The patient is us. That’s what Diana Dickson-Witmer, MD, FACS, wants you to know. 

“Throughout my career, one of the things I have always tried hard to keep in mind is that the patient is us. We, the providers, are going to be in the same position, maybe not with the same diagnosis, but if we live long enough, we will eventually sit in the patient’s chair,” says Dr. Dickson-Witmer, a preeminent breast surgical oncologist who recently joined Beebe Medical Group to lead the Beebe Center for Breast Health. “We always need to treat the patient exactly the way we would want to be treated ourselves.”

Dr. Dickson-Witmer began seeing patients in March at Beebe’s Tunnell Cancer Center and Beebe’s South Coastal Cancer Center. Call 302-645-3332 to make an appointment. 

Dr. Dickson-Witmer joins Beebe with decades of experience and expertise in the field of breast surgery. In addition, Dr. Dickson-Witmer is known for her trailblazing work in the field of breast surgery — setting the standard and developing the programs to train future surgeons in the field.

In 1994, she introduced stereotactic breast core needle biopsy to Delaware and trained radiologists and surgeons in the technique. She also introduced sentinel node biopsy to the Delaware valley in 1999.

She has been featured in numerous medical publications, given hundreds of presentations and served on three medical missions, one in Africa and two in Central America.

Previously, Dr. Dickson-Witmer was the Medical Director of the ChristianaCare Breast Center at the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center, where she chaired the weekly breast tumor conference. 

Dr. Dickson-Witmer is an expert member of the newest American College of Surgeons Program, the Cancer Surgery Standards Program. She is also a member of several national professional organizations and committees and is the Delaware state chair for the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer. She was also a founding board member of the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition, serving from 1996-2009, and was the inaugural recipient of DBCC’s Shining Lights Award in 2014.

“Beebe Healthcare has a clear vision. It will provide the very best healthcare in Sussex County,” Dr. Dickson-Witmer said. “I am excited to join this growing, forward-looking, patient-centered institution, and to be given the extraordinary opportunity to play a leadership role in development of the next generation of healthcare in Sussex County and beyond.”