About Dr. Matthew Bui

Dr. Matthew Bui was born in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1968. He and his family barely escaped during the surrender of Vietnam in 1975 and came to the US as refugees. Dr. Bui grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he attended Franklin and Marshall College. He majored in Physics and graduated as valedictorian with Summa Cum Laude. In 1998,
Dr. Bui attended the Yale School of Medicine’s Medical Scientist Training Program and earned an M.D. and a Ph.D. Subsequently, he did his urology residency at UCLA, earning accolades for his scientific research in kidney cancer.
Dr. Bui’s groundbreaking work on advanced kidney cancer earned him the first and second prizes at the American Urological Association Western Section and national conference, respectively, and the best scientific poster award at the Society of Urologic Oncology in 2002.
After residency, Dr. Bui continued with a fellowship at UCLA dedicated to laparoscopic, robotic, and minimally invasive urology. Dr. Bui joined the faculty at the Mayo Clinic Scottsdale in 2005 as an assistant professor of urology.
Medical School
- Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT
Graduate School
- Cell Biology, Yale University, New Haven, CT
Internship
- General Surgery, University of California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Residency
- Urology, University of California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Fellowships
- Laparoscopic urology and endourology, University of California Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA
Academic Rank
- Assistant Professor of Urology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine
Interests
- Urologic oncology
- Robotic-assisted prostatectomy (nerve-sparing)
- Laparoscopic nephrectomy
- Laparoscopic partial nephrectomy
- Laparoscopic donor nephrectomy
- Laparoscopic pyeloplasty
- PVP “green-light” laser prostate surgery
- Endo-urology and kidney stone disease
- Nerve-sparing surgery for prostate and bladder cancer
- Continent neobladder reconstructive surgery
- Cryosurgery of kidney lesions
Publications
- PubMed, a service provided by the National Library of Medicine, lists recent publications.
What Dr. Bui’s patients have to say
LB’s review:
This is a long-overdue letter of praise for Dr. Matthew Bui. Late in May of 2023, I was diagnosed by Dr. Bui with something no one wants to hear: prostate cancer. As you can imagine, the diagnosis sent shock waves not only through my system but my family’s as well.
While no one wants to hear the “C” word, Dr. Bui’s calm, professional, and easy-to-understand manner made devastating news much more bearable. Dr. Bui arranged a Zoom call not only for me but also for my wife and two sons.
The surgery took twice as long as expected due to unforeseen scar tissue from two previous hernia surgeries, but Dr. Bui’s expert skills as a surgeon produced an excellent outcome.
Dr. Bui came highly recommended to me by my Family Physician as well as several other men who have been treated by Dr. Bui. I am grateful to be one of the patients who can attest to Dr. Bui’s skill as a surgeon as well as his perfectly pitched bedside manner.
Dr. Bui’s expert skills as a surgeon produced an excellent outcome.
– LB
MP’s review:
We have no words to thank you for your humanity, your excellence, and your incredible empathy since the first day of my husband’s appointment.
You were clear, methodical, and with excellent communication as you delivered to us the information on the intensity of the operation my husband needed.
You were a hero for us for getting us the room and the possibility for him to be operated on December 19th, 2019. I know that was not easy at all.
You personally understood what was needed to save my husband and to do all you could for his survival. I know you went beyond what is normal to get that room with us. Thank you so much.
You were so kind and outstanding in how you came to our room on Christmas day and gave us the good news. For us, that was a miracle. And it was a miracle that you made happen with your endless hours in your life, that you have trained to be such an expert.
Rarely in life does one get to encounter such brilliancy of a human being as you. We have met many doctors in the world, and we feel lucky and grateful for that. In you we found another type of doctor;
- Incredible humanity and excellence as a surgeon.
- Incredible and unique communication skills of a very difficult reality and danger of an aggressive cancer.
- A superb empathy beyond what we have ever seen. A vocabulary and accuracy in every word you told us and every thought you transmitted to us.
Your ability to plan and execute an incredible process of healing for my husband was extraordinary.
The operation was a success. We always knew in our hearts and minds that he was in the best possible hands in the world during that very long operation. As he recovers from this major operation and change of life forever for him, we know that you did the best it was possible for him, given his cancer.
It is difficult for him to have the bladder as he has it right now, and I remind him continuously how lucky he is to be able to be free of cancer, as you told us.
As a family, we rejoice in the results of your hard work. Your attention and communication with us. Your excellence in all you have done for us. Thank you very, very, very much .
We are preparing for the wedding with a huge enthusiasm, and we could not be happier with the chance we have in life to marry our only daughter and have him with us.
We will forever be grateful to you.
We are so lucky to be the beneficiaries of the incredible career you have taken on your life. That one of healing patients.
The meaning in your life to save and cure humans is really really deep. The science of your expertise is impressive.
Thank YOU!!!
Rarely in life does one get to encounter such brilliancy of a human being as you.
– MP
JT’s review:
Words cannot even begin to express my gratitude towards Dr. Bui and the incredible care he gave me since I was first diagnosed with prostate cancer. All my Doctors told me he was the best prior to meeting him. His calm demeanor and zen-like approach instill confidence in any patient faced with the knowledge that they have cancer and an imminent surgery.
I met Dr. Bui at his Tower Urology office at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, and was immediately impressed. He was calm, caring, and told me I wouldn’t die from this. In fact, he said I would live several more decades. I even asked him the chances of my dying during the surgery. He said he’d operated on more than 2000 patients and had never lost one.
That was beyond reassuring! My best option was to have surgery to remove the prostate, because the cancer was self-contained. The other option was radiation treatment. He told me radiation wasn’t as effective. The biggest question mark was that the mass was so close to escaping the prostate and up against my nerves that control my erections. Was it self-contained? Dr. Bui believed it was, but he wouldn’t know for sure until he operated.
The operation took place on May 14th. This was my first major surgery. The nurses got me ready in a pre op room. I met Dr. Bui’s anesthesiologist, who was quite pleasant and pretty funny. Then Dr. Bui popped his head in the room, greeted me, and the last thing I remember was him walking away, and the words to the operating team, “OK, let’s rock and roll!”.
The next second, I was in the recovery room on the phone with my girlfriend and brother. The surgery took four and a half hours. It was like ten seconds in my mind. I was told when wheeled into the operating room in anesthesia la la land that I was impressed with the Da Vinci precision robot he controlled performing the surgery.
Recovery was remarkably pain-free. My incisions were so small. I was only in the hospital one night. A week afterwards, Dr. Bui had me back in his office announcing, “You had the best possible result. You’re cancer-free, and we spared your nerves! Now go celebrate!”
Additionally, I heard stories of some people getting prostate removal surgery from other doctors who had to wear adult diapers for months due to urine leakage. I didn’t have to wear them even one day. I’m now 18 days beyond my surgery and walking more than seven miles a day. I return to work tomorrow full of energy, feeling surprisingly, for the most part, back to normal!
Thank you, Dr. Bui, for taking care of me and for a wonderful surgery! I can’t even begin to express the gratitude I feel towards you for saving my life! This entire experience has changed me for the better. …Enjoy living, every precious moment.
I can’t even begin to express the gratitude I feel towards you for saving my life!
-JT
DD’s review:
My prostate story began when my primary care physician told me that the manual examination of my prostate didn’t feel quite right. We decided to monitor my PSA scores for a few months. When the PSA jumped from the mid-3s to 4.1, we scheduled a biopsy, which revealed extensive carcinoma and a Gleason score of 6.
Several doctors told me that I could wait and see what happens, but I didn’t see any advantage in waiting—I wanted the cancer out of my body. I did research on the treatment options and on the doctors available to treat me. Dr. Matthew Bui was at the top of the list in a ProPublica study that tracked complication rates among California patients who had undergone radical prostatectomy, so I gave him a call.
Dr. Bui and the staff at Tower Urology could not have been more accommodating or pleasant to deal with. I quickly had an appointment to see him, and when we met, he was reassuring, patient, and extremely clear in his explanations about my condition and about the advantages of the Da Vinci robotic system for resolving it.
He also described the alternative treatments that are available in a very even-handed and informative manner. I felt confirmed in my inclination to select surgery rather than radiation treatment, since radiation can be used following surgery if necessary, but surgery would no longer be an option following radiation. We set the appointment for my surgery during that first visit.
My experience following surgery was much better than I expected. I had very little pain—in fact, while I was in recovery, the nurses repeatedly asked for my pain level on a scale of 1 – 10. They didn’t like it when I said I was basically pain-free, so I started telling them it was a “2.” I spent one night at Cedars-Sinai and went home the next day. The catheter was an annoyance, but I found it easy to manage, and it didn’t hurt when they removed it a week later.
As Dr. Bui predicted, I experienced some incontinence in the weeks after the catheter was removed, but as healing progressed and as I did my Kegel exercises, things got back to normal, and within six weeks, I no longer had any worries about having an accident, daytime or nighttime.
I’m now nine months out from surgery and have had several follow-up appointments with Dr. Bui. My second post-surgery PSA test came back as “undetectable,” and I felt that Dr. Bui rejoiced in that news just as much as my wife and I did. With support from Cialis, my sexual functioning is completely natural and satisfying, which I credit to Dr. Bui’s remarkable skill.
I am deeply grateful to Dr. Bui and the entire team at Tower Urology and Cedars-Sinai for the expert, sensitive care I received and continue to benefit from. I simply cannot imagine how they might have done a better job.
I simply cannot imagine how they might have done a better job.
-DD