The Patients' Voice at the BAOMS Annual Scientific Meeting
06 August 2024 (Last updated: 6 Aug 2024 17:56)
The theme for this year’s conference was ‘The Patients' Voice’, because patients are at the heart of the work done by oral and maxillofacial surgeons. During the conference, each panel included a patient whose insights ensured participants' attention was focused on the most important people in their working lives.
We spoke to some of the patient participants to find out how they found the conference.
Laura Marston is a head and neck cancer survivor who was on the panel to talk about what head and neck cancer patients want to know about risk. She found the panel both fun and informative. She says: “I found it very positive that the comments from the patients I spoke to aligned with how the panel I was on are keen to hold consultations in the future with more patient involvement so that was wonderful.”
Waleed Khan survived a public school attack in Pakistan in 2010. He lives in Birmingham and was on a panel about surviving the massacre. He says: “Medicine is one of the most noble jobs out there. When I saw my surgeons as a child they had a huge role in my life and made it what it is today. I think it’s really important to have patient voices at the conference because we trust them with our lives, so to be able to trust them with our own insights can help them to do better. It can be truly beneficial.”
Waleed spoke as part of a panel called “The Waiting Room”, which was led by Dr Sukhpreet Dubb. His project, The Waiting Room aims to bring the patient voice to the fore. He asks patients to share their stories in long form video interviews on his platform and Waleed is one of the patients who have participated in this.
Lembit Opik spoke about societal judgments around his facial deformity and the surgery he had as an adult. He underestimated the effect of the change, which had profound psychological effects. He says: “This conference is inspiring because for the first time it feels like the patient is at the centre. It’s the first conference where I’ve felt listened to with genuine empathy from the profession and if I’d have had that as a child it would have been life changing. It’s not about giving us what we want, but giving patients the space to reveal what they need and that can make all the difference in the world.”
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