Emily Palmquist, MD

What brought you to breast oncology?

I was a resident in general surgery, where I saw people with a variety of conditions, and I was very drawn to breast cancer patients. Breast cancer is incredibly common, and yet patients do very well overall. I really enjoy forming relationships with patients and being able to help them navigate through a stressful and scary time in their lives. It has been very rewarding.

What do you hope it's like for a patient to work with you?

Patients have so many ways they can get information. I think our job as surgeons and physicians is to help patients have the right information so they can make good decisions. I want us to think about things as a team. I’m not here to tell patients what to do. It’s my job, with my training and experience, to help them digest what is going on and navigate the process in the best way for them.

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers, so a lot of literature and data helps to formulate our treatment plans. I want to help patients be well informed so they can make the best decisions for themselves.

Provider Background

Specialty: Surgery

Area of clinical practice

Breast cancers, breast health

I am a physician who sees patients at the South Lake Union Clinic, UW Medical Center – Northwest and UW Medical Center – Montlake.

While we are seeing better treatment outcomes in breast cancer over time, we are also continuing to make sure patients’ self-reported cosmetic and emotional outcomes are improving. We want to provide not only the best cancer care, but also the best patient experience, and to do that, we need to get feedback from patients. They lived with this. We want to make the process the best for them and take everything they experienced into consideration.