I had the privilege to speak to the Philadelphia Business Journal at an awards ceremony, where I was chosen as one of the 2018 Healthcare Innovators and Doctors of Distinction. These were leaders in administration, research and clinical care from throughout the region. It was an amazing group of people.
I was asked to speak at the Medtronic Energy Division’s annual sales and awards meeting. I discussed where we currently stood with breast cancer care surgically and what the future looked like. They had me speak on the main stage as well as multiple breakout sessions. It was the first time I spoke to over 1500 people at one time. Quite an experience and one I will not soon forget.
I have had the opportunity to speak at international sales meetings for Amoena and for Juzo. These were industry meetings with members interested in breast cancer care, but also supportive care and mental health. It was fascinating to discuss how different care is delivered in different areas of the world.
I have engaged with Medtronic as a key opinion leader (KOL) and on their speaker bureau for Oncoplastic training of surgeons, Nipple Sparing training of surgeons, as well as new employee education and marketing discussions. These speaking engagements have allowed me the opportunity to meet other leaders in the field of healthcare, as well as innovators in the biomedical industry.
ABC news in Philadelphia came to the office to discuss a new device that we had been using that allowed patients to control a part of their reconstruction. This device gave me the opportunity to perform staged breast reconstruction, with a tissue expander, without the need to see them for weekly fills. They had a remote control that allowed them to do this at home. This was a game changer for my patients that were flying in from other states. (View video here.)
When Invuity (now owned by Stryker) first developed their “No Scar” education around nipple sparing mastectomies and oncoplastic lumpectomies, I was part of the team. We had a lab on wheels that allowed us to educate in places that do not have the facilities we needed. I am still in contact with many of the physicians that we educated.
I make an effort to speak at national and international conferences every year. The goal being to educate others on what we are doing around cancer care and survivorship, but also to learn from them what they are doing and what innovations we could be doing together to better cancer treatment.
I was honored to be asked to speak at the general session of The American Society of Breast Surgeons annual meeting. This is the largest gathering of breast surgeons from 34 different countries. There were over 1500 people in attendance and it was an incredible learning experience. I spoke as part of the oncoplastics session and specifically gave an update on breast implant associated anaplastic large cell lymphoma (BIA-ALCL). Click here to view video of the update.
