The White House named March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. Here's how Benjamin Levy III, MD, a gastroenterologist at University of Chicago Medicine, raised awareness this month.
Editor's note: Responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Question: How have you been raising awareness during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month?
Dr. Benjamin Levy: I've been organizing "Tune it Up", a concert to raise colorectal cancer awareness with the American College of Gastroenterology. It's a virtual online concert that screens during Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month on Thursday, March 28 at 8 p.m. EDT and 7 p.m. CDT. It's a concert featuring rock, jazz, classical, blues, country, Broadway, and hip hop musicians teaching the public about the importance of colorectal cancer screening.
Q: What else have you been working on this month at the University of Chicago?
BL: We had "dress in blue day" on Friday, March 1, where all the gastroenterology providers dressed in blue to help raise awareness of colorectal screening. That was actually a national event. In addition to that, I was asked to record a video for another national event that's organized in California by Dr. Ronald Hsu who's at UC Davis. He is the ACG governor for Northern California. He organizes a special concert in California to raise awareness about colorectal cancer screening.