Zacharoula Sidiropoulou, Senior Consultant Breast Surgical Oncologist at Hospital São Francisco Xavier, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“Today was one of the days that showed me why I chose this path.
We gathered for the 24th in-person session of the 1st PG Programme in Breast Disease, Advanced Education – NOVA Medical School, and I left with a full mind and, honestly, a full heart. Not just the quality of the science. It was the humility of the people sharing it.
Dr. Diogo Alpuim Costa, from Hospital de Cascais, showed us where medical oncology is heading, the molecular tumour boards, the breast microbiome, the treatments of tomorrow. He spoke with the kind of enthusiasm that is contagious, and the kind of rigour that earns trust.
Prof. Nicolò Matteo Luca Battisti, from The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, brought us back to what truly personalised care looks like in the geriatric context, not protocols applied to patients, but patients guiding the protocol. Comprehensive geriatric assessment as an act of respect.
Prof. Zeferino Fraga reflected on reconstructive surgery with the wisdom of someone who understands that we are not just rebuilding tissue, we are helping someone recognise themselves again. Quietly powerful.
Prof. Filipe Costa, from the Vision for Value, showed us that Value Based Healthcare is not a management concept , it is a moral one. Every decision we make has a cost, and the currency that matters most is our patient’s quality of life.
By the afternoon, the room gained a different kind of energy. The hard questions, the real ones, asked to some of the finest minds in Portuguese breast oncology:
Dr. Gabriela Sousa, President of Sociedade Portuguesa de Senologia and director of medical oncology dpt from the IPO de Coimbra.
Prof. José Luís Fougo, director of Portugal’s only EUSOMA-accredited public breast unit, at ULS São João, Porto.
Prof. Rui Dinis, director of the unique hub-and-spoke regional breast unit, from Hospital do Espírito Santo de Évora EPE.
Prof. José Luís Passos Coelho, director of oncology, Hospital da Luz, Lisbon.
Four different models of care. Four different areas of the country. One unique focus, the patient inside a resilient system!
Thank you. For your expertise, yes, but above all, for the way you shared it. With openness. With care. With your patients always at the centre.
This is knowledge, perspective, this is a reminder that the best experts are often the most generous ones, willing to share, willing to question, willing to say we still don’t know.’
That is the kind of medicine worth learning. Worth practising. Worth passing on.
I believe this programme is more than a postgraduate course, it is a quiet evolution in how we train, think, and collaborate around breast disease in Portugal.
The future is being built here, one conversation at a time.”
Other articles featuring Zacharoula Sidiropoulou on OncoDaily.
