Dr. Jennifer Young Pierce is using a podcast to empower patients. See how that’s helping people.
Jennifer Young Pierce, M.D., is one of those people who just won’t leave well enough alone.
“Just because it worked 10 years ago doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be trying to find a better way to treat patients today.”
She’s a gynecologic oncologist at the Mitchell Cancer Institute and someone who looks at cancer differently. So while she devotes herself to the care of her patients in all the ways you’d expect—meeting with them, diagnosing, advising, performing surgery and prescribing chemotherapy or radiation—she’s also been finding new ways to tackle cancer and foster better outcomes for anyone who’s facing this disease.
The USA Health cancer survivorship program is part of her efforts, which includes the Hope Survivorship class that focuses on the whole patient—the spiritual and the psychological facets of a person, not just the physiological.
“Most people think of cancer as a noun. Something you run into, pass and it’s a landmark on the road,” Pierce says. “But it’s much more of a journey.”
A journey. Something that takes time, often years, to complete. Sometimes you never really put cancer behind you and the effects linger. That’s why she created a podcast called The Cancering Show.
“We started The Cancering Show podcast to demystify cancer,” says Pierce. “We want patients to be able to go to the podcast and get the information that they need outside of the physician’s office. If you start from the beginning, it walks through diagnosis, treatments, including radiation surgery and chemotherapy, all the way through survivorship.”
Having cancer means living a new way. It’s not merely a disease to endure or survive. And the podcast allows Pierce to reach people with that message. Not just her own patients. The Cancering Show is available worldwide, which means people everywhere can benefit from a doctor and her microphone here in Mobile.
That’s seeing things differently. And that’s transforming medicine.
