacles to being checked, MAMI hopes to see more Johannesburg women fold breast imaging firmly into their diaries.

Access forms another strand of the message. The Melrose Arch site was picked for its convenience, complete with parking and an inviting department that carries none of the feel of a hospital corridor. For women who have delayed a scan because the prospect felt intimidating, that environment is meant to render the visit as routine and unhurried as any other appointment. The centre would far rather a woman arrive full of questions than not arrive at all.

Anyone wishing to learn more about the centre and everything it offers can find the full details on the MAMI website at https://mammogram.co.za/.

About MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography)

MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography) is a dedicated breast imaging centre in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg, and the new face of Parklane Women's Imaging Centre. Its services span mammograms, breast ultrasound, breast biopsies, bone density and body composition scans, breast cancer scar management massage, and cancer cryoablation. Under the leadership of Diagnostic Radiologist and Managing Director Dr Peter Schoub, it is the only unit in South Africa to hold the American College of Radiology Breast Imaging Center of Excellence designation, extending the legacy of Africa's first internationally accredited breast imaging unit.

Media Contact
MAMI (Melrose Arch Mammography)
Email: [email protected]
Phone: +27 11 484 3149
Website: https://mammogram.co.za/