Dr Helen Gooden, Survivors Teaching Students National Coordinator for ANZGOG, spoke to Kia Handley from ABC News about the Survivors Teaching Students (STS) program, and why it is so important for volunteers, our future doctors, and women in Australia.

Dr Helen Gooden – STS National Coordinator

STS is a volunteer program that brings the faces and voices of ovarian cancer survivors and caregivers into the classrooms of health professional students to teach them about women’s experiences with the disease.

The program was developed by the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund Alliance in the United States in 2002 and has since been adapted for Canada and the UK. ANZGOG is pleased to be leading the program in Australia. Survivors through their own personal experiences are in a unique position to help students become more sensitive to the risks and symptoms of ovarian cancer so that when they go into practice they can diagnose women sooner and save lives. Our goal is to increase the number of health care
providers who recognize the risk factors and symptoms of ovarian cancer so that the disease is detected earlier.

Over 1000 volunteers around the world can personally attest to the fact that it is one of the most empowering things a survivor or caregiver can do. Find out more about the program by visiting the STS webpage, or listen to the interview by clicking the link below.

Listen to the interview here