Last week, the Prevent Cancer Foundation held its 2014 Dialogue for Action™: Right-Sizing Cancer Screening on March 20 – 21 (pre-conference day: March 19), gathering a diverse group of cancer screening stakeholders from 33 states and the District of Columbia, 9 American Indian/Alaska tribes and organizations, Japan and Israel. Starting with Alan Thorson, M.D., Colon and Rectal Surgery, Inc.,
from Omaha, NE, who encouraged participants to take practical actions to prevent colorectal cancer in their lives, the Dialogue provided an important forum to explore opportunities and issues in cancer screening policy, practice and programs. Presentations and exchanges were highly informative and provocative, and networking was robust.
We will share more feedback from conference participants when it’s available; until then, here are some comments we’ve received:
First-time Dialogue attendee Sheree Murphy, B.S.N., M.D., from Eastern Iowa Health Center in Cedar Rapids, IA, was enthusiastic about the presentations she heard and the new cancer screening colleagues she was meeting.
Durado Brooks, M.D., M.P.H., at the American Cancer Society, emailed this: “The Dialogue is always a great conference, but this was the best ever. I learned something new and important from every single panel.”
Heather Brandt, Ph.D., from the University of South Carolina, emailed that “I was pleased with the inclusion of the new recommendations for lung cancer screening among high-risk individuals as part of the conversations at the Dialogue for Action. As a result, I have already sent emails to our research team members about how to include this information in our programs and discuss approaches with our partners – community and clinical.”
Laurie Jensen-Wunder, who is at the American Cancer Society in Sioux Falls, SD, said that the lively Friday morning discussion on breast cancer screening was valuable and reinforced the need for continued dialogue on these very important issues.
Ruth Etzioni, Ph.D., of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, is already thinking about the possibility of offering a pre-conference workshop on ‘getting the numbers right’ on cancer screening for the 2015 Dialogue.
Share your thoughts about the 2014 Dialogue and suggestions for the 2015 Dialogue. I invite you to call me at 703-837-3680 or email me at Karen.Peterson@preventcancer.org.
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