Young Breast Cancer Survivorship Series
A Five-Part Educational Webinar Series for Family Medicine Residency Programs

Strengthen skills in supporting young breast cancer survivors as they transition back to primary care.

Join the FMEC for a five-part webinar series focused on the unique needs of young breast cancer survivors. Led by clinicians, educators, and survivors, this series explores the treatment journey, long-term health risks, lifestyle and rehabilitation strategies, sexual and emotional well-being, and real-world survivorship challenges. Each session includes practical tools for primary care and opportunities for discussion with experts.

• Module 1 – From Oncology to Primary Care—Building the Foundation for Survivorship Support.
  Dr. Sara Marian Lucking, MD, MS and Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, MD MSCR, MBA
  Wednesday, July 22nd at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET

Register for Module 1
When registering, participants may select “Register me for the rest of the sessions” to sign up for the full series. Your are not required to attend every session, and we'll be adding more details for each module soon. To view the Module 1 overview, click the registration button. 

• Module 2 – Supporting Survivors Beyond Treatment—Lifestyle, Well Being, and What Patients Aren’t Telling Us.
  Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, MD, MSCR, MBA & Dr. Jennie Barbieri, MD, FACP
  Thursday, August 6th at 10:00 am – 11:00 am ET
  
  
• Module 3 – Therapeutic Roles of Diet and Exercise - Supporting Survivors Across the Care Continuum. Erin Checchia, MS, RD, CSO, LDN & Deborah Schrodi, DPT CLT-LANA (lymphedema certification)
  Thursday, September 10th at 12:00 pm  – 1:00 pm ET
  
  
• Module 4 – Navigating Intimacy, Body Image, and Mental Health in Young Breast Cancer Survivorship.
  Dr. Sara Marian Lucking, MD, MS  &  Dr. Jennie Barbieri, MD, FACP
  Thursday, September 17th at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm ET
  
  
• Module 5: Real-Life Scenarios in Survivorship—Panel Discussion and Q&A.
  Dr. Sara Marian Lucking, Dr. Shanthi Sivendran, Dr. Jennie Barbieri, Erin Checchia & Deborah Schrodi.
  Monday, October 5th at 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm ET

Now Available: Didactic Training for Family Medicine Residency Programs

FMEC is pleased to announce the launch of the first phase of the Young Breast Cancer Survivors (YBCS) project: a comprehensive, ready‑to‑use didactic designed specifically for Family Medicine Residency Program faculty and residents. This curriculum includes a full slide deck, a detailed facilitator script, and participant resources—everything needed to deliver a high‑quality, evidence‑informed session within your program.

All materials are freely available for use. Programs that utilize the materials are asked to complete the brief form referenced on the first slide of the presentation before delivering the session.

Click here to access the didactic materials page. 

This didactic represents the first of several phases of the YBCS project. Additional training modules, resources, and learning collaborative activities will be released as the project progresses.

The FMEC’s Supporting Young Breast Cancer Survivors (YBCS), Metastatic Breast Cancer (MBC) Patients, and their Families project, or YBCS project, is focused on improving support services and educational resources for young Black breast cancer survivors and metastatic breast cancer patients and their families.

Background
Although nearly all cancer survivors (91.6%) visit their primary care physician (PCP) annually and more than half (54.6%) rely primarily on their PCP for care (Pinheiro et al., 2022), many PCPs lack training to effectively manage the unique needs of cancer survivors, underscoring the urgent need for enhanced integration of cancer survivorship care in primary care, which is currently less emphasized in medical education compared to other chronic diseases (Crabtree et al., 2020).

To address this gap, the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors (NACDD) will partner with the FMEC to create a learning collaborative, similar to previous collaboratives we have successfully implemented in the past, focused on YBCS psychosocial support needs. The collaborative will also emphasize cultural competency and humility in caring for Black women survivors and MBC patients and improve PCPs' skills to navigate difficult conversations.

In 2025, the FMEC and NACDD will establish an Advisory Committee, recruit participating family medicine residency programs, and develop the curriculum. The learning collaborative will take place in 2025-2026. Based on the results of the collaborative, NACDD, in partnership with FMEC, will develop a lessons-learned and guidance document that will be disseminated to other family medicine residency programs.

The YBCS project is supported by the National Association of Chronic Disease Directors through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Young Breast Cancer Survivors Program.  In addition to the FMEC, TOUCH, The Black Breast Cancer Alliance (BBCA) is a primary partner.

Get Involved
FMEC’s YBCS project is in progress, and we welcome additional family medicine residency programs and community-based clinics to participate in the ongoing education and QI initiatives through 2029. If you’re interested in joining or learning more, please contact Rebecca Bouck at [email protected].