The MotherPod Ep. 10: Saving Lives with Sensory Training ft. Dr. Carla Pugh

Breast cancer is an important issue for the Wisconsin Women’s Health Foundation. Not only is it in our mission to tackle the diseases and conditions that most impact Wisconsin women’s health, but breast cancer is personal. The Foundation’s Founder and President, Sue Ann Thompson, Executive Director, Tommi Thompson, and Database and Evaluation Manager, Emily Sullivan, have all been diagnosed and treated for breast cancer. Therefore, we remain committed to arming women with the knowledge they need to help make positive changes in their breast health. Our GrapeVine program trains nurses to lead health education sessions on breast cancer throughout the state, and we recently highlighted the “Breakthroughs in Breast cancer” at our Annual Dialogue event in Madison.

For the 10^th episode of the MotherPod, we sat down with one of our panelists from the Dialogue, Dr. Carla Pugh, to further discuss breast health and how women can properly perform a breast self-exam.

Dr. Pugh is a general surgeon at UW Hospital, TEDMED presenter, and inventor and the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of 10 Newtons, a digital health company in Madison. She is the brain behind a new training tool, the (Breast Exam Sensory Training) BEST Touch device, which helps doctors and patients learn how to properly do a breast exam. Why? We know that early detection of breast cancer is our best protection and best survival strategy, drastically increasing survival rates from 15-90%! However, only 25% of women actually perform breast self-exams. With the BEST Touch device, Dr. Pugh and 10 Newtons are on a mission to improve that statistic.

The BEST Touch is an interactive training tool, which simulates a breast exam to test whether the user is doing the exam correctly. It answers questions like, “Are you using enough pressure?” “If there were a lump in the breast, would you find it? Or would you miss it?” This technology was developed to help physicians improve their clinical breast exam skills, but after taking the simulator to a women’s wellness meeting, Dr. Pugh found that the public is also eager for such information. “People want to know how to do a breast self-exam, regardless of recommendations. And if they’re going to do it, they want to know the correct technique.” There is a lot of conflicting and potentially confusing information out there about screening recommendations and whether or not to do breast self-exams. Dr. Pughs says “women should have a choice and be supported in what they want to do.”

The WWHF strives to be a support, providing education and services to help women make informed decisions about their breast health. We recently purchased one of Dr. Pugh’s simulators, and are excited to start using it as part of our breast health education! For a GrapeVine health education session on breast cancer near you, visit our Events Calendar. If you would like to hear more from Dr. Pugh, visit the MotherPod on itunes or Soundcloud for the full podcast episode! You can also learn more about breast cancer screening, genetics, prevention, and screening by watching the livestream of our recent Dialogue event at wwhf.org/dialogue/.