Through the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance’s innovative educational program, Survivors Teaching Students: Saving Women's Lives, future healthcare professionals — physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses and physician assistants — increase their understanding of ovarian cancer symptoms and risk factors so that they can diagnose the disease when it is in its earlier, treatable stages. OCAN brought this program to Nevada in January 2010 for the first time.

Survivors Teaching Students brings ovarian cancer survivors into medical school classrooms to share their stories and key information about the disease. The program is now in more than 80 medical schools around the U.S. as well as in a number of nurse practitioner, nursing and physician assistant training programs. In Nevada the program has been taught at the University of Nevada School of Medicine.

During each free one-hour presentation:

• Several ovarian cancer survivors, many of whom were diagnosed at an advanced stage, tell their stories to illustrate the difficulty of early diagnosis and the resulting extended and recurring treatment, putting a face and voice to the disease.
• Students gain insights into listening to patient concerns and become sensitized to the psychosocial aspects of ovarian cancer as well as the need for early detection.
• Survivors and students directly interact to continue the students’ learning.
• Students are surveyed to assess their understanding of the disease and the presentation’s value.

How it Came About

Betty Reiser, a long-term survivor and facilitator of the program, created the program at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)—New Jersey Medical School in 2002. Shortly afterward, Ovarian Cancer National Alliance’s belief that this program is a vital adjunct to the academic learning process. The Ovarian Cancer National Alliance (OCNA) is working to incorporate this program into every medical school in the United States. Since its inception, STS has continued to expand and draw interest from medical school faculty across the country.

The medical students’ reactions and written evaluations have been extremely positive.  To 

Reaching Nursing and Physician Assistant Students

In 2005, OCNA expanded the STS program to nurse practitioner programs through a pilot in New York State with the Department of Health (NYSDOH). OCNA extended the program in recognition of the vital role of other health professionals who work in partnership with physicians in delivering primary care. In 2006-2007 through a partnership with the NYSDOH, the OCNA piloted the program to physician assistant students in New York to expand presentations to this group of health professionals in training.

Implementing the Program

In Nevada in 2010 OCAN began participating in Survivors Teaching Students. If yhou are a survivor and are willing to share your story and help save women's lives please contact us for the next training date.  If you are Medical Trainig institution in Nevada and would like to schedule the program for your students, residents or staff, please call Christina Harris at (702) 796-0430.