Season 1 of the GOSH Podcast included 8 guests, 17 episodes, and over 500 minutes of rich storytelling and dialogue about gynecologic cancers. During a pandemic, this podcast aimed to highlight the stories of gyne cancer patients and survivors, as well as the work of researchers wanting to improve the outcomes of those with gyne cancers. Now, on the final episode of Season 1, co-hosts Nicole and Stephanie, reflect on their experiences and learnings throughout this process.
For more information on the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative, please visit https://gynecancerinitiative.ca/ or email us at info@gynecancerinitiative.ca
Where to learn more about us:
Twitter - https://bit.ly/3jsViHM
Instagram - https://bit.ly/3dRQsCF
Facebook - https://bit.ly/3knUgOw
Season 1 of the GOSH Podcast included 8 guests, 17 episodes, and over 500 minutes of rich storytelling and dialogue about gynecologic cancers. During a pandemic, this podcast aimed to highlight the stories of gyne cancer patients and survivors, as well as the work of researchers wanting to improve the outcomes of those with gyne cancers. Now, on the final episode of Season 1, co-hosts Nicole and Stephanie, reflect on their experiences and learnings throughout this process.
For more information on the Gynecologic Cancer Initiative, please visit https://gynecancerinitiative.ca/ or email us at info@gynecancerinitiative.ca
Where to learn more about us:
Twitter - https://bit.ly/3jsViHM
Instagram - https://bit.ly/3dRQsCF
Facebook - https://bit.ly/3knUgOw
Intro
Thanks for listening to the GOSH podcast.
Gosh stands for the gynecological oncology Sharing Hub, an open space for real and evidence based discussions on gynecological cancers. We'll share the stories of gynae cancer patients and survivors, and hear from researchers and clinicians who are working behind the scenes to improve the lives of people with gynecological cancers.
Our podcast is produced and recorded on a traditional unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nation. It is produced by the Gynecological Cancer Initiative, a province wide initiative in British Columbia, with the mission to accelerate transformative research and translational practice on the prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship of gynecological cancers.
Hi I'm Nicole K and I'm Stephanie Lam and you're listening to the gosh podcast.
Stephanie
Welcome back to our 17th episode of The Gosh Podcast. So this is the last episode of the very first season of the Gosh Podcast we launched back in October 2020 and we're ending our episode our season now in June of 2021, so it's definitely been a wild ride and we've had so many learning opportunities and we've learned so much while producing this podcast and starting up this podcast, so we wanted to take the opportunity to reflect a little bit on our journey with launching the gosh podcast and share a little bit about what's to come in season 2.
So you know, as we all know, the podcast was an idea that you, Nicole, brought forward at the Gynecological Cancer initiative and Women's Health research cluster survivorship summit back in 2019. So that was already some two years ago, so.
Nicole
Yeah, I can't believe that.
Stephanie
I know right, the time has just flown by. But how do you think we did? Did we realize your vision? What? Where do you see ourselves landing and what you had kind of envisioned back in 2019?
Nicole
It's funny like I threw this out as an idea and never really expecting it to go anywhere, so I'm just so happy and thankful that we ended up like getting it off the ground and figuring it out. I think you know.
Neither one of us had produced a podcast I've I've been on a podcast before as a guest, but never having you know, hosting and producing, and so there's so many learning opportunities that we've had in that. But it also really did bring together. You know what I had hoped to do in bringing patient stories to the forefront and being able to connect people through that, and I think one of the really interesting things that I've learned from some of our guests who were patients, is just that the experience of sharing has been a bit therapeutic for them, and it was a bit therapeutic for me as well. It's nice to just kind of have the opportunity to share it and talk with others, but also hearing other stories. You know, even if they're not the same as yours, there's just.
This, uh, you know, commonality or an understanding. A shared understanding that you have having gone through that cancer journey.
So it was really nice to be able to provide that not only for myself but other for others, which is really cool.
Stephanie
Hmm, yeah, no I completely resonate and I think I'm hearing a lot from you know trainees and staff and researchers who do listen to the podcast and how impactful hearing the patient stories is to them. And I think this is often the case when you know, sometimes we get really into the work that we do, and it can be removed sometimes and I think having a platform to share, like very local stories.
Nicole
Yeah, absolutely.
Stephanie
I think almost all of our guests were BC patients who dealt with their cancers. Just, you know right across the street from the research Center where many folks work was a really amazing opportunity for researchers also be able to be exposed and to understand the patient journey a little bit more.
Anyways, yeah.
Nicole
Yeah, absolutely. And I'm so happy to hear that they are listening because I think like you said that you just get into the work that you're doing.
Then when you're research based your, your focus is completely different so you know you may be working on a piece of the cancer journey, but you're less removed from what those individuals actually go through.
So I I think it can touch them and maybe inform or impact their research and and even if in if it's in some small way, yeah, it just gives them that, you know greater understanding of what the thoughts and feelings and experience it is you know on the patient side and I think that's a really cool and unique opportunity that many probably haven't had before. So you know, it's great to hear.
Stephanie
Yeah, absolutely. I think also like it's also been really interesting from like a uh, from the gynecological cancer initiatives perspective, to see how the podcast has really flourished, and using it as opportunities to and an opportunistic kind of platform to be able to do more knowledge translation to be able to do more communications with the general public and everything and so it's been a really great platform to even just have as a resource that we can tap into whenever we have research.
Some new research that we want to share with the Community and stuff, so it's been really great to be able to build into that platform a little bit more.
Nicole
Umm yeah, and on the patient side you don't hear a lot about the research or you know, unless you're really informed. Or maybe you work in healthcare you don't know where to access that? So it's been really interesting for me to to learn more and get the opportunity to speak with the researchers that we did have on on this season.
And you know, I'm hoping we get to do more of that. We're going to talk about that in a little bit, but you know, it's been nice to provide that opportunity 'cause you know you just aren't always. You're not in the knows so and there's so much great research happening, you know in the lower mainland, in BC in general, that it it. It's really great to be able to share that out with the general population.
Stephanie
Yeah, absolutely.
Uhm, so you know, as you mentioned, you know this has been a huge learning opportunity for both of us. I mean similarly to you, I don't. I don't think I was even I've ever even been on a podcast.
I was just uh, avid podcast consumer at the start of this, but you know, what do you think has been our greatest learning lessons?
Nicole
Uhm, I'll tell you mine it was not to think so much about it. I was very like how am I gonna sound? Or am I gonna be interesting?
Or yes, but you know, I think it took a little bit to get comfortable and just like let it flow and ask questions and make it more like a conversation.
And I think I hope we've done a good job. We haven't made it to scripted and to static, we really wanted it to be natural and organic and I I think we've done a good job in accomplishing that.
You know, we've learned how to use different tools that. I mean, I'd never used before. So you know, in terms of editing and then producing the final product and so you know that that's been interesting. And then it's actually been really fun. Yeah, what about for you?
Stephanie
Yes, yeah it is fun to edit.
Nicole
Yes, yeah it is.
Stephanie
I mean, I think that my greatest learning lesson is also the same as yours.
I think like when we first started, it was really difficult to get the hang of listening to myself and like you know, thinking about you know what is the right thing to say when it's the right response to, say and like you know?
Also feeling the need to also edit out things that might be, you know, it doesn't sound that great, so I remember the very first couple of times.
You know, I was like we should just hit record and then we can like edit things out as we go along and stuff, but I think over the course of the last couple of months really coming to be more comfortable with just, you know, hosting a podcast and having a conversation.
And then then it's OK to sound a little bit not perfect, because that's kind of how that's how real conversations are, right?
So I think that's been the biggest learning lesson and appreciating the ums and the awkward awkwardness, right?
Nicole
Yes, absolutely. I mean, you know when we when we had first started talking about this, I thought, you know, we probably meet in person and so our conversation might feel a little more natural and then COVID hits. So we've done the whole season virtually and all our guests we've been able to connect with in this virtual setting. Which you know has been has been great and I'm sure that I know that's how a lot of people do it.
But because we're so local based, I thought we'd have that opportunity to do more in person stuff. So and I, I'm always curious if that would have made be adjustment into it a little more comfortable.
Uhm, but who knows? We started virtual, so you know. We kind of just jumped in.
Stephanie
Yeah, I don't even know. I don't even know how we would be able to do this like in person like in terms of like the logistical side of things, like how to record in person. We've just been hitting record on zoom and it's just been working now.
Nicole
I know.
Stephanie
But maybe in 2022 we can do some more. We can do a little hosting and stuff like.
Nicole
That the world is opening up.
Stephanie
It's very exciting.
But speaking of the future, what do we have planned for the next season? We're taking the summer off.
But we'll still be producing content over the summer and in anticipation of Season 2, which will launch in September 2021.
But what do we have planned?
Nicole
I think the biggest thing, and you know something I'm really excited about, is partnering with more podcasts in the health research space.
I think there's a great opportunity to just promote each other and the great work that is happening in all of our different groups.
You know, collaborating and sharing? You know our voices with their platforms and and I think that'll be really interesting.
And I think that'll be a lot of fun, so I'm definitely looking forward to doing that.
Stephanie
Yeah, yeah no. I completely agree. I think that will be one of the most interesting parts of 2021.
I'm also really excited to do some more episodes on health research, kind of more health research methods and really breakdown kind of what research is all about, I think sometimes you know even before I started working in health research, there and like doing my education in Health Sciences. It's really difficult to understand what goes on in health research, so sometimes we throw around things like you know epidemiology, but like what does that actually mean?
Why are you? Why are we collecting data? Why is data so important in doing research? And I think it would really help to provide a bit of a background.
Like a really basic background in terms of you know what? What the behind the scenes actually looks like on a day to day? Because that is also uhm, a mystery often times to patients.
Nicole
Yeah, very much a mystery to me, so I'm also really looking forward to that. I think it'll be really, really interesting and then you know, we're also looking at and something we've been talking a lot about within our group at the GCI is the patient journey, and you know some of us who've been on.
You know, uh, cancer journeys, but with different types of cancers at any cancers. But you know, different ones still have, you know commonalities throughout, and you know certain places where we wish we had more support.
Or, you know, someone learned something and and you know another one of us is like, hey, I didn't.
I didn't know that. I wish I hadn't known that at that time, so you know, really, walking through what that patient journey looks like and helping to identify, you know key points and and supports that you can access. Or you might want to to need or know throughout your cancer journey so you know I'm looking forward to when we get to do that.
I think that'll be really beneficial to those who are just starting out on their journeys, or, you know, supporting somebody come it would be a valuable resource for them as they go through it.
Stephanie
Yeah, absolutely. That's something that will be really exciting for us to slowly aunch and in the coming months and everything so we have a lot of exciting plans for season 2.
Nicole
Mm-hmm yeah.
And we have lots of people we didn't get to lots of patient stories and lots. Lots of researchers who are interested in coming on that we we still need to have and and so. I mean we we look forward to sharing those.
Stephanie
Yes, yes, absolutely. So you know, for anyone who is listening. If you do, have you know any topic ideas or any fun initiatives that you would like us to do on the GOSH podcast? Please connect with us. Feel free to email us at info@gynecancerinitiative.ca.
Or send us a message on social media and we'll definitely try to consider all of the wonderful ideas that everyone has.
And of course, you know, although we're taking a short break over the summer, we do have a lot of content that has already been released, so make sure you go back and listen to all of the amazing patient stories and everything that's come have already been released and uhm, and all of the research that has been happening already. And then of course, don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts.
I'll definitely help us out a lot in terms of our outreach and everything, and we're really looking forward to season two, yeah?
Nicole
I'm excited, Stephanie.
Gonna be good.
Stephanie
It will be very exciting. Yeah, it's going to be a busy summer of producing content though.
Nicole
Yes, yes, and enjoying somewhat normalcy, little bit, little bits, yes.
Stephanie
Yes, yes yes. A little bit. Baby steps towards normalcy, at least here in BC. Yes.
Nicole
Yes, yeah.
Alright, well I'm looking forward to it Stephanie and thanks everyone who has joined us throughout the first season. We really appreciate your support.
And we look forward to having you along for the journey in Season 2.
Stephanie
Yeah, see you all in September 2021.
Outro
Thanks for joining us on the Gosh podcast. To learn more about the Gynecologic Cancer initiative and our podcast, make sure to check out our website at gynecancerinitiative.ca.