Fox Chase Cancer Center’s Dr. Richard Bleicher Speaks at MD Anderson Breast Cancer Fellowship Program Commencement

Richard Bleicher, MD, FACS, Director of the Breast Oncology Fellowship program and Clinical Director of the Breast Service Line at Fox Chase Cancer Center, has been named the 2023-2024 University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Breast Surgical Oncology Fellowship’s Annual Distinguished Commencement Visiting Professor. Bleicher was unanimously elected as this year’s distinguished professor by the MD Anderson fellows.

“It’s incredibly flattering to have been invited to speak at the commencement ceremonies for one of the Society of Surgical Oncology’s largest breast fellowship programs. I love teaching fellows, and I just think that educating the next generation is so very important. This is such an enormous honor,” said Bleicher, who will deliver a guest lecture to the graduating fellows today.

A Distinguished Commencement Visiting Professor is selected each year from nationally known leaders. They are taken to dinner by the fellows, and over the course of two days, have several career advice, mentoring, and clinical case discussion sessions with them. They also meet with the MD Anderson faculty and give the commencement address in an area of their medical expertise just before the graduation ceremony and dinner.

“I’ll be speaking to the graduates about what we have established in the medical literature about the timeliness of care, while at the same time hoping to provide some career insights that I learned along the way,” said Bleicher. “When I started my research in this area, I looked at the existing data and said, ‘This is not good enough.’ That has led to our ability to answer some of the most frequently asked questions that patients have about the urgency of treatment.”

Bleicher has dedicated his career to not only treating cancer patients but also pioneering research on the most effective timing of the cancer treatment process. “It’s something I can do to improve patient care and alleviate anxiety,” he said. His research has also been the basis for significant changes in the American College of Surgeons’ nationwide breast cancer quality measures.

In addition to his roles as an attending surgeon and a professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology, Bleicher has garnered many accolades over his 18-year tenure at Fox Chase. He was recently named one of Philadelphia magazine’s Top Doctors of 2024, marking his sixth time on the list. In 2022, he was inducted as a Fellow into the Philadelphia Academy of Surgery, and in 2020, he was awarded the prestigious Jamie Brooke Lieberman Remembrance Award from the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Bleicher, who received his medical degree from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, is also a member of the board of directors and immediate past chair of the Quality Improvement and Information Technology Committee of the American College of Surgeons National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers.

Fox Chase Cancer Center (Fox Chase), which includes the Institute for Cancer Research and the American Oncologic Hospital and is a part of Temple Health, is one of the leading comprehensive cancer centers in the United States. Founded in 1904 in Philadelphia as one of the nation’s first cancer hospitals, Fox Chase was also among the first institutions to be designated a National Cancer Institute Comprehensive Cancer Center in 1974. Fox Chase is also one of just 10 members of the Alliance of Dedicated Cancer Centers. Fox Chase researchers have won the highest awards in their fields, including two Nobel Prizes. Fox Chase physicians are also routinely recognized in national rankings, and the Center’s nursing program has received the Magnet recognition for excellence six consecutive times. Today, Fox Chase conducts a broad array of nationally competitive basic, translational, and clinical research, with special programs in cancer prevention, detection, survivorship, and community outreach. It is the policy of Fox Chase Cancer Center that there shall be no exclusion from, or participation in, and no one denied the benefits of, the delivery of quality medical care on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity/expression, disability, age, ancestry, color, national origin, physical ability, level of education, or source of payment.