Alexis Paulson, MSN, APRN, WHNP-BC, TTS, Associate in Radiology and Clinical Coordinator of the Vanderbilt Lung Screening Program, recently delivered a breakout session on lung screening at the Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health (NPWH) 21st Annual Premier Women's Healthcare Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
The talk, “Attacking the #1 Cancer Killer of Women: Lung Cancer Screening and Tobacco Treatment,” provided an overview of lung screening CT benefits, risks, evidence, requirements, and management of results, as well as current tobacco treatment methods.
“Prior to Vanderbilt, I was in a women’s health practice and lung cancer was not really on my radar,” said Paulson. “Looking back, it’s something that I should have not just left up to a PCP to address, as lots of patients don’t even see a PCP as regularly as they see their women’s health provider.”
The goal of her presentation was to encourage providers to consider lung cancer a women’s health issue, and to add lung screening to the list of other cancer screenings that they typically order or perform. She also covered the importance of smoking cessation and equipped them with the information they need to address tobacco treatment quickly and effectively in their clinics.
This was the first time the NPWH conference featured a session related to lung screening. With lung cancer being the largest cancer-killer amongst women, Paulson’s talk provided valuable subject matter in alignment with the conference’s learning objectives to highlight current clinical trends and topics in women’s health. Paulson said the topic may be considered for a larger, general session at a future meeting.
“I was pleasantly surprised by the reception to my presentation,” said Paulson. “I had lots of great questions from attendees. I even heard from one that they were on the fence about attending the conference but saw my topic listed in the agenda and decided to attend.”
As Clinical Coordinator of the Vanderbilt Lung Screening Program, Paulson works closely with providers and qualifying patients to provide shared decision-making visits, offer smoking cessation counseling, and track and manage annual follow-ups and abnormal findings. The program has enrolled more than 1,300 patients and has performed more than 2,000 CT screening examinations since its inception in December 2013.
For additional information on lung screening, the Vanderbilt Lung Screening Program, and to see if your patients qualify, visit vumc.org/radiology/lung.
