2014 Distinguished Physician advocates for women in medicine
Dr. Nancy L. Gantt, professor of surgery at Northeast Ohio Medical University, is also co-medical director of the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center in Youngstown.
YOUNGSTOWN
A severe allergy to cats led Dr. Nancy L. Gantt, named the 2014 Distinguished Physician by the Mahoning County Medical Society, eventually to become the busiest surgeon at the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center.
“I liked biology and dissecting in high school and planned on becoming a veterinarian. But when I discovered I was allergic to cats, I turned to human medicine,” Dr. Gantt said.
She started out studying to be a family practitioner but settled on a career as a surgeon.
“I like being in charge. A surgeon is the captain of the ship,” explained Dr. Gantt, who is co-medical director of the Joanie Abdu center in Youngstown.
At the same time, she is completely team- oriented.
She praised as indispensable the members of her team, both registered nurses: Jill Townsend, breast navigator; and Suzanne Zupko, practice nurse.
Every diagnosis of breast cancer at the Joanie Abdu center is reviewed by a multi-disciplinary conference, in which Dr. Gantt participates.
The people who work at Joanie Abdu use a team approach to achieve the coordinated care that enables 95 percent of its patients to be tested and diagnosed with state-of-the-art technology in one day, Dr. Gantt said.
“There is nothing worse than getting that call saying ‘Come back for more testing,’” said Dr. Gantt, who had breast cancer herself eight years ago.
She said what Dr. Rashid Abdu really wanted with the Joanie Abdu Center was to have the best possible breast care here so people did not have to go out of town.
The Joanie Abdu center is named in honor of Dr. Abdu’s wife who died of breast cancer.
Dr. Abdu described Dr. Gantt as “one of the most intelligent, thorough, dedicated and compassionate surgeons I have ever met.”
“Her technical skill is superb and her knowledge is superior. Her main concern is about the patient, not just the disease but also emotional, financial and family issues. She is extremely knowledgeable and thoughtful,” Dr. Abdu said.
“Dr. Gantt is perfect for the Joanie Abdu center. I can’t say enough good things about her,” he said.
Before the Joanie Abdu center opened three years ago, people often went out of town for the best breast- care treatment.
“Like everybody else, I took my wife to Pittsburgh and Cleveland for treatment. It was her wish to have a breast- care center at home. Now, people come from out of town to our facility,” Dr. Abdu said.
Dr. Gantt, the first woman to receive the Mahoning County Medical Society’s Distinguished Physician Award, has the same passion as an educator and advocate for women in medicine as she has for breast surgery.
She is professor of surgery, master teacher and surgical curriculum director at Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown.
Dr. Gantt’s general- and breast- surgery practice is based at St. Elizabeth Health Center, where she is associate director of resident education.
“Who’s going to take care of me?” she said with a smile, explaining part of the reason for teaching future doctors.
The other reason is love of teaching.
“I love introducing these wonderful students and residents to the concept of how a surgeon thinks and the history of medicine,” she said.
Dr. Gantt is secretary of the Ohio Chapter of the American College of Surgeons and president-elect of the Association of Women Surgeons. She is secretary of the Ohio Chapter of the ACS. She is also active in the Association for Surgical Education and serves on the Curriculum Committee and as chair of the Clerkship Directors’ Committee.
An advocate for women physicians, she said she was “thrilled” to receive the Distinguished Physician Award as a recognition of “so many women physicians in the Valley doing wonderful things. Women in medicine, particularly in surgery, face a lot of barriers that are hard to break through,” she said.
She said the networking and mentoring that takes place as a member of the Association of Women Surgeons which she said is a “wonderful gift in my life to have that organization to lean on.”
Dr. Gantt, 57, who grew up in Chicago, is the first physician in her family.
But when she married Dr. Raymond Boniface, whom she met at a scrub sink at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, she became part of a large family of doctors. The couple, of Poland, have two sons, Raymond III and Mark.
The list of physicians includes her in-laws, Dr. and Mrs. Raymond Boniface, Dr. Thomas Boniface, Dr. Lisa Young and Dr. Jim Boniface.
Despite the high-profile profession and the accolades, Dr. Gantt said she is a “normal person.”
There are a lot of things on her to-do list when she is done operating.
“I want to do mission work, and I have a whole pile of books,” she said.
She enjoys spending time with her family, organic gardening, cooking, reading fiction, alpine skiing, hiking, snorkeling, traveling and keeping up with medicine in social media.
But for now, being a surgeon and a teacher and working at the Joanie Abdu are at the top of her list.
Being in health care is a calling, Dr. Gantt said.
Getting patients though the emotion and stress of their cancer in the most positive manner and making it less scary is very satisfying.
“The fact that people allow us to be so intimate with them and trust us with their care and that of their families is incredibly humbling. I am very blessed to be working here,” she said.