I am an Oncologist, Palliative Medicine Physician, And Healthcare Disparities Researcher.
Cardinale B. Smith, M.D., Ph.D.
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Smith is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology and the Brookdale Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Chief Quality Officer for Cancer Services, Mount Sinai Health System. She is a medical oncologist and palliative care physician whose clinical practice is focused on lung cancer and palliative care. Dr. Smith's research interests focus on doctor-patient communication, evaluating treatment disparities in cancer care, determinants of cancer patients' quality of care, characterizing barriers to optimal cancer and palliative care, and developing approaches to eliminating those barriers among racial and ethnic minorities.
The outcomes of minority patients with advanced cancer remains poor, despite many attempts at improving equity. This project will evaluate the role of implicit bias among oncologists in contributing to some of these disparate outcomes, including patient-centered communication, pain, psychological distress, satisfaction with communication, and decisional conflict. We will audio record communication encounters of 60 oncologists and their 360 patients with advanced cancer in New York City and in Durham, NC, to evaluate differences in these critically important outcomes. This study is significant because findings will deepen our understanding of relationships between implicit bias, communication processes, management, and patient outcomes. The knowledge generated by our project could inform both physician-level educational programs and patient-specific interventions.
Project Title | Grant Number | Program Director | Publication(s) |
---|---|---|---|
The Role of Implicit Bias on Outcomes of Patients with Advanced Solid Cancers |
1R01CA251547-01A1 |
Sallie Weaver |
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