Improving breast care: providing, guiding, expertise, and leadership

Optimal healthcare blends timeless doctor-patient values with state-of-the-art medical knowledge. The physician's role varies from delivering therapies to guiding patients through the healthcare maze to their best decisions. Breast care should not be parceling out of anatomic parts, as if biological relationships do not exist. Instead, it should stem from an understanding of the "total woman"--biological and otherwise--and how important that unity is for quality of life, even when confronting breast cancer. Breast fellowships for gynecologic and general surgeons create superior clinicians and better patient advocates -essential in advancing women-centric care and healthcare leadership.