The Future of Healthcare: The Cancer Assist Podcast Explores Precision Medicine and Personalized Care

You’re likely familiar with the essential role pharmacists play in health care. However, have you ever stopped to consider the critical contributions of oncology pharmacists on those experiencing cancer?

On the most recent episode of the Cancer Assist Podcast, host Dr. Bill Evans sits down with Kirk Wong, a pharmacist at the Juravinski Cancer Centre.

As new treatments and drugs come onto the market, oncology pharmacists are more important than ever, especially as the use of oral therapies increases. On this inaugural episode of Season 6, Wong shares his own experiences becoming an oncology pharmacist while also providing patients and caregivers practical tips and tools, guiding them through the intricate process of managing medications — a particularly daunting task after receiving a cancer diagnosis.

Drawing parallels between hospital outpatient pharmacies and community pharmacies, Wong highlights the multiple ways that pharmacological oncology helps shape and personalize patient care.

“The hospital outpatient pharmacy is very much like a community pharmacy in the sense that if anyone wanted to come by and fill a prescription for a common antibiotic, or maybe a blood pressure pill, we could fill that,” says Wong. “Although we do cater to a very unique patient population,” he says, emphasizing the education his team provides to patients and caregivers especially about new oral therapies.

To hear Dr. Bill Evans’s full conversation with Kirk Wong, visit our website or find it on Apple, Google, Spotify and Youtube.