Meet Dr. Sarah Mougalian
June 16, 2021Meet Dr. Sarah Mougalian
.
Information
Dr. Sarah Mougalian discusses her care of breast cancer patients and the importance of building a relationship with both her patients and their families, and how she helps them navigate the cancer journey.
ID6720
To CiteDCA Citation Guide
- 00:00My name is Sarah Magali and I'm an
- 00:03associate professor of medicine
- 00:05here at Yale School of Medicine,
- 00:07and I treat exclusively
- 00:08patients with breast cancer.
- 00:09I chose oncology because I love
- 00:12connecting with patients for a long time.
- 00:14I love getting to know them
- 00:16that the patients themselves.
- 00:17I love getting to know their families,
- 00:19what makes them tick to understand
- 00:21their values and to help them navigate
- 00:24a really difficult time in their lives.
- 00:26The first visit with your oncologist
- 00:28is one of the scariest visits you'll
- 00:30probably ever have in your life.
- 00:32It's important to come prepared to have
- 00:35questions that you and your family and
- 00:37your friends may may contribute to.
- 00:39It's important to take a deep breath
- 00:41and know that your oncologist is
- 00:43going to be walking with you through
- 00:45this journey from the very beginning,
- 00:48all the way to the end.
- 00:51If you have specific questions about
- 00:53the diagnosis about breast cancer,
- 00:55about cancer about supplements,
- 00:56vitamins, chemotherapy,
- 00:57other anything else,
- 00:58we're happy to answer those questions
- 01:01and make a list before you come
- 01:03so that we can address all of your
- 01:05concerns at that first visit.
- 01:07It's really important to bring a second
- 01:09set of ears to your first appointment.
- 01:11There's a lot of information
- 01:13that's going to go back and forth.
- 01:16We're going to give you lots of
- 01:18information about the pathology
- 01:19and about the treatment plan and
- 01:21about what the next steps are.
- 01:24And at this particular point
- 01:26in time in your life.
- 01:29Things may go in one ear and out the other,
- 01:33so having another person,
- 01:34a caregiver, a friend, a spouse,
- 01:36a daughter,
- 01:37a son, a mother,
- 01:38anyone with you is maybe a father
- 01:41too would be really helpful.
- 01:43The team based approach that we
- 01:45take in the breast center is a
- 01:48really important part of the care.
- 01:50I work with a practice nurse.
- 01:52I work with a nurse practitioner.
- 01:54We have a nutritionist, social workers,
- 01:56physical therapists who work with us to
- 01:59shepherd patients from the very beginning.
- 02:01Of their cancer diagnosis
- 02:03through survivorship.
- 02:04We work with the surgeons very closely.
- 02:06We work with the radiation oncologists,
- 02:08the radiologists,
- 02:09the pathologists.
- 02:10Once a week we have a team based
- 02:13meeting where we get together and
- 02:15discuss new patients and difficult
- 02:17cases so you can rest assured
- 02:19that if you come see us,
- 02:22you're not just seeing me but you're
- 02:24seeing a whole bunch of people,
- 02:27all of whom are interested in making
- 02:29this process as easy for you as possible.