Ricardo Carrau, MD, believes cancer patients should consider getting a second opinion before beginning their treatment. “There are multiple reasons to get a second opinion, all of which are correct,” said Carrau, a head and neck cancer surgeon and director of the James Comprehensive Skull Base Surgery Program. “A cancer diagnosis is life changing and if you have any questions, if you want to make sure the decisions you are making are correct, a second opinion is in order.” In this episode, Carrau describes the process, starting with the initial issue that compelled a person to seek medical care. He used his specialty as an example. “A head and neck cancer diagnosis is very complex,” he said. “It begins with a physical exam, endoscopies, then a biopsy and imaging, which is out map of the cancer. Then [here at the James] we have a tumor board, a committee whose members are all experts in all the different areas of head and neck cancer. The end result is taken back to the patient and the patient is the ultimate decision maker; the patient needs to understand the consequences.”

It is at this point that Carrau recommends a patient get a second opinion.

“There is a perception the physician could be offended by this,” he said. “It isn’t that way. The patient and I have a partnership to achieve the best possible outcome … We get a lot of people who come here for a second opinion and some of our patients go elsewhere for a second opinion.” Carrau added that he and other James cancer specialists have a network of expert colleagues at other leading cancer centers they can recommend to their patients for a second opinion. “The reason I went to medical school was to help people,” Carrau said, adding interacting with patients and giving them the best possible care “gives me purpose in life and fulfillment.”