Importance of a Multidisciplinary Team at a Hispanic Breast Cancer Clinic

A multidisciplinary care team is essential in running a Hispanic breast cancer clinic, according to Claudia Tellez, MD.

In a conversation with CancerNetwork^®, Tellez, a medical oncologist at Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center, Northwestern Memorial Hospital, spoke about how the team at the Hispanic Breast Cancer Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital works together to provide care. The Spanish-speaking faculty at this clinic include a social worker, nurse practitioners, a medical oncologist, a radiation oncologist, and surgeons. The team also partakes in multidisciplinary discussions of cases to determine the best path forward for every patient.

Transcript:

The team that is currently available at our clinic is comprised of a nurse, a physician, myself, a social worker, a medical assistant, and a research assistant. Our phlebotomist [who works at the clinic] on Friday mornings also speaks Spanish. That's the team that's specifically here. We also have an active team of surgeons, a radiation oncologist, and other care providers such as nurse practitioners who are also available for our patients. Some of them are also working at the same time as our clinic. They're just not directly participating in the clinic.

For example, if I had any immediate issue with one of my patients and I needed a surgeon to see the patient, they would be available to reach out and see that patient at that same time. We do have meetings once a week, where we have cancer center discussions of cases. We do have the ability to present all of our patients’ cases and discuss the details to help determine a treatment plan for our patients. I absolutely think it's essential to have a multidisciplinary discussion regarding all the cases and all the details just to make the best possible plan for each of our patients.

Reference

Lurie Cancer Center Hispanic Breast Cancer Clinic at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University. Accessed November 6, 2023. https://bit.ly/45Vm0kx