Family physician to head American Cancer Society

Installing a primary care doctor as ACS president marks a significant broadening of this organization's focus.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. Dec. 11, 2006.

In November, Richard C. Wender, MD, alumni professor and chair of the Dept. of Family and Community Medicine at the Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, became the first primary care physician to serve as president of the American Cancer Society. The ACS was founded in 1913 as the American Society for the Control of Cancer and holds the distinction of being the world's largest voluntary health organization.

Dr. Wender began his involvement with ACS in 1985 when he volunteered to edit a newsletter for primary care physicians published by the organization's Philadelphia division. Within a few years, he moved through the ranks as president of local, state and regional ACS chapters and eventually landed on the group's national board.

Dr. Wender recently spoke with AMNews about why this first represents an important point in the cancer society's history.

Question: What does the fact that the American Cancer Society will have a primary care physician as president mean?

Answer: It has some symbolic value, but I think far more importantly a very practical value that addresses our major health issues.

I can bring my expertise and perspective about how the ACS can bridge the interfaces between people who have never been diagnosed with cancer but who are at risk for it; people who have a cancer that's not yet been diagnosed but could be through early detection and screening; people who have been diagnosed with cancer but who are struggling to negotiate and navigate our complex health system; and survivors who now number over 10 million.