DOCTOR PROFILE: 2010 Pink Ribbon of Hope Awardee Dr. Tina Santos

AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is the complete interview/profile that I did with Dr. Tina Santos, this year's 2010 Pink Ribbon of Hope Awardee. The condensed version of this article was published in the Oct. 1-15, 2010 issue of Woman Today.

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DR. TINA SANTOS: TRUE CALLING

Many noted breast cancer survivors go into the advocacy because they or their loved ones have survived this dreaded disease. In the case of breast cancer surgery specialist and Gift2Life Founder Dr. Tina Santos, her choice to become a breast cancer advocate resulted from a true calling from God.

Please narrate to us how you became a breast cancer advocate. Were there personal reasons (such as a death of a loved one from the disease) which prompted you to go into breast cancer advocacy? When this is all happen?

There was no personal reason which prompted me to go into the breast cancer advocacy like a death of a loved one from the disease. I believe that my being a physician, becoming a general surgeon, and then differentiating into my current practice as a breast cancer surgery specialist and commitment to community breast cancer awareness are all God’s calling in my life. Looking back, I had been an average student in search of a potential niche in society. I felt then that my life had been trials & errors hoping to hit the role that will provide my comfort zones until the years 2000-2004 when I was clueless of where to find the true meaning of life. I prayerfully seek God and asked Him to help me discern His special plan and calling for my life, and asked Him to give me the faith and courage to follow, wherever He may lead me.

It was towards the end of 2004 that I realized that God had been pruning me into this mission even before I entered medical school but I was just too stubborn at times to follow His plans. I can say that since 2005, in the middle of God’s will and plan, I have been happiest and full of joy in my heart, regardless of the odds, in this mission called “breast cancer awareness” which God called me into with my Gift2Life Team.


What difficulties did you encounter when you first established your advocacy? How were you able to overcome these difficulties/obstacles?

The breast cancer awareness advocacy requires volunteerism, team work, and collaboration; and the initial and continuing difficulties range from:

• finding the core team players with the passion and commitment to the cause;
  
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• building, motivating, and sustaining the core team;
  
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• creating the non-profit organization, Gift2Life Inc, that truly embodies God’s will and plan for this mission called “breast cancer awareness”
  
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• building partnerships and collaborations for the cause and not for any branding / marketing purposes; resistance to change and politicking; personality differences; lack of resources to use; value-added strategies to consider and implement.
  

Proverbs 3: 5-6 has always been my refuge during these difficulties and please believe me, things just fall into places: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek His will in all you do and He will direct your paths”.

Given your experiences with breast cancer patients, has there been an improvement with regards to information dissemination for early disease detection? What more needs to be done?

Yes, there have been improvements with regards to information dissemination for early disease detection because we have had several cases diagnosed during the early stages of breast cancer after our recommendations for mammogram, ultrasound, or on-site biopsy based on our risk factor assessment, clinical breast examination, and follow-up from our breast cancer awareness seminars and exhibits. Though sad to say, we still having a number of late stage and neglected cases of breast cancer from our breast cancer awareness seminars nationwide.

So much more are needed to be done for the following:

• collaboration of mission-based groups / organizations with similar purpose for maximization of resources and wider reach;
  
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• availability, accessibility, and affordability of clinical breast exam, screening mammography, breast ultrasound, breast biopsy, definitive breast cancer treatments to really achieve early detection and appropriate, timely, early treatment of breast cancer in the Philippines;
  

Please name some of the projects of your advocacy. Which particular project is most memorable to you?

Gift2Life has its all year round Free Breast Health Empowerment through:

• Breast Cancer Awareness (BCA) Advocacy Seminars (Empowerment Lecture, BSE Demo, Inspiring Breast Cancer Survivor Testimonies, and Question & Answer Portion) with On-site Breast Cancer Screening (Risk Factor Assessment, Clinical Breast Examination with Biopsy if needed, and One-on-One Consultation);
  
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• (BCA) Advocacy Exhibits (Information Exhibit Panels with on-going BCA DVD presentation) with On-site Breast Cancer Screening (Risk Factor Assessment, Clinical Breast Examination, and One-on-One Consultation);
  
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• Collaborative Definitive Breast Cancer Surgery with Our Lady of Peace Hospital in Las Piñas;
  
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• Collaborative Breast Cancer Clinic & Definitive Breast Cancer Surgery with Manila Naval Hospital in Fort Bonifacio, in partnership with the Philippine Navy Officers’ Wives Association (soon).
  

For the BCA Advocacy Seminars, we have activities in partnership with Philippine Wacoal Corporation which we call “Keep Abreast” and we have stand alone activities which we call Advocate Breast Cancer Consciousness Daily (“ABCD”) or Ating Breast Cancer Kaalaman Dagdagan (“ABaKaDa”), tailored to the social classification of the participants we have per activity.

For the BCA Advocacy Exhibits, we are always in partnership with Philippine Wacoal Corporation.

Benchmarking from our humble beginnings from 15 Dec 2007 until 11 September 2010, we have accomplished 156 breast cancer awareness seminars and 21 exhibits; advised > 5,000 individuals found to be at risk for breast cancer (of whom, 60% were recommended to have mammography and 40% to have breast ultrasound, on regular bases, for their breast health surveillances); and diagnosed > 50 patients with breast cancer from our on-site biopsies.

On an organizational level, the Keep Abreast Seminars are the most memorable to me because these seminars helped us create and propagate the breast cancer awareness domino effects. On a personal level, these seminars gave me the opportunities to develop my potentials as a community breast cancer awareness resource person. We started this in October of 2005 as an experimental breast cancer awareness seminar series held every Saturdays of October under the leadership of Ms. Ann Christine Palisoc, the Chief Operating Officer of Philippine Wacoal Corporation. I was then the President of another non-profit breast cancer organization. Keep Abreast developed into a commitment and partnership. Over time and with the birth of Gift2Life Inc, the Keep Abreast Seminars evolved to become an all year round collaborative campaign, now on its 5th year! In October of 2008, we developed and started the Keep Abreast Exhibits in malls, call centers, fun runs, and expos.

Please share with us your feelings on being given the Pink Ribbon of Hope Award. What opportunities do you feel would this award open to you and your advocacy?

I feel so blessed, delighted, and honored to be given the Pink Ribbon of Hope Award for 2010.
Kindly allow me to sincerely thank Senator Loren Legarda, Chairwoman and Founder of the Bessie B. Legarda Memorial Foundation, and Ms. Monica Aveo, Assistant Publisher and General Manager of Woman Today and President of the Bessie B. Legarda Memorial Foundation for this remarkable recognition. This will be a lifetime source of inspiration for me and for Gift2Life Inc, our nonprofit organization. I would like to share this award to the Board Members, Officers, Breast Cancer Awareness Core Team, and volunteers of Gift2Life and to all our partners and collaborators. This is the sweet fruit of our passion and efforts, and that together, we are making a difference! To all breast cancer survivors, patients, caregivers, and those who lost a loved one from breast cancer, this represents our faith and anticipation that someday breast cancer will also come to pass.

This award and media exposure will open more opportunities for partnerships and collaborations for the breast cancer awareness cause and will help save more lives among Filipinos both here and abroad. This award would not have been possible without God’s special plan and calling in my life hence, I would like to give back all the glory, honor, and praises to God with this award!

Is there a dream project that you would still like to undertake with your advocacy? What is this?

Yes, our dream project is the establishment of an Ambulatory Breast Cancer Specialty Center that will provide holistic breast cancer diagnosis, appropriate treatment, and surveillance services with:

• Short stay breast cancer surgery
  
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• Chemotherapy infusion
  
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• Hormonal and targeted therapies
  
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• Radiation therapy
  
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• Complimentary and holistic medicine
  
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• Treatment care of side effects
  
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• Screening, Diagnosis, and Surveillance
  
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• Consultation and Referral
  

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About Dr. Tina Santos

Dr. Tina Santos is a Physician of good standing since 1992, a practicing General Surgeon since 1997, and Breast Cancer Surgery Specialist since 2005.

She holds a Bachelor of Science Major in Psychology degree from Centro Escolar University and finished her Doctor of Medicine from Fatima College of Medicine in Metro Manila. She finished 3 months Clinical Clerkship Program in Surgery at Brooklyn Caledonian Hospital in New York. She completed 1 year Post Graduate Internship and 4 year - Residency Training in General Surgery at East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City. She then underwent 6 months post doc research Fellowship Training in Breast Cancer and Melanoma Surgery at the University of California in San Francisco (UCSF).

She is a Fellow of good standing of the Philippine College of Surgeons, Philippine Society of Oncologists, Association of Women Surgeons, and American Society of Breast Surgeons. She has been a Resource Person for Breast Cancer Awareness Campaigns in the Philippines since 2005.
Having served > 200 different communities, government and private offices, church groups, schools, malls, call centers and still searching for more, some of her recent recognitions include:
1 of the 10 “Unsung Women Heroes Awardee 2010” given by the Soroptimist International Philippine Region last April 16, 2010;

Soroptimist International Ruby Awardee: “Making a Difference For Women Helping Women” given by the Soroptimist International-Metro Manila Southeast District and the Soroptimist International of Ortigas and Environs Club last March 6, 2010;

"Selfless Devotion in a Cause that contributes to Women and Society" by Philippine Wacoal Corporation given in June 2009, making her one of the Wacoal Women of 2009;

"Salute the Filipinas Exhibit during the Women's Health Month" given by SM Fairview in March 2009;

"Making a Difference For Women Helping Women" given by the Soroptimist International of Ortigas and Environs Club in February 2009;

"Commitment to Breast Cancer Awareness Advocacy by Sharing Medical Expertise to Promote Women's Health" given by Woman Today Asia Magazine in November 2006;

She is also the invited "Keep Abreast" Resource Speaker of the Philippine Wacoal Corporation since 2005 and the International Resource Person of Morishita-Seggs Pharmaceuticals Inc. since 2006.

Having more than seven (7) years experience in non-profit organizational management, she has MBA credits from the Asian Institute of Management, Philippines where Gift2Life is her on-going Strategic Management Project. She became past Chairwoman from 2006-2007 and past President from 2001-2007 of the Philippine Foundation for Breast Care, Inc.

"Doc Tina" is the current president of Gift2Life Inc.