How Specialized, Multi-Disciplinary Cancer Treatment Works: Center for Breast Care’s Sawyer LIVE
How Specialized, Multi-Disciplinary Cancer Treatment Works: Center for Breast Care’s Sawyer LIVE
“The way it oftentimes used to work in the past was a patient might get diagnosed with breast cancer, come in and see their surgeon, and then they would be referred to the other groups like a radiation oncologist or a medical oncologist and maybe that was scheduled a week later, and then maybe they would have to all sort of get together over the phone to discuss the patient’s case,” said Sawyer.
"But the way we do it is that when a patient calls in with a new cancer, they are put in touch right away with a multidisciplinary coordinator whose job it is to sort of walk them through the whole process to make sure that they get everything that then need in a very timely way, that they come in and see a group of doctors all in one day, so that the patient is there and can talk to everybody all at the same time," said Sawyer.
"There’s five different departments that are really involved in that visit — there’s surgical, radiation oncology, medical oncology, and then sort of behind the scenes the radiologist is there to display the films for all the doctors to see, the pathologist is there to display the slides from the biopsy for all the doctors to see — and they can put their heads together and collaborate and figure out what the best treatment plan is for the patient — while the patient is actually there and can actually participate in that conversation," she added.
The Center for Breast Care at University Surgical Associates is based out of Rhode Island Hospital with offices in Newport and the newly-opened East Greenwich campus.
As part of Brown Physicians Inc., all surgeons are on the faculty of the Warren Alpert Medical School — and in January, the center will officially be “Brown Surgical Associates.”
Working with the Experts at the Warren Alpert Medical School
"We have the latest technology and latest surgical procedures — this is all we do, we don’t do anything else but breasts, so we’re highly specialized, we can offer the latest in treatment and the latest in technology in terms of where we send people for breast imaging," said Sawyer.
Since granting its first Doctor of Medicine degrees in 1975, the Warren Alpert Medical School has become a national leader in medical education and biomedical research.
By attracting first-class physicians and researchers to Rhode Island over the past four decades, the Medical School and its seven affiliated teaching hospitals have radically improved the state's health care environment, from health care policy to patient care.
"Smart Health" is a GoLocalProv.com segment featuring experts from The Warren Alpert Medical School GoLocal LIVE.