RIS Update – Spring 2020
Dear Rein in Sarcoma Community Members,
Rein in Sarcoma Staff, Board of Directors, and Committees have quickly shifted focus from routine to formulating strategies for operations and planning as a result of COVID-19. Our approach is focused on the safety of our patients/ survivors, board and committee members, staff, and volunteers. We also completed a critical review of our financial situation, enacting measures which include a 20% percent budget cut and hiring freeze. This will ensure we will be serving our community until sarcoma cancer is quickly diagnosed, treatable, and ideally, extinct.
One key aspect in serving the Rein in Sarcoma community over the years is that we are a ‘high touch’ organization. Clearly, that is not an option at this time and requires rethinking how we approach our work and interact with our community. All meetings have moved to video conference calls, and some events, such as the Party in the Park, will be virtual, while others are pushed to later in the year – pending improved and safer in-person options.
Please look for the 2019 Annual Report on our website, as we digitally release it through our Monthly Newsletter as well as on our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Our Public Relations and Marketing, Finance, Patient and Family Support and Red Flags Education Committees, and Board continue to meet virtually to guide the work of Rein in Sarcoma according to our mission.
Read MoreStudy of Sarcoma Familiarity Among Primary Care Practitioners
Each year Rein in Sarcoma’s Jan Maudlin Sarcoma Scholars complete a project involving sarcoma cancer education and awareness. In 2015, some of the scholars conducted assessments of Minnesota primary care practitioners at two educational conferences. Their work, summarized by Dr. Croix Fossum, a scholar from Mayo Clinic and now at the Keck School of Medicine at USC, Los Angeles, CA, was published in the April 2020 Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes.
We want to thank Dr. Scott Okuno for assisting with the publication. He is a Rein in Sarcoma Board Member, Research Committee member, and oversees the Jan Maudlin Sarcoma Scholars at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine.
We hope you will read “Assessment of Familiarity With Work-up Guidelines for Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Among Primary Care Practitioners in Minnesota.”
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