Arif Kamal: Thank you to American Society for Radiation Oncology for inviting me as keynote speaker at the ASTRO23 annual meeting.

Quoting Arif Kamal, Chief Patient Officer of American Cancer Society, on LinkedIn:

“Thank you to American Society for Radiation Oncology for inviting me as keynote speaker at the ASTRO23 annual meeting. Appreciate the opportunity to speak with your 8000 attendees about the importance of professionalizing compassion as the third era in oncology care delivery.

Shout out to ASTRO President Michalski Jeff and Director of Education Lorna Lucas, for choosing a plenary topic of highlighting the importance of the patient experience and reducing suffering in all its facets, something we at American Cancer Society feel passionately about.

The synopsis of my talk:
1. The first era of oncology was establishing the field (specializing care)
2. The second era has been tailored therapies (personalized care)
3. The third era, which we need to embrace to improve person outcomes (not just tumor outcomes) is “professionalizing compassion”
4. Barriers to improved cancer outcomes derive from social, emotional, spiritual, existential, and other sources – not just biological.
5. It is our collective duty as healers to assess, appreciate and act (3 A’s) to ensure compassion in all we do.”

Source: Arif Kamal/LinkedIn