Selam Ogbalidet (MD2022), Mina Boshra (MD2022), and Melanie Grondin (MD/PhD), three medical students at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, are conducting a pilot study that seeks to evaluate the utility of the Be the Choice (BTC) Decision Trees for patients with breast cancer who are undergoing breast reconstruction.
Alongside Dr. Jing Zhang, staff plastic surgeon at the Ottawa Hospital, and research assistants Husain Alkhaiyat and Jeanne Seguin, their team will administer several questionnaires to assess patient self-advocacy, breast cancer knowledge, and patient satisfaction with surgery and breast reconstruction. Thereafter, patient responses will be analyzed for any trends in the data to support the use of the Decision Trees in the clinical setting.
In addition to Dr. Zhang, TOH plastic surgeons Dr. Gloria Rockwell and Dr. Simon Frank will assist with recruitment of study participants from their respective practices. Patients eligible for inclusion in the study include those aged 18 years and older who have received a first-time breast cancer diagnosis; are undergoing breast reconstruction surgery by one of the aforementioned TOH plastic surgeons; and have the ability to comprehend and speak the English language.
The team is excited to get the study underway and looks forward to sharing their results with the BTC community as they become available.
Selam Ogbalidet, MD2022 Candidate at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine
Mina Boshra MD2022 Candidate at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine