Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Welcome to the podcast series from the specialists at Penn Medicine. I'm Melanie Cole. And Today, we're highlighting the advanced surgical course in gynecologic oncology. Joining me today is Dr. Nawar Latif. He's a gynecologic oncologist and Surgical Director of the Uterine Transplant Program at Penn Medicine. Dr. Latif, thank you so much for joining us today. Tell us a little bit about the field of gynecologic oncology, why it's so challenging, and what are some of the main concerns.

Nawar Latif, MD: Thank you, Melanie, for having me. Yeah, I think, gynecologic oncology is a very unique specialty in which we take care of women with gynecologic cancers. And it's very unique, because we do both worlds. We do the advanced and complex surgeries, for the gynecologic cancer, but also we take care of patient on the systemic therapy, clinical trial, and chemotherapy options for, for patients

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Well, thank you for that. So how does training in advanced surgical anatomy address some of the challenging interventions? Because it really is a very fascinating field.

Nawar Latif, MD: training in certain gynecologic oncology is a three-year fellowship of training. One of them is research. So, we end with two year of, surgical and clinical training. And we take care of w-women with gynecologic cancer, and that requires different variety of surgeries and surgical modalities to take care of the gynecologic cancers.

So, we end with having only these two years of clinical training, and I think the, the need for further training and to improve skills in, in, in those surgeries is very vital for our community.

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Dr. Latif, one aspect that makes Penn's approach so unique is the emphasis on individualized mentorship and surgical coaching. So even for experienced gynecologic oncologists, why is this ongoing mentorship so important?

Nawar Latif, MD: Yeah. So, our course is, the way we designed it is to make sure that w- it will cover the high-yield procedures, the procedure that's not, is usually uncommon and infrequent in common practice. And we put, like, a heavy emphasis on making sure that, those who cour- join us in the course will have good training and, like, good feedback for their skills and tips and techniques, how to do these, uncommon procedure, but, like, complex procedure too.

And part of the course is, for those who are, join us in the course, we offer them specific mentorship post-course, for the f- few months after. So if they end doing these procedures, if they have questions or they have done the procedure, but like, they, they they wanna have the video of those procedure reviewed and critiqued, we help and support them with that.

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): That's definitely so supportive. Now, Dr. Latif, technical excellence is obviously essential in gynecologic oncology surgery, but you've also spoken about the importance of patient-centered care, which we're learning more and more is really at the heart of when we are dealing with patients. So how do these two things, the excellence in surgical care and that patient-centered care come together when dealing with these complex patients?

Nawar Latif, MD: Yeah. Although we are talking today about a surgical course to the gynecologic oncology fellows and the gynecologic oncology in the community. but then, at the end of the day, the goal here is to provide good quality care and patient-centered, centered care for our patients. And I think, when we're able to support gynecologic oncology fellows and also providers in the, in the community with further training in these high-yield complex surgeries, that will ultimately give their patients also gynecologic oncologists in the community to be able to provide whatever, their patient need, in terms of, surgical care to achieve the goals and the quality of care and the quality of life that the patient is looking for.

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Well, that certainly is true, and better outcomes and quality of life are really what we're going for here. So, Dr. Latif, really this is such an exciting time in your field. What excites you the most in helping to train the next generation of gynecologic oncologist surgeons?

Nawar Latif, MD: I think what excite, me and excite all of us here at Penn is like to get our trainee starting from learning how to do this complex surgery to be to the point they are very independent and able to perform all these complex and radical surgeries.

Well, what excites us is that also to see that we collaborate with gynecologic oncology in the community and able to support them for a be-better patient care. I think what's exciting is also that we are not just doing a, like a surgical course for simple procedures, but it's a need that I can see from the last year course and from the year before.

There's definitely a need that is unmet and we are happy here at Penn to, be able to support that, and make sure that not just, patient getting care here at Penn is getting the, the best appropriate care, but also patient getting care elsewhere with those who are part of our course can also get this, similar care in the community.

Melanie Cole, MS (Host): Thank you so much, Dr. Latif, for joining us today and sharing your incredible expertise for incoming gynecologic oncology surgeons. Thank you again for telling us about the course. And to refer your patient to Dr. Latif at Penn Medicine, please call our 24/7 provider-only line at 877-937-PENN, or you can submit your referral via our secure online referral form by visiting our website at pennmedicine.org/refer.

That concludes this episode from the specialists at Penn Medicine. I'm Melanie Cole.