Dr. Birendra Raj Joshi, Radiologist from Nepal Visits Fayetteville to Learn About Modern Breast Care
March 8, 2017 – Fayetteville, AR – The National Consortium of Breast Centers is sponsoring an international fellow at The Breast Center, a MANA clinic, on March 1, 2017 through March 9, 2017. Dr. Birendra Raj Joshi, a radiologist from Nepal will be completing a Mini-Fellowship Program with The Breast Center of Northwest Arkansas, a MANA Clinic.
The National Consortium of Breast Centers (NCBC) is a not-for profit association of over a thousand physicians and allied health care experts devoted to breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment and patient support. The NCBC answered an urgent call from the World Health Organization and the International Prevention Research Institute to use its combined expertise and accumulated experience to also help fight breast cancer on the global stage, more specifically in developing countries where breast cancer mortality continues to rise at a rapid rate.
Dr. Birendra Raj Joshi, a leading radiologist and professor at Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal, was chosen from 30 international applicants for the National Consortium of Breast Center’s International Mini Fellowship. After his fellowship in Fayetteville, he will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the NCBC meeting and report to the General Assembly regarding his experience in Fayetteville.
“I have learned so much observing the physicians in Northwest Arkansas,” said Dr. Joshi. He has enjoyed seeing the state-of-the-art tools demonstrated, including tomosynthesis, or 3D Mammography™, ultrasound guided biopsy, and Breast MRI . In Nepal, films are still used and Dr. Joshi was able to see the benefits of digital images. The biggest difference in care is that in Nepal, breast cancers are found when they are larger and there are symptoms. Mammography screening is not a standard of care in Nepal as in many undeveloped countries. Dr. Joshi said there are only six mammography machines in Kathmandu, where he practices, and 10 in the whole country to serve a population of 10 million. Dr. Joshi said he knew they needed to change breast cancer care in Nepal, but was unclear on how to do it until he observed breast care providers in Northwest Arkansas.
The goal of the fellowship is to expose the visiting physician to modern breast care delivery in the U.S. and to demonstrate the value of the team or multidisciplinary approach. Dr. Kevin Pope, a breast radiologist at The Breast Center explains, “I believe we are all proud of the team that has come together over the years and I am convinced that patients benefit greatly from this team approach.“ Dr. Pope and his partners at The Breast Center are part of a multidisciplinary team of physicians who have been working together to provide high quality breast care in Northwest Arkansas for over 15 years.
Dr. Joshi spent time shadowing the radiologists at The Breast Center, attended Breast Conference at Washington Regional Medical Center, and met with representatives from BreastCare and Susan G. Komen for the Cure Ozark Affiliate.
This is the second time NCBC chose Fayetteville’s Breast Center to host an International Fellow. In 2015, Dr. Pope and his fellow physicians hosted Dr. Sidy Ka, a surgical oncologist form Senegal, Africa.
The NCBC is building a Global Network of International Delegates comprised of physicians and allied breast health care providers identified as being knowledgeable, committed and involved with breast cancer care in their respective countries. Within the first two years, the program has recruited 80 Delegates from 50 countries. Those Delegates from developing countries are eligible to compete for the available funding required to complete their breast cancer education and training by participating both in the Annual 5-day NCBC Breast Cancer Conference along with the 2-week long Mini- Fellowship Program offered in one of the over 500 NCBC’s affiliated North American Breast Centers.