Mary Perry, MD, MPH, Cucamonga Valley Medical Group
Dr. Mary Perry is the driving force behind CVMG’s Freedom From Smoking Clinic, an eight-week program dedicated to helping participants build the skills and techniques needed to quit smoking.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, “Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease, disability, and death in the United States.”
When Dr. Mary Perry came to Cucamonga Valley Medical Group, she was moved by the number of patients who smoked. During medical school, Dr. Perry observed a surgeon remove a mass from a patient’s lung. The experience had a profound impact. When the surgeon learned the mass was cancerous, she distinctly remembers his comment that the patient could have been saved if someone had helped them stop smoking so many years earlier.
This is what propels Dr. Perry to spend her days providing education and support to prevent lung cancer rather than surgically removing it. It is her dedication to helping patients free themselves from the chains of tobacco addiction and build a healthy lifestyle.
Dr. Perry is the driving force behind CVMG’s Freedom From Smoking Clinic, a program dedicated to helping participants build the skills and techniques needed to quit smoking. Accredited by the American Lung Association, this 8-week program is currently delivered over Zoom in one-hour sessions. It gives patients tools to understand themselves better, to understand their triggers and why they smoke, and to understand the science behind nicotine addiction. Participants identify and break free from each of the chains that keeps them addicted.
As an evidence-based program, Freedom From Smoking is considered the ‘gold standard’ in smoking cessation. CVMG’s delivery of this program is unique because it is taught by a physician who can provide more in-depth care. Dr. Perry is dual board certified in both Family and Preventive Medicine and has a Master’s in Public Health. She has seen firsthand the effect smoking has on patients’ lives including breathing problems, gum disease, strokes, heart attacks, and amputations. Dr. Perry wholly believes these can be prevented.
This program gives participants the power to make the decision to quit and take control of their own situation. Dr. Perry provides the tools for them to do so in a safe, non-judgmental environment. Each participant has had their own ‘aha’ moments but agree that one of the most helpful activities is interacting with classmates in a supportive environment and learning how others found success.
Dr. Perry wants to be a catalyst for change in her patients’ lives and believes that it begins with patient education. Cucamonga Valley Medical Group’s goal is to continue to expand The CVMG Health and Wellness Resource Center for its patients and those in the surrounding communities and to become the area leader in patient education.