What exactly is a Center of Excellence (COE)?

Usually they are teaching hospitals like Univ of Penn, John Hopkins, Mayo Clinics, MD Anderson, Fox Chase Cancer Ctr/Temple Univ (Philadelphia)

We do have Centre College in my neck of the woods. 🙂

NCI = National Cancer Institute. Center of Excellence is a designation given by NCI.
Per Wikipedia -
NCI-designated Cancer Centers are a group of 73 cancer research institutions in the United States supported by the National Cancer Institute.

Oh. Thanks. That makes sense.
Teaching hospitals are great.
They always ask if I mind that a med student attends my appointments with a urologist/surgeon.
Of course not. How else are they supposed to learn?

@peterj116 in the US (hence the spelling 🙂 ) "Cancer Centers of Excellence" (COEs) are healthcare facilities recognized for their high standards in cancer treatment, research, and patient care, often through formal designations. Examples include NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers in the U.S., which are leading research institutions, and specific programs. There are 73 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers. Here's how to find them

- NCI-Designated Cancer Centers https://www.cancer.gov/research/infrastructure/cancer-centers

There is also a designation called National Cancer Institute-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, a category to which Mayo Clinic belongs.
- Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/mayo-clinic-cancer-center

Here is a related discussion:
- Centers of Excellence versus other providers https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/centers-of-excellence-versus-other-providers/

Cool. Thanks, Collen.
So a Michelin star of cancer treatment.

@peterj116 pretty much!

American english uses center. We threw centre" off the continent with the Brits 250 years ago lol

Having just been treated by a leading SE USA Center of Excellence connected to a major university....I would never go anywhere else. Best MDs, multiple treatment options, on top of all the latest PC research and treatment developments.

If you don't have a university or multi-disciplinary COE near you...,find one. You won't regret it

If you do your due diligence with finding the best doctor for your cancer treatment then I believe you'll often end up in a COE so long as you expand your search area a bit. I was lucky enough to have one in my city and I was also lucky enough that when my urologist left his very large private practice that he was the only one that didn't go to the higher paying facility but rather chose to go to a learning hospital and he's told me many times he did that on purpose because his passion is healing and he felt the best healing was at this facility - which happens to be a COE. The stars aligned.