Education
The commitment to defeat cancer goes far beyond treatment, rehabilitation and research. At Bay Medical we are committed to building a healthier community through sharing important cancer prevention and early detection information. This is evidenced by providing for the public a variety of educational programs and articles on cancer, its risk factors, self-examination and symptom identification techniques, screening guidelines, and by participation in neighborhood and area fundraisers. Cancer related programs are selected based on the needs of the community with input from the Cancer Committee, community surveys, public relations, cancer program quality improvement activities, Community Health Task Force, and other organizations such as the American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute. Free cancer screenings, a resource library, smoking cessation classes, and a seniors health fair are some examples of services provided to meet these needs. All of these services are offered in order to promote earlier diagnosis of cancer with the ultimate objective being a decreased incidence rate of cancer in our community.
Providing educational opportunities for physicians, nursing staff and allied health professionals within Bay Medical is equally as important. The healthcare professionals at Bay Medical have the opportunity to obtain the very latest information on cancer treatment via the National Cancer Institute's Physician Data Query. This database gives the most current treatment protocols relative to specific cancers and indicates the location in which the research is being conducted. This affords the physician and the cancer treatment team the opportunity to network with any cancer research center in the United States. Speakers also present medical and nursing seminars from cancer treatment centers that focus on the latest diagnosis and treatment information.
Cancer patients have needs that cross the boundaries of multi-specialty services. In order to assure all our patients are afforded the opportunity to access these specialties, there are Cancer Conferences to provide multi-disciplinary consultative services for patients and to educate the medical staff. These conferences include physician representation from multiple specialties as well as other allied health professionals concerned with the care of the cancer patient. There are many different approaches to treating the different types of cancer and these conferences offer an opportunity to discuss the options. Cancer Conferences provide an ideal forum for a multi-disciplinary opinion and treatment decisions may be made in a collaborative approach, with the goal always being improved care of the cancer patient at this institution. All members of the hospital staff that deal with the cancer patient are welcome to attend and participate in this educational opportunity. We extend our thanks to those physicians that presented and discussed their cases.