Why I Chose Oncology: Ray Gervacio Blanco, MD, Medical Director of the Milton J. Dance, Jr., Head & Neck Center 

Dr. Ray Gervacio Blanco began his surgery career in the Philippines at a time when many patients had no way to pay for the care they needed. He and his colleagues were sometimes able to cover the cost of their care with donations, including from their own salaries, and with unused surgical materials from private hospitals. Then as now, his focus is on the patient's tumor control and survival, function and quality of life. 

Today, he is the Medical Director of the Milton J. Dance, Jr., Head & Neck Center at GBMC, where he continues to put his patients first, delivering care he finds intellectually satisfying. 

"I find head and neck oncology fascinating because it covers many subspecialties, including surgical oncology, vascular surgery, general surgery, dentistry, maxillofacial, and reconstruction," Dr. Blanco explains. "It also heavily covers quality of life." Head and neck patients come to him concerned about everything from their ability to chew, function, and swallow. They are looking for cancer control, maintaining function, and simply keeping the face they recognize in the mirror, once they’ve completed cancer treatment.  Their pain is both physical and existential. 

Occasionally, patients come to the Dance Center having been to another cancer center, where they've been told treatment is several weeks away. "Here," he says, "the moment you are diagnosed with cancer, everything is mobilized.” 

The Dance Center is an integrated, multidisciplinary system. Every aspect of treatment, from education and nutrition, surgery, medical and radiation oncology through to speech-language pathology and therapy are provided through the Dance Center and GBMC's Sandra & Malcolm Berman Cancer Institute.  The patient is guided and listened to. Staff review with them the risks and benefits with them, walk them through the procedure and what they can expect, and help them plan for recovery. Dr. Blanco and his colleagues review alternative forms of treatment, then treat the patients’ decisions with respect. 

“The multidisciplinary care,” Dr. Blanco says, “makes all the difference. 

“That’s one of the reasons why I wanted to go into surgical oncology, is to really help those cancer patients," Dr. Blanco says. "And the nice thing here is that we treat patients regardless of status, race, religion, and insurance.” 

Every Dance Center patient receives expert care from a multidisciplinary team of people who care about their quality of life and survival.