Each Friday morning, 8 to ten newly referred head and neck cancer patients are seen by the team. This team consists of a head and neck surgeon, a radiation therapy oncologist, a resident and/or fellow in radiation therapy, a resident in otolaryngology – head and neck surgery doing an on-service rotation at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) and three nurses. Each patient is seen by the designated members of the team and the relevant imaging studies and pathology reports are reviewed. A team conference is held after all patients have been assessed and through discussion a treatment recommendation is developed. The discussion usually involves decision-making parameters such as disease site and stage, pathology factors such as indicators of biologically aggressive disease, patient factors such as age, comorbid conditions, previous treatment site(s) and modalities for head and neck cancer(s), social functioning and supports, addictions, reliability, consent and recommendations from the literature.

The otolaryngology – head and neck surgery resident is involved according to their level of training in evaluating patients and participating in the conference. This participation may include presenting the history, findings, imaging and pathology results, a summary of the site and stage of disease and proposing a treatment outline. Once a consensus is reached, the treatment recommendation is then presented to the patient. Radiation therapy and chemo-radiation therapy take place at the JCC, while surgery is done at SJHH.

Friday afternoon clinics involve follow-up patients scheduled for review by their radiation therapist or surgeon. The otolaryngology – head and neck surgery resident visits patients independently and reviews them with the staff surgeon.

Such exposure gives the residents a good understanding of the spectrum of disease presentation and treatment outcome.

Contact Information

Juravinski Hospital and Cancer Centre
699 Concession Street
Hamilton, Ontario
L8V 5C2

Hours

The clinic for new patients is held every Friday morning between 9 a.m. and 12p.m. The clinic for follow up of patients is held every Friday afternoon.

The Voice Clinic at Hamilton Health Sciences provides state-of-the-art voice care, offering services such as stroboscopy, digital voice analysis and therapeutic treatment with the possibility of specialized attention to the singing and/or performing voice. Weekly laryngo-videos-endo-stroboscope (LVES) clinics are conducted jointly between otolaryngologist and speech-language pathologist to provide a complete diagnostic voice evaluation including stroboscopic (rigid videostroboscopy) and acoustic (Computerized Speech Laboratory 4500) assessments. In addition to serving pediatric and adult patients referred directly to the Voice Clinic, consultative assessments are provided upon request to the voice patients of speech-language pathologists and physicians in the region.

Adult Outpatient Swallowing Clinic

At the adult outpatient swallowing clinic, a speech-language pathologist provides both clinical and instrumental evaluations and management of oropharyngeal swallowing disorders, whether they arise from medical causes such as stroke or trauma or from other causes such as tracheostomy or post-extubation. Clinical swallowing evaluation includes a review of a patient’s comprehensive medical history, an examination of the oral peripheral mechanism,and food and liquid trials in varying amounts and with various feeding techniques. If needed, instrumental evaluation such as videofluoroscopy may be employed to further assess the swallowing mechanism. Referral sources include neurology, otolaryngology and gastroenterology and are open to all referring physicians within the Local Health Integration Network (LHIN).

Contact Information

McMaster Hospital
3V1 Clinic 3rd Floor
1200 Main Street West
Hamilton, Ontario
Phone: 905-521-2100 ext. 77065
Fax: 905-521-8552

Education and Research

A speech-language pathologist that has received a minimum of a master’s level training is commonly involved in lecturing for speech-language pathology (S-LP) and otolaryngology programs. Staff and student teaching are important aspects of the clinical role. Our commitment to quality improvement and education are demonstrated in various research-related endeavors and in continuous staff training.