Ellen Diefenderfer, PA-C

About

Gender

Female

Biography

I am a physician assistant in the Division of Thoracic Surgery at the OSUCCC – James, where I specialize in treating cancers of the lung, esophagus and thymus gland. The majority of my patients suffer from lung cancer, and they come from all across the country to receive the best care. I love making them feel like they made the right choice in coming to The James.

We take a multidisciplinary approach to treating thoracic cancers. Every week, we meet in our Thoracic Tumor Board – which includes Thoracic Surgery, Thoracic Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Interventional Pulmonology, Interventional Radiology and Pathology – to discuss complicated cases and present different treatment options. Not only does this allow us to create innovative treatment strategies, but it also generates a stronger relationship among practitioners of the various teams.

The James is truly a first-class medical center. Almost all of our surgeries are performed minimally invasively, which significantly improves a patient’s quality of life after surgery. I enjoy seeing them throughout their whole journey: before, during and after surgery, as well as their long-term surveillance period. Working with cancer patients can be tough at times, but if you keep things in perspective and put the patient first, it's an unbelievably rewarding job.

Conditions and expertise

• Cardiac Surgery
• Esophageal Cancers
• Liver Cancers

Credentials

Ratings and reviews

The overall patient satisfaction rating is an average of all patient responses to the six doctor communication related questions shown below from the Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. For additional information about the patient satisfaction survey, please visit our Patient Satisfaction Survey page.

The comments are submitted by patients and reflect their view and opinions. The comments are not endorsed by and do not necessarily reflect the views of Ohio State Wexner Medical Center.