VCOM 2021 Annual Report

ALUMNI VIEWS

Providing Cancer Care for the Underserved

Johnathan Sharrett, DO VCOM-Carolinas, Class of 2015 Radiation Oncology, Spokane CyberKnife and Summit Cancer Centers, Spokane Valley, WA Q: How do you hope to accomplish your goal of providing cancer care to outlying medically underserved communities? A: The keys to delivering high-quality cancer care to medically underserved communities are presence, communication and collaboration. My plan is to be embedded in and available within the communities and to deliver high- quality care. This way patients can confide and providers can trust in sending oncology patients my way to help navigate them through their cancer journey. This could include treating them, referring to other cancer specialists who should be involved in their care, or even helping to determine when they should be referred to a major academic center. Marketing and social media are good ways to let people know there are oncologists within their community available to help. My goal is to have an “open door” policy for walk-in consultations and same-day add-ons that are already in place. In addition, my goal is to be involved in social gatherings to discuss cancer screening recommendations and healthy behaviors to reduce cancer risk to underserved communities. We have several cancer clinics embedded in underserved communities, and I hope to help this grow. Communication and collaboration go hand in hand. You have to have strong communication and collaboration to deliver efficient, timely, high-quality cancer care. I’m thankful for being surrounded by people and organizations who have led by example and ingrained this in me. I would be remiss if I didn’t speak to the importance of cultural competency and emotional intelligence. To

truly affect positive change and progress in these communities, one must truly attempt to understand those within them, their hesitations, reservations, the barriers, etc. Q: How did you keep your patients safe from COVID-19 with their compromised immune systems? A: We did several things to keep patients with compromised immune systems who are undergoing active cancer treatment safe, in addition to strict adherence to wearing PPE. A key component is fostering a safe environment where patients feel comfortable coming to the cancer clinic. In our clinic, patients were screened before entering the facility with questionnaires regarding contacts, exposure, symptoms of COVID-19, etc. If there were any concerns, they were sent for testing/quarantining. Most patients were not allowed to be accompanied by anyone in the facility. We would often have their friends/ relatives on speakerphone during visits, and I or someone from our team would call other individuals per patient request to fill them in. For end of life discussion or delivery of emotionally intense news, friends/family members who came with the patient were allowed into the room so long as they passed facility screening. If a patient had confirmed or suspected COVID, decisions were made based on the urgency of their cancer treatments. When vaccines were first delivered to Washington, our cancer center stored the vaccine. So we were one of the first locations in Spokane to administer the vaccines to front line healthcare workers, first responders and cancer patients. It has been an essential responsibility for our clinic to stay educated as the data has evolved along with recommendations from the CDC and oncologic guidelines. This pursuit of up-to-date recommendations and guidelines ensures we provide appropriate and accurate information, recommendations and education to our patients. ■

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