The Roles of Breast Cancer Surgeons and Specialists in New Albany, Indiana

Baptist Health Floyd: The Roles of Breast Cancer Surgeons and Specialists in New Albany, Indiana

Baptist Health breast cancer surgeons provide personalized treatment to all breast cancer patients. Learn about the different ways surgeons and specialists treat breast cancer.

The Roles of Breast Cancer Surgeons and Specialists in New Albany, Indiana HealthTalks Transcript

John “Paddy” McCormick, MD, General Surgery:
A lot of times, the first time we meet a patient is when they’ve already been diagnosed with breast cancer, they’ve already had their mammogram, they’ve already had a biopsy. General surgeons are the first doctor they meet right after that diagnosis. Our role is to talk to them about what the diagnosis means and then to act as the entryway into the many different therapies they have available to them.

Here at Baptist Health Floyd, we have general surgeons who remove breast cancer. We have oncologists who are interested in treating breast cancer with chemotherapy and with hormonal therapy regimens, and then we also have radiation oncologists who assist with radiating the breast after surgery or after chemotherapy. The advantage of that is that we can all come together and tailor an individual treatment approach for each patient.

Our center is NAPBC accredited. My job is to make sure that the breast cancer treatments we’re offering our patients are up to date and up to the standards that are required nationally.

The first time I really found out about breast cancer was when I was in grade school. My aunt, who I was very close with, was diagnosed with a very aggressive form of breast cancer. I respected the surgeons who were taking care of her and kind of wanted to be like them.

A patient can come in with breast cancer. They can have surgery. That breast cancer can be removed. That’s really rewarding for me — the fact that you can restore people to their state of health before they had the diagnosis of cancer.