50 Years of Cancer Progress - Survivorship

Name: 50 Years of Cancer Progress - Survivorship
Uploaded: 2025-02-03T15:42:47.5Z
Duration: 29 min

February 03, 2025

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00:00Funding for Yale Cancer Answers
00:02is provided by Smilow Cancer
00:04Hospital.
00:06Welcome to Yale Cancer Answers
00:08with the director of
00:09Yale Cancer Center, doctor Eric
00:11Winer.
00:12Yale Cancer Answers features conversations
00:14with oncologists
00:15and specialists who are on
00:16the forefront of the battle
00:17to fight cancer.
00:19This week, it's a conversation
00:20about survivorship with doctor Tara
00:22Sanft. Doctor Sanft is an
00:24associate professor of medicine and
00:26medical oncology and hematology at
00:28the Yale School of Medicine.
00:30Here's doctor Winer.
00:33Before we get into t
00:35some of the
00:39topics that we're
00:40gonna be discussing, can you
00:41just tell us a little
00:42bit about yourself? How is
00:44it that you
00:45came to this field?
00:47What made you become
00:49an oncologist? And what drew
00:51you to both this area
00:53of patient experience and survivorship,
00:55which I tend to think
00:57are quite complimentary?
00:59Thank you. Well,
01:01I'm from a mid
01:02sized town in Iowa.
01:04I'm a very Midwestern girl,
01:06through and through.
01:08I have two siblings and
01:10my parents now live in
01:11Minnesota, which is where they're
01:13originally from.
01:15And when I was eleven,
01:17my uncle,
01:18who was thirty two,
01:20passed away from pancreas cancer.
01:22And he had two little
01:24kids, and at that time,
01:25there were very
01:28few treatments to offer and
01:30he tried some and they
01:31didn't work and he
01:33passed away within a year
01:34of his diagnosis.
01:37I'm so sorry.
01:38Thank you, and he was
01:40so young particularly for pancreatic
01:41cancer. My heart
01:44breaks for our patients and
01:46at that time of my
01:47life, I was eleven years
01:49old. I didn't really understand
01:50everything that was going on,
01:52but I did know
01:53that the medical team who
01:55cared for him and then
01:56eventually the home hospice
01:58team where he passed away
02:00at home,
02:01really supported my
02:02family
02:04and there was something special
02:06there. And
02:07at that time, I decided
02:08I wanted to become a
02:09doctor. And I didn't know
02:10in my mind that I
02:11would end up in this
02:12field, but looking back, it
02:15was starting at a very
02:17young age. I really
02:18appreciated the relationships
02:20that doctors and patients could
02:22have and especially in really
02:24difficult times.
02:27Of course, you're not a
02:29pancreatic cancer doctor. As it
02:30turns out, you are a
02:32breast cancer doctor. How did
02:33you decide to do that?
02:35Well, I did
02:37training in oncology and palliative
02:39medicine
02:40at Northwestern in Chicago
02:43and I
02:44enjoy the
02:45serious decisions
02:47that patients have to make
02:48and the end of life,
02:50conversations, goals of care.
02:52But I also had a
02:53really good mentor there and
02:55I started running marathons and
02:57I wanted to understand
02:58the benefits of
03:00healthy
03:01decisions, healthy lifestyles
03:03as it relates to cancer
03:04treatment.
03:05And most of this work
03:07was being done in breast
03:08cancer patients. And my
03:09mentor there happened to be
03:10a breast cancer oncologist, and
03:12I kept coming back to
03:14his clinic and talking to
03:15the patients there. And,
03:17so while I still do
03:19a lot of palliative care
03:20type conversations when I'm on
03:22the inpatient service and, of
03:23course, all my patients,
03:25we talk about goals of
03:26care when needed,
03:28I focused on my
03:30research efforts, in terms of
03:32healthy diet and exercise, and
03:33that's
03:34really what got me into
03:36survivorship. That's where that
03:37field started,
03:40in the healthy diet and
03:41exercise.
03:42My research mostly started in cancer
03:44survivors. And I came here
03:45to work with Melinda Irwin,
03:46who is a world renowned
03:48researcher in that field, and
03:50I still work with her
03:51to this day.
03:52That's great.
03:54So let's
03:55talk about survivorship.
03:58Fifty years ago, nobody thought
03:59about survivorship. They just wanted
04:02people to survive.
04:03And if you were so
04:04lucky to survive, you were
04:06really
04:07totally on your own.
04:09And any
04:11scars
04:12from treatment, any scars from
04:14the illness itself, and, of
04:16course, there there can be
04:17many,
04:18were just swept under the
04:20rug, and you were supposed
04:21to be back to your
04:22normal self.
04:24Tell us what's happened with
04:26survivorship over these,
04:28let's say, past
04:29twenty, twenty five years where
04:31it's become
04:32so much more of
04:34a focus of what we do.
04:37Yeah. I think you're exactly
04:38right, Eric. If you
04:40happen to survive cancer when
04:43treatments were evolving,
04:45you were made to feel
04:46very lucky about that and
04:48many people did not survive.
04:50So patients really did feel
04:51grateful,
04:52and they still do to
04:53this day.
04:54But because the advances have
04:56gotten
04:57so staggeringly
04:59much better than they were,
05:00they're not good enough, but
05:01they're
05:02much better. We have, you
05:04know, something like eighteen million
05:06survivors as of
05:08twenty twenty two in the
05:09United States alone. And if
05:11you're diagnosed today,
05:13fifty percent of patients diagnosed
05:15are going to live at least
05:16ten years.
05:17So the number of survivors
05:19is just projected to continue
05:20to grow
05:21and for longer and longer
05:23periods of time.
05:26With that,
05:28people sort of finish their
05:29treatments and they
05:31have these moments of realization
05:32that I've just been through
05:33a lot and I'm not
05:35what I used to be.
05:36I don't feel
05:38the way I used to
05:39feel. I don't look the
05:40way I used to look.
05:41And we then sort of
05:43evolved into really dealing with
05:46things after
05:47treatment was over. We call
05:49it a new normal, which
05:50kind of bothers me because
05:51I think
05:52our responsibility is to try
05:54to mitigate that so that
05:55you're just your normal self.
05:59I've always thought of it
06:00that
06:02whether it's a medical issue
06:04or some other major event
06:06in your life, you go
06:07through it.
06:09For example, you know, the
06:10birth of a child, a
06:12divorce,
06:13a huge job change.
06:16And these things affect us.
06:19We are, as people, the accumulation
06:21of the events that occur
06:23in our lives to some
06:24degree.
06:25And I think it
06:26would be foolish to think
06:27that someone could go through
06:29three months, six months, a
06:30year of cancer treatment and
06:33just resume
06:35where they were
06:36a year earlier. And yet
06:38people's families to this day
06:40still sort of expect it.
06:43They expect it. And I
06:44think there's some patients who
06:48it's a little blip in their radar
06:50and as far as they're
06:51concerned, they're not gonna even
06:52acknowledge that was a
06:54major event and they're just
06:55gonna keep going forward.
06:57So the survivorship team
06:58doesn't resonate with everyone,
07:01but for a not insignificant
07:04number, it does cause
07:06lots of reflection and
07:10side effects, unfortunately,
07:11physical, mental,
07:13spiritual,
07:14emotional, and family and financial
07:16side effects as well. And
07:18that's where the
07:19field of survivorship
07:21recognizes the obligation to try to
07:24make people feel whole again
07:26or even thrive
07:27after cancer and its treatment
07:30so that they're able to
07:31reprioritize
07:32their life to live it
07:33even better
07:34than before.
07:36So apart from
07:38just giving it a name
07:39and talking about survivorship
07:41and recognizing the importance,
07:43what are some of the
07:44biggest advances in the field
07:46over the past
07:48ten years, twenty years?
07:54To me, again,
07:55in my world,
07:57we've really advanced our knowledge
07:59as it relates to
08:01the role of health behaviors
08:04in cancer survivorship.
08:06So the
08:07issue of exercise, for instance,
08:09probably has got the
08:10strongest evidence with it. And
08:13like I said, a lot
08:14of that started in survivorship
08:16research.
08:18What about patients who exercised
08:20before cancer? Did they do
08:22better after if they exercised
08:23after cancer? Could they still
08:25do really well? And the
08:26answers are yes for many
08:28things.
08:29And those side effects that
08:31we induce with our treatments
08:33certainly,
08:34are mitigated with exercise as
08:36an example. But
08:37we've gotten even better at
08:40understanding
08:41the role of exercise in
08:42various side effects and
08:44the dose intensity, if you
08:46will, and the types of
08:48exercises that can help. And
08:49we're still refining all of
08:51that, but to me,
08:52what this all means is that
08:55patients have some control
08:57over
08:59what their behaviors are and
09:01that cancer is a teachable
09:02moment. And as we
09:04even move forward, we're gonna
09:05move all of these
09:07findings into the diagnostic period
09:09to try to, again,
09:11prevent loss of physical function
09:13from happening and prevent cancer
09:14related fatigue from happening in
09:16the first place. So
09:17that's where we are right
09:18now. We still have
09:20some ways to go, but
09:21I see that as
09:22a huge advancement for the
09:23field and it's one that's
09:24being
09:27recognized. And hopefully, we
09:28can even convince insurance to
09:30cover
09:31exercise programs for cancer patients
09:33because we know how well
09:34they do when they actually
09:36exercise.
09:37Well, you know, it does
09:38seem to be
09:39a bit absurd
09:41that we, of course, have
09:43insurance coverage for many
09:45unbelievably
09:46expensive new drugs,
09:49new drugs that oftentimes are
09:51quite beneficial,
09:52sometimes are somewhat beneficial.
09:56But approaches like exercise and
09:59dietary counseling and
10:01psychosocial interventions, which are far
10:04less expensive,
10:05it seems like we have
10:06to go through,
10:08many, many hoops to try
10:11to get those kinds of
10:13services reimbursed.
10:15I do think the culture's gonna be
10:17changing. It used to
10:18be a nice to have,
10:19and I think it needs
10:21to be a must have.
10:22And I think any
10:24comprehensive cancer center understands that,
10:26and we just need
10:28the rest of the culture
10:29to catch up.
10:30Now
10:31the term survivorship
10:33has sort of
10:36been adjusted over the years.
10:37And at one time, we
10:39thought about survivorship as people
10:40who had
10:42completed cancer treatment and
10:45were presumably
10:47pretty likely to be cured.
10:49I think we think of
10:50it a little differently now.
10:51And could you comment on
10:53that?
10:54Yeah.
10:56I will say that my
10:57understanding is way back in
10:59the seventies,
11:01patients were labeled as cancer
11:03victims.
11:04So the term
11:07cancer survivor was meant to
11:09combat that idea.
11:12And,
11:13there was a famous physician
11:14named Fitzhugh Mullan who published
11:17in the New England Journal
11:18in nineteen eighty five, the
11:19seasons of survival, and he
11:21was a survivor himself. And
11:22he said survivorship starts
11:24at diagnosis.
11:26And he
11:27delegated it into certain phases,
11:29so it's different when you're
11:30in treatment versus right when
11:32you finish treatment and you're
11:33realizing you have a lot
11:34of things to deal with.
11:36And then long term survivorship,
11:39you know,
11:40probably that's a better label
11:42for people who've survived many
11:44years without a recurrence and
11:46they enter into long
11:47term surveillance. So
11:49I think survivors are meant
11:51to encompass
11:52anyone with a diagnosis of
11:54cancer.
11:55It's really meant to be
11:56from the diagnosis through the
11:58span of life.
12:00And, you know, again, recognizing
12:02that this is not a
12:04term that resonates with everyone,
12:07not everybody agrees with it,
12:09but it is some
12:10way to
12:12describe this population that deserves
12:14these services especially to try
12:16to make themselves feel better,
12:18you know, during and after
12:19cancer treatment.
12:22Now in terms of the
12:24trajectory of survivorship,
12:26oftentimes,
12:28patients
12:29will be going through
12:32treatment
12:33for three months, six months,
12:35a year, what have you.
12:36Oftentimes, there may side effects
12:38with that treatment.
12:39They finish it, and they
12:41think,
12:42I'm home free.
12:45Life is gonna be great
12:46again.
12:47And
12:48surprisingly to many of our
12:50patients,
12:51they find that transition time
12:52when they're done with treatment
12:54to be a pretty scary
12:56moment, one that at times
12:58they get depressed
12:59and anxious.
13:01What's going on there?
13:04Well, I think that
13:06the post treatment phase and
13:08entering into, you know, this
13:10what we call extended survival,
13:13regardless of your diagnosis, there's
13:15several unifying themes. And
13:17a lot of it can
13:18be a fear of recurrence
13:21and also some anxiety and
13:22depression over
13:24having
13:25a lot of changes in
13:26life.
13:28We at Yale, I'll just
13:29mention, have a multidisciplinary
13:31clinic that's meant to see
13:32patients in this
13:35time between visits, right after
13:37treatment ends and maybe in
13:38the first three, six,
13:40nine, or twelve months to
13:41really
13:42realize how we can optimize
13:44health going forward.
13:46So I think that it's
13:47a real phenomenon and
13:49at least almost
13:50forty percent of patients suffer
13:51from depression, anxiety,
13:54cancer related fatigue,
13:56loss of physical performance, insomnia,
13:58and that's where
13:59a multidisciplinary
14:00clinic or specialists within a
14:02cancer center can really help
14:04get patients back on track.
14:07That's very helpful.
14:10We're gonna take just a
14:11minute now,
14:12and,
14:14we'll be back
14:16shortly. And we'll continue our
14:18conversation
14:19with Tara Sanft,
14:21chief patient experience officer,
14:23director of survivorship
14:25at Yale
14:27Cancer Center.
14:28Support for Yale Cancer Answers
14:30comes from Smilow Cancer Hospital,
14:32where all patients have access
14:34to cutting edge clinical trials
14:35at several convenient locations throughout
14:37the region. To learn more,
14:39visit smilow cancer hospital dot
14:41org.
14:44The American Cancer Society estimates
14:46that more than sixty five
14:47thousand Americans will be diagnosed
14:49with cancer.
15:02Clinical trials are currently underway
15:03at federally designated comprehensive cancer
15:06centers,
15:07such as Yale Cancer Center
15:08and at Smilow Cancer Hospital,
15:11to test innovative new treatments
15:13for head and neck cancers.
15:15Yale Cancer Center was recently
15:16awarded grants from the National
15:18Institutes of Health to fund
15:20the Yale Head and Neck
15:21Cancer Specialized
15:23Program of Research Excellence,
15:25or SPORE,
15:26to address critical barriers to
15:28treatment of head and neck
15:29squamous cell carcinoma due to
15:31resistance to immune DNA damaging
15:34and targeted therapy.
15:36More information is available at
15:37yale cancer center dot org.
15:39You're listening to Connecticut Public
15:41Radio.
15:43Welcome back. This is Eric
15:45Winer with the second half of
15:47Yale Cancer Answers for this
15:48evening. I'm here with my
15:50guest, doctor Tara Sanft, associate
15:52professor
15:54of medicine at Yale School
15:55of Medicine and
15:57chief patient experience officer.
16:00So, Tara, could you
16:03just expand a little further
16:04in this conversation about survivorship,
16:07about what kinds of services
16:09are available to survivors,
16:11not just
16:13at major medical centers, but
16:14in the community?
16:17Yes. I will say that
16:19again, because of
16:20the issues we talked about
16:22before regarding insurance reimbursement,
16:24a lot of these programs
16:28can be
16:29inaccessible to people. And
16:30again, that's one of the
16:31things that I think we
16:32hope to change with our
16:33efforts at Yale.
16:35But within institutions, there's often
16:39programs that cancer survivors have
16:41direct access to because they're
16:42patients there.
16:44So those include
16:45oncology rehab
16:47services, physical therapy,
16:49dietitians,
16:51social workers,
16:52who can oftentimes provide counseling
16:54and provide recommendations
16:57for further treatments of depression
16:59and anxiety.
17:01In the communities,
17:04there are organizations
17:06like LiveStrong at
17:07the Y program, which is
17:08a really creative,
17:11excellent program. If your local
17:13YMCA
17:14offers this and you're a
17:15cancer survivor, I highly suggest
17:17that you look into it.
17:18And it is
17:20a pretty comprehensive program
17:22for some number of weeks.
17:23I think it's twelve weeks
17:24and it's
17:26geared towards cancer survivors to
17:28optimize their health. And as
17:29we've talked about before, a
17:30lot of that includes things
17:32like diet and exercise.
17:34But there's also a community
17:35there of survivors that naturally
17:37forms when people participate.
17:41And there's also places like
17:43Gilda's Club or in Connecticut,
17:45we have a wonderful resource
17:46called Anne's Place,
17:48that can help patients get
17:50connected with various services and
17:52and support groups.
17:54So I'm gonna ask you
17:55to do what is almost
17:56the impossible.
17:58There's a a certain negative
18:00connotation associated with elevator pitches,
18:03but
18:04I would actually like
18:05you to give me the
18:06elevator pitch to the cancer
18:09survivor, to the person who's
18:10had cancer,
18:11is either living with it
18:13or is past that diagnosis
18:15and is
18:16hoping to do well the
18:17rest of their life,
18:19still struggling with
18:21some of the
18:23aftermath of the diagnosis.
18:26And what would you tell
18:27them in terms of
18:28leading the best life they
18:30can at that moment?
18:31Well, I'm gonna pretend
18:33you're one of my patients.
18:36Please, please do.
18:37I would say,
18:38listen, if you're struggling after
18:40cancer treatment, you are not
18:41alone.
18:42This is very
18:44normal for patients to feel
18:46completely untethered after cancer treatment.
18:50And there's lots of issues
18:51that can happen,
18:54and there's lots of people
18:55who wanna help.
18:56And I will say
18:58one size doesn't fit all.
18:59So this is not,
19:01there's not one thing that
19:03you can do that's gonna
19:05be right for everyone. So
19:06why don't we talk about
19:08what all is bothering you
19:09and try to get you
19:10into the most personalized
19:13response that we can and
19:14into a place of recovery
19:16so that you
19:18start to feel better. I'll
19:19also say out of experience
19:21that
19:22these feelings and all
19:24of this doesn't last forever.
19:25There's a period of time
19:27and after which,
19:28cancer won't be on the
19:30top of your mind every
19:31day. But if we can
19:33get that sooner, that relief
19:35of having to deal with
19:37the burden of being treated
19:39and the side effects,
19:40if we can get you
19:41relief sooner, let's do that
19:43and let's take advantage of
19:44everything that we have. That's
19:46great. And I think importantly,
19:48you know, some of our
19:49patients will say, oh, I
19:51don't need help. I have
19:52three very close friends, or
19:54my family is very supportive.
19:56And I think one of
19:57the messages we sometimes have
19:59to communicate is,
20:01that's great that you have
20:02these people, but sometimes there's
20:03a real role
20:05for some professional
20:06assistance
20:08and
20:09assistance from people who are
20:11not necessarily
20:12so intimately involved in your life.
20:16Yeah. And, you know, I'll
20:17just say that,
20:19experts in cancer care, whatever
20:21field it is,
20:23they understand
20:24a broader landscape than
20:26arguably a few good friends,
20:28right? So they can really
20:30help,
20:32share strategies that work for
20:34patients in similar situations because
20:36they are the experts in
20:37that field.
20:39You know, for instance, a
20:40really good friend can help
20:41you feel better, but do
20:42they know about meaning centered
20:44therapy and making sense of
20:45what you've just been
20:46through as it relates to
20:48the context and the story
20:49of your life?
20:51Our social workers know
20:52that, and they can help
20:54counsel patients on how to
20:55make meaning out of what
20:56just happened. And so
20:58that's just one small example
20:59of how the expertise,
21:01I think, is invaluable. And
21:03if you have access to
21:04it,
21:05why not help
21:06yourself?
21:07Well, your other role, of
21:09course, is chief patient experience
21:11officer at Smilow.
21:13Patient experience is such a
21:14huge topic
21:15that I'd actually like to
21:17focus down on one specific
21:19area at least to begin
21:21with,
21:22although we may spend most
21:23of the rest of the
21:24time talking about that. And
21:26that is the area of,
21:28I won't say physician, I'm
21:30gonna specifically say clinician
21:32patient
21:33communication.
21:35And
21:36I often
21:37tell people
21:38that when you're totally healthy,
21:41the part of your quality
21:42of life that is made
21:43up by your relationship with
21:45your medical team is tiny.
21:48Doesn't matter for many people
21:50who their primary care doctor
21:52is exactly,
21:53and they're just not having
21:55enough contact.
21:56But the minute you enter
21:58an illness
21:59situation,
22:01it becomes really important that
22:02that relationship with
22:04the health care team
22:06be right.
22:07And a lot of that
22:08is about communication.
22:09So
22:10talk to us a little
22:11bit about
22:14what you think
22:15patients want in terms of,
22:18communication with their team
22:20and how we can get
22:21better at it because, of
22:23course,
22:24not all
22:25clinicians are created equally.
22:27Yeah. So I think that,
22:28you know, you're touching on
22:29something that when you become
22:31ill,
22:32that's a time of vulnerability.
22:34And so it's fine if
22:36everything's
22:37working well and you just
22:39need,
22:40you know, a little checkup,
22:41it doesn't feel as heavy.
22:42But when you're very vulnerable,
22:44and I would argue that
22:45cancer is one of the
22:46most vulnerable positions to be
22:48put into,
22:50you wanna feel and we
22:51know this from data that,
22:54patients want to feel seen,
22:55heard, and understood.
22:57They want to be known
22:58as a human, not just
23:00the patient with breast cancer
23:02down the hall.
23:05I think that
23:07physicians and clinicians
23:09battling high burnout rates as
23:10a culture in
23:12medicine,
23:13you know, that is the
23:14point that's why they
23:16got into the field that
23:17they want to help
23:18people.
23:20And they understand
23:22that these patients are very
23:23vulnerable and they want to
23:25make them feel seen, heard,
23:27and understood. Now I would
23:28say that we didn't all
23:29learn
23:31communication skills the same way.
23:33And
23:34people say, yeah, but I'm
23:35really good at talking.
23:37But there's actual skills that
23:39we can practice
23:41and that we can employ
23:42with all patients that are
23:44much more likely to lead
23:46to better outcomes and better
23:47relationships if we just repeat
23:49those over and over again.
23:50And I'm happy to talk
23:51about some of those details.
23:53Sure. I think hearing some
23:55of those details would
23:57be great.
23:59When I see patients who
24:00have
24:02come from some other facility,
24:04there are
24:06oftentimes people with cancer who,
24:08you know, adore
24:10their health care team and
24:11feel completely in sync and
24:13have had great communication.
24:14And there are times when
24:16it's just not as good.
24:18And I often wonder what
24:20in those situations where it
24:21hasn't been as good, what's
24:22gone wrong?
24:25I think there's, again, a few
24:26things that we can do
24:28with every patient that sets
24:30us up for success.
24:32And, you know, it sounds,
24:34simple, but you really do
24:36need to be mindful about
24:37these things. So the first
24:38thing is to build rapport
24:39with a patient. And there's
24:41no better time to do
24:42that than right at the
24:43beginning of meeting them,
24:45which really means understanding
24:47who they are. And it
24:48can be a few go
24:50to things like where they
24:51live, who they live with,
24:52what they do.
24:54Those are very simple. But
24:56also things like what's most
24:57important to them or how
24:59have they handled,
25:00you know, vulnerabilities
25:02or medical illnesses in
25:04the past.
25:05Building rapport
25:07builds trust.
25:08And it starts to change
25:10the relationship because I think
25:11the clinicians also start to
25:13see that person as not
25:14just a new breast cancer
25:15patient, but, you know, a
25:16teacher who came an hour
25:18away and is missing work,
25:20and has a couple of
25:21kids at home. Right? So
25:22those are very valuable things.
25:25And the second skill that
25:27we need to employ every
25:29time
25:30is listening
25:31without interruption.
25:34So,
25:35we might think that we're
25:36good at this, but this
25:37is a skill that we
25:38need to practice and, you
25:39know, research has shown
25:41that
25:42doctors in particular,
25:44interrupt their patients around eleven
25:46seconds,
25:48which means that patients barely
25:51get their story out before
25:52I'm sorry. You're done with
25:53that.
25:55And even if it's something
25:56simple like, wait. When was
25:57that? Right? Like, I'm engaged.
25:59I wanna know.
26:00Now you've just sent a
26:02signal.
26:03I'm in charge. I
26:04wanna know an answer to
26:05a question. And, also,
26:07we know that eighty percent
26:08of patients never get back
26:09to their train of thought
26:10once they're interrupted. So it's
26:11really
26:12important to let them tell
26:14their story.
26:15And I'll say one last
26:16fact.
26:17You know,
26:19the vast majority of patients
26:20finish
26:22the bulk of their story
26:23and they
26:24do a natural pause by
26:25ninety seconds.
26:27So I know we all
26:28remember the big talkers
26:29who need to be
26:30interrupted at five minutes, but
26:32they're a small segment of
26:34the population.
26:35Sure. And,
26:37you know, I would argue
26:38that
26:39cancer in particular, but many
26:41other health care fields
26:43are areas where
26:46if as a clinician,
26:48if as a physician,
26:49you don't like talking to
26:51people and hearing their stories,
26:53then
26:54maybe it's not quite the
26:55right role for you.
27:00I agree with you,
27:01and I think that we try
27:03to squeeze everybody into these
27:06round holes. And if you're
27:07a square peg,
27:09there's value in all the
27:10cancer work that you're doing.
27:11It just might not be
27:12in the frontline
27:14relationship.
27:15Or it might be with
27:17some coaching from somebody
27:19who can help that person
27:22reevaluate
27:22their approach and
27:24learn some of these communication
27:26skills.
27:29I'm curious about
27:30this. Have you found that
27:32you have worked with
27:34physicians
27:35around communication
27:37and
27:38that as a result of
27:39that work, they have come
27:41to
27:43enjoy their work and value
27:45it in a way that
27:46they didn't in the past?
27:48Yeah. Actually, I just you
27:49know, just a few weeks
27:50ago, I had a physician
27:51in our group
27:53mention to me that he
27:55changed his behavior after he
27:56went through a communication skills
27:58workshop.
27:59Again, we teach some pretty
28:01basic skills, but to him,
28:02it was life changing.
28:04And it was the
28:05listening without interruption.
28:07He's a wonderful physician. He's
28:08always been well regarded. But
28:10to him,
28:11he would interrupt
28:13frequently, and he didn't realize
28:14that until he took the
28:16workshop and practiced the skills.
28:17And afterwards,
28:19it really changed his
28:21outlook, and I think
28:23that's not the only example.
28:24There's lots of people who
28:26say that it's really changed
28:28how they perceive their relationships
28:30with patients that strengthened them,
28:32which makes us enjoy our
28:33work even more.
28:35Dr. Tara Sanft is an associate professor
28:37of medicine and medical oncology
28:39and hematology at the Yale
28:40School of Medicine.
28:42If you have questions, the
28:43address is cancer answers at
28:44yale dot e d u,
28:46and past editions of the
28:47program are available in audio
28:49and written form at yale
28:50cancer center dot
28:51org. We hope you'll join
28:52us next time to learn
28:53more about the fight against
28:55cancer.
28:55Funding for Yale Cancer Answers
28:57is provided by Smilow Cancer
28:59Hospital.