New From the Physician Resource Center

There’s a lot of hype about the benefits of medical cannabis, but how do healthcare providers sort fact from fiction and answer questions from their patients? Roswell Park experts Amy Case, MD, FAAHPM, Chair of the Department of Supportive Care, and Eric Hansen, MD, Department of Supportive and Palliative Care presented a patient program on the subject.

Topics discussed with a packed audience included:

• The types of symptoms medical cannabis, might relieve
• Medical cannabis interactions with other drugs, including some chemotherapies
• Side effects
• The different ways it can be given (pills, oils, etc.)
• How to become certified to use medical cannabis
• The cost of purchasing it
• What to know when you go to a medical cannabis dispensary

Palliative Care for Cancer Patients

Amy Case, MD, FAAHMP, Chair of the Department of Supportive and Palliative Care at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, presents on the approach to facilitating goals of care and advance directives discussions with your patients. Dr. Case reviews the three main objectives of palliative care, defines the differences between palliative care and hospice, and articulates what barriers exist in creating dialog in regards to prognosis, in patients with advanced illness.