“Choices and Voices in Breast and Women’s Health” is the theme for the Vermont Cancer Center’s 17th Annual Breast Cancer Conference. This 2014 conference, which took place on Friday, October 10, 2014 at the Sheraton Burlington Hotel and Conference Center in South Burlington, Vt., included more than 80 sessions and interactive experiences for cancer patients, survivors, caregivers, physicians, researchers and members of the general public concerned about breast health and breast cancer.
With an estimated 800 attendees, the event was presented with support from the University of Vermont (UVM), Fletcher Allen Health Care, Susan G. Komen for the Cure Vermont-New Hampshire Affiliate, BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont, and Front Porch Forum. The event is free and open to the public.
Breast Cancer Conference 2014 co-chairs Patricia O’Brien, M.D., UVM associate professor of medicine, and Kathy McBeth, M.A., psychologist with the VCC’s Cancer Patient Support Program, said this year’s conference theme was focused on providing “information to people in a variety of formats so that everyone can seek knowledge and support that will help them make healthy choices for themselves, their loved ones, or their patients.” The two women’s goal – to empower patients to have an active voice in their health or cancer journey – is based on their collective belief that an informed voice is a strong voice, and acknowledges that when an individual or their loved one is facing a cancer diagnosis, getting the information is not always easy.
VCC members and faculty from UVM and Fletcher Allen Health Care, as well as guest presenters from around the region, shared information and expertise at the conference. Topics featured during the day-long event ranged from “Sex after Cancer” to “Understanding How Diet and Weight Affects Prevention, Survivorship and Caregiving,” and “Looking for Avoidable Causes of Breast Cancer: No Trivial Pursuit,” presented by Associate Professor of Surgery and VCC member Thomas Ahern, Ph.D., M.P.H., this year’s keynote speaker. Among the sessions addressing patient choices are: “Conversations and Choices for the Caregiver,” presented by McBeth; “Choices in Prophylactic Mastectomy: Figuring out what is right for YOU,” presented by a panel of VCC physicians and researchers; “Integrative Therapies in Cancer Care: An Expert Panel Discussion”; “Screening: When, How Often, and Why?,” moderated by Vermont’s Acting Commissioner of Health, Tracy Dolan, M.S., and “What to Expect When You Get Called Back from Your Routine Screening Mammogram,” presented by Fletcher Allen radiologist Elise Hotaling, M.D.
Learn more about the Vermont Cancer Center here.