Dr Gregory Vidal Previews Health Equity Agenda at West Oncology Conference

Closing the disparity gap in oncology care through a multidisciplinary manner will be the major focus of proceedings at the West Oncology Conference, said Gregory Vidal, MD, PhD, director of Clinical Research at West Cancer Center & Research Institute. He will serve as co-chair for the 8th Annual West Oncology Conference in Memphis, Tennessee, happening February 4-5, 2023.

Transcript

You will serve as a co-chair for the 8th Annual West Oncology Conference where health equity will play a large role in the proceedings. Can you speak on some of the pressing topics within health equity that will be addressed at the conference?

We're excited to be here in Memphis for Black History Month making ground in a city where the civil rights movement has its foothold—where Martin Luther King Jr. spoke passionately about racism in America. This conference that West Cancer Center has annually this year will have a little focus on filling the gap in care with intent on sort of closing the disparity gap.

Ongoing community-based advocacy for diversity, equity, and inclusion in health care is crucial. At the West Cancer conference, we're addressing some of those barriers by having this conversation and we're even taking it one step further within the next month having a conference symposium tailored towards diversity, equity, inclusion from a primary care to oncology perspective. So, having those understandings, also getting the community involved in primary care, advocacy—in whatever plan that we have to help [communities] improve its health is important.

Primarily, I would say this evening program that's coming up in the next few days is planned to bring together all oncologists to discuss cancer here, but in in a month when we're discussing the diversity and equity program, we're bringing primary care community oncology together in a multidisciplinary manner to help solve some of these issues.