Screening Events

"Screening" means different things to different people.  This is a resource for understanding these differences and providing guidance on holding screening events that are truly beneficial to communities.  Key concepts:
  1. A PSA test alone is just a free PSA test.
  2. A complete prostate screening is both a PSA blood test and a digital rectal exam (DRE).
  3. Blood drawn during a PSA test can and should be expanded to include blood tests for other major causes of mortality in men (a men's health blood panel).

​“Best Practices” Community Screening Event Suggestions

Outstanding follow-up is the cornerstone of a truly community centric event.  Be sure to partner with medical professionals in your community that are committed to multiple levels of follow-up that provide participants with actionable next steps based on their screening results.  This involves navigating men to care who receive abnormal screening results AND advising men with results that indicate higher risk (e.g. pre-hybertensive, pre-diabetic, high risk baseline prostate screening, etc.) to help them better understand what lifestyle modifications, including plans for screening moving forward, would be most beneficial to them personally.
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Screening partners should try to provide a men’s health screening experience (e.g. a men’s health blood panel and other physical exams such as blood pressure tests, digital rectal exams (DRE), fecal occult blood test, BMI information, etc.) to allow for a more holistic and empowering men’s health offering.  

You will need a lab partner, which could be a local hospital lab, LabCorp, Mako Labs, etc.  The Prostate Conditions Education Council (PCEC) offers a men’s health blood panel for around $20 per person, along with other screening resources.  PCEC offers several levels of participation for screening sites, including the opportunity to contribute to their longitudinal screening study.  Additionally, the Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN) has negotiated a partnership with LabCorp for free prostate specific antigen (PSA) screenings - with an onsite phlebotomist for PHEN affiliated events.  Note: prostate only screenings should be held in close partnership with primary care medical professionals to help assure other serious men’s health conditions (cardiovascular disease, other cancers, diabetes, etc.) are not overlooked AND a urology professional to assure access to a urology grade DRE, and a phlebotomist to draw blood from participants.

*Note: there is a recent trend away from including DRE in prostate screening.  This is potentially dangerous as men with low PSA producing cancers may leave an event with a deadly, but completely undetected, cancer AND a false sense of security.*
Because of this, we suggest forming strong partnerships with local and trusted prostate cancer knowledgeable urology partner(s).  Even if the event doesn’t include a full prostate screening (PSA+DRE, in that order), brief consultation with an expert will help to mitigate that risk to participants.  If there is not a urology professional available for your event, we strongly suggest looping this brief (6 minute) video presentation for event participants:

Understanding PSA Results and Next Steps 

**A medical professional will need to interpret follow-up results for bloodwork.  There have been many advances in PSA interpretation over the years.  See below for the current thinking as of 2026.**
Note: men without a primary care medical home or who are under the care of a skilled urologist may want to consider screening annually and tracking his own results.

Suggested Awareness Collateral to Print and Utilize Leading Up, During, and to Include With Follow-Up After Your Event: