When staff and patients are one and the same
By Christine Cleary
Although patients and staff ride separate elevators in Dana-Farber's main clinical building, in reality, the boundaries are blurred. Sometimes, caregivers, administrators, and scientists are — or were — cancer patients, too.
Employee Mary McElroy, a cancer survivor, appreciates DFCI's resources.
Working at a cancer center when you've had the illness has pros and cons, they say. "Before I came to Dana-Farber, having had cancer was a stigma, but here it is an asset," says one staff survivor. "It helps me do my job better."
"I think the presence of survivors enhances the quality of our work and care," observes another. "We are better able to see the big picture."
Some staff members "switch teams" from patient to provider, or vice versa. For example, Carolyn Kaelin, MD, MPH, was a breast surgeon with DFCI and Brigham and Women's Hospital when she developed breast cancer, while Richard Boyajian, RN, had already been a cancer patient when he joined the Institute. "Playing the roles of both patient and provider helps me to understand the challenges of each," he says.
Employees who have faced cancer say that access to a rich bank of knowledge about the disease is both a plus and minus. "When I went for treatment I wondered, 'What if I get leukemia later on?'" says Emily Andler, a clinical research coordinator at DFCI who had breast cancer. "Most people wouldn't worry about this, but because I work here, I know that breast cancer patients sometimes develop second cancers."
Epidemiologist Abbe Janov, on the other hand, says, "I'm one of those people who has to know everything about my own health." Diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma when she was 23 and pursuing a master's degree in public health, she was inspired to change her research focus from psychiatry to cancer and begin working specifically on the late effects of Hodgkin's.
"At first, looking at the charts of fellow survivors was hard," she recalls. "But now, I feel that if I'm immersed in the information, I can become my own best advocate and benefit others as well." For example, Janov was not surprised when she developed breast cancer 20 years later; she knew this could be among the long-term consequences of Hodgkin's therapy.
Cancer survivor Mary McElroy, a senior research grants associate, says working with experts at Dana-Farber is a major advantage, even if you are treated elsewhere. "They can tell you if your caregivers are good, or if your treatment plan makes sense. You also have access to information, education, and resources; for example, I bought my wig at the Friends Boutique [within DFCI's Gillette Center for Women's Cancers]."
Although McElroy got sick after she was already on staff here, she has found that many people seek the Institute as an employer because they've been touched by the disease. "When you've had cancer," she says, "you take a special pride in the fact that Dana-Farber is a world-class leader in research and care."
