You deserve a provider you trust — and trust is not something you just hope for. In this survivHERS session, Dr. Tara Sanft breaks down what the research tells us about healthcare trust: why it matters, what it actually changes about your care, and what it looks like when it's working. She'll walk through what good providers do to earn trust — and give you real, practical tools to advocate for the kind of relationship you deserve with your care team. Dr. Sanft has spent her career at the intersection of survivorship, communication, and whole-person care. This conversation is for every survivor who has ever left an appointment feeling unheard.

Tara Sanft, MD, is board-certified in medical oncology, hospice and palliative medicine, and lifestyle medicine. For the past 15 years, she has served as the Director of the Cancer Survivorship Program at Yale Cancer Center and has chaired the NCCN Survivorship Guidelines for the past 5 years. She won the "Key Contributor" award at the 2026 NCCN annual meeting for her contributions during her time on the guidelines committee. She was the Chief Patient Experience Officer at Smilow Cancer Hospital from 2020 to 2025.

Recently, she moved to Hartford Healthcare, where she works as a breast medical oncologist with a focus on lifestyle medicine. Dr. Sanft continues to serve as the Director of the Communication Skills Curriculum at Yale School of Medicine and is a faculty member of the Academy of Communication in Healthcare.  Dr. Sanft believes all medical care should treat the "whole person" and not just a disease.