Dr. Mary Jo Wright: With my military background and my background in trauma surgery, I’ve been trained not only to identify a problem but to be able to identify multiple solutions to that problem, and in my current practice as a breast surgeon and a reconstructive surgeon, I feel that I can identify with the patient and their problem with breast cancer but also to help them see that there are multiple solutions to that problem. 

I used to be in academic surgery, teaching residents, medical students, and faculty, and, in educating them, now I see the patient as my student, and I feel passionate about educating the patient about their disease process but also about the solutions to that process. 

Everyone here at the Center and in the hospital feels that the patient needs to be the one that’s empowered to make the best decision for themselves, and I really find that this is a unique experience because the team of surgeons and staff and everyone else are innovators in the solutions to breast cancer, and the patient really is at the center of that solution.