NEW YORK—Dr. Elisa Port says she knew she wanted to be a surgeon early on in med school.
But it wasn’t until further into her training that she developed an interest in cancer, specifically breast cancer.
“I love taking care of women. There’s a huge psychological, sociological component and overlay. I do love talking with my patients and working with them to come up with the best treatment plans,” Dr. Port said.
And when it comes to breast cancer, Dr. Port says there are lots of options.
“There’s so many different great options for treatment care and for cure. And delivering the right individualized approach for each patient can only be done in a center or environment where you have all of these different treatment options,” Dr. Port said.
So she teamed up with Eva Dubin, and they launched the Dubin Breast Center located in Manhattan.
In a sense, it’s one stop for any woman diagnosed with or at high risk of breast cancer.
“The idea of all the care being under one roof and having everything you need really unburdens them. I mean it’s so amazing to me when a patient says to me, ok, I’m gonna schedule my surgery, how do I find the plastic surgeon? How do I do that? And I say I’m gonna take care of that for you,” Dr. Port explained.
And in this age of information overload, Dr. Port says the patient’s emotional well-being is top priority.
“More than ever before, women were going on the internet, they were coming in more pessimistic than ever. I was doing a lot more talking women down from the ledge of the worst case scenario, when many of them had the best case scenario,” Dr. Port said.
Taking care of women in a time of need.
Something she, and her employees, will continue to do until there is a cure.
