In honor of David Ollila, MD
The first thing you notice about Dr. David Ollila is that he moves very fast, from office to clinic to surgery and back – often talking to colleagues or on the phone while in motion.
The second thing you notice is that he’s thinking about patients – all the time.
Dr. Ollila is a fellowship-trained surgical oncologist who has chosen to specialize in melanoma, breast cancer, and the surgical management of endocrine disorders. This focused effort has led him to become Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Melanoma Program, Co-Director of the Multidisciplinary Breast Cancer Program, and Associate Director of the N.C. Cancer Hospital. Dr. Ollila was involved – with other health care providers – in ensuring that the new building reflects the kind of patient-centered care offered at UNC and he led teams that provided a plan to ensure a smooth transition from the old facility to the new.
“We’re patient-centered here,” he says. For example, in the Melanoma Program here at UNC the care plan is automatically developed by a multidisciplinary team that includes dermatologists, surgical oncologists, pathologists, and medical oncologists, and if necessary and other specialists such as geneticists, reconstructive surgeons and psychiatrists. The various disciplines come together to bring the very best thinking to each patient’s treatment plan.
He notes, “You come here and see all of the specialists at the same time, if necessary, and not a lot of other cancer centers can say that. We designed it that way, the patient is our priority.”
And those patients are always top of mind for Dr. Ollila. “I’m a people person and I’m a scientist. Practicing medicine is a beautiful combination of the two.”