Learn more about Dr. Sarah Goldberg
May 19, 2021Learn more about Dr. Sarah Goldberg
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Information
Dr. Sarah Goldberg explains her role as a thoracic oncologist and what patients can expect during their visits.
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- 00:00I'm Sarah Goldberg.
- 00:01I'm an associate professor of medicine.
- 00:04In this section of medical oncology,
- 00:06thoracic oncologist,
- 00:07which means that I treat patients
- 00:09with cancer in the chest.
- 00:11Most most commonly lung cancer,
- 00:13but other cancers as well such
- 00:15as mesothelioma and thymoma.
- 00:16I decided long time ago that
- 00:18I wanted to become a doctor
- 00:21even when I was in high school.
- 00:23I was interested in this field,
- 00:25but really it was more in college and
- 00:28then in medical school where I started.
- 00:31Interact with patients and work
- 00:33in doctors offices and hospitals
- 00:35that I realized it was clearly the
- 00:36field that I wanted to be part of.
- 00:38I really love to take care of patients
- 00:40and to interact with them to get
- 00:42to know people well and get to know
- 00:45people's families and have long term,
- 00:47important relationships with them
- 00:48where I feel like I could make a
- 00:50difference in their quality of life
- 00:52and how they live and their health
- 00:54when someone has an appointment to
- 00:56see me or one of my colleagues here.
- 00:58There's a variety of ways that
- 00:59you could think about preparing.
- 01:01Some people really come in and.
- 01:03Don't necessarily know too much about
- 01:05their diagnosis or what's happening,
- 01:06or they may not even have a diagnosis yet.
- 01:09And so in those cases it's
- 01:10made Harvey hard to prepare,
- 01:12and so I think I think of my role
- 01:14and my goal of the visit is really
- 01:16for me to educate the patient and
- 01:18the family and friends or whoever is
- 01:20with the person on what is happening,
- 01:22what we know, what we don't know,
- 01:24what we can do to figure things out better,
- 01:26and what we can do to help.
- 01:28Some people do,
- 01:29like to prepare to do things in advance.
- 01:31I know a lot of people go online and.
- 01:34And look things up and search for for
- 01:36answers before they come into their visit.
- 01:38I think that can sometimes be
- 01:39helpful when when someone is really
- 01:41anxious to hear more information,
- 01:43but there's a lot out there that
- 01:44can be not so clear on the Internet
- 01:47or may not even be correct.
- 01:48So I think that could be a little
- 01:51bit difficult at times,
- 01:52but I think really coming in with
- 01:54questions written down and writing,
- 01:55writing things that you really want
- 01:57to get out of it to make sure that
- 01:59we touch on all the points that are
- 02:01important to the patient and their family.
- 02:04I think that can be really helpful
- 02:06'cause sometimes you come in and.
- 02:07And people forget what they really
- 02:09wanted to get out of the visit or
- 02:12specific questions that they had.
- 02:13I think it's really helpful to have
- 02:16family or friends or loved ones with
- 02:18the patient for their first visit,
- 02:20and even often subsequent visits.
- 02:21There's a lot of information that
- 02:23that gets exchanged during a visit
- 02:25with an oncologist,
- 02:26we talk about the diagnosis about what
- 02:28that means about treatment options,
- 02:30and I think it can be a lot of information.
- 02:33I always try to go through things really,
- 02:36really carefully and in detail,
- 02:37and repeat things when needed,
- 02:39but I still think having an extra
- 02:41set of ears, someone else too.
- 02:43To absorb the information can be
- 02:45really helpful and can really provide
- 02:47a lot of support for the person
- 02:49going through the diagnosis and
- 02:51talking about treatment options.
- 02:52It really can be helpful
- 02:53to have someone with them.
- 02:55Sometimes people want to bring several
- 02:57family members or friends and really
- 02:59have a lot of support around them
- 03:01that can sometimes be helpful too,
- 03:03but I think you know really
- 03:05having one key person who can be
- 03:07your advocate or you know,
- 03:08be another set of ears is
- 03:10incredibly helpful at times.
- 03:11Sometimes we do that by phone or or even.
- 03:14My video is not everybody has
- 03:16family or friends close by and we
- 03:18absolutely can accommodate that.
- 03:20If if someone comes in and they want
- 03:22to call a relative or friend by phone
- 03:25while they're in during the visit,
- 03:27I absolutely welcome that.
- 03:28I think that can work out really,
- 03:30really well.
- 03:31Huge part of what I do day today is research,
- 03:34so it's it's really another reason
- 03:36why I really like the field of
- 03:38oncology and specifically lung cancer,
- 03:40because not only does it allow me to
- 03:42treat patients and really help them.
- 03:44Feel as well as possible and
- 03:46live as well as possible,
- 03:48but I also able to do research and
- 03:50really try to advance the field,
- 03:52meaning figure things out about lung
- 03:54cancer that we didn't know before.
- 03:56An even more importantly,
- 03:57try to figure out better treatments for
- 04:00people so there's really incredible
- 04:01advances in treating people with
- 04:03lung cancer over the last few years,
- 04:05but there's still a lot that we
- 04:07don't fully understand or know,
- 04:09and there are still many medicines
- 04:10that I think we will have in our future
- 04:13that can really help people and so.
- 04:15A lot of my research focuses on that
- 04:18trying to understand who is benefiting
- 04:20from the medicines that we have.
- 04:22If they're not benefiting,
- 04:23why not,
- 04:24and then also trying to find even better
- 04:26treatments for people with lung cancer.