Monday, October 12, 2009

Wanted: Mammologists

One of the faculty I work for/with contributed to an Op-ed piece in the New York Times published today.  I had wondered, in a more abstract way, about treatment expereinces for folks with breast versus gynocologic cancers.  Brings up some useful info I was unaware of about training if medical residents.  Very interesting.




"The breast is something of an orphan in our health care system. We have cardiologists, nephrologists, hepatologists, proctologists and neurologists — but we have no “mammologists.” How did the breast get lost?

Women with breast cancer get lost in the mix, forced to make several different appointments, sit in various waiting rooms and see multiple doctors. In most cases, a woman with a breast problem will start with her obstetrician-gynecologist, who will then refer her to a surgeon (for a biopsy) or a radiologist (for a mammogram). The referring obstetrician-gynecologist may never see or hear from the patient again, and may not know if she kept her appointment or got adequate care.

Contrast this with the care given to women with gynecologic cancer. Because there is a subspecialty of gynecologic oncology, women see the same doctor from diagnosis to post-surgery follow-up. Breast malignancies outnumber gynecologic cancers 10 to one, and yet we have no subspecialty for breast care....

The whole article HERE

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