What inspires you to work as a thoracic surgeon?
I really enjoy the patients and the impact we are able to have on their lives. My favorite days are when a patient comes to our clinic after being told that they were not a candidate for surgery, and one of my partners or I and our team of nurses and APPs find a way to remove their tumor successfully. On those days, all of the preparation our team does really pays off.
How do you collaborate with other specialties at Smilow Cancer Hospital to care for your patients?
We now have more options in chemotherapy, radiation and surgery than ever before. A large portion of patients are able to receive multiple types of treatment, to give them the best chance of cure.
What advances have made the biggest impact in the treatment of patients with lung cancer over the last five years, and what is the outlook for lung cancer in the next five years?
We find cancers earlier, before they spread, through lung cancer screening. For early stage tumors, we can offer minimally invasive surgery which is safer, and for later stage tumors, we have the ability to give targeted therapy or immunotherapy which hone in on an aspect of the cancer that is most likely to kill the cancer cells.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face in caring for patients with lung cancers?
We do a really great job when a patient comes in with an incredibly challenging problem. However, this is rare, and we need to focus more effort on the average patient experience, and consider the whole patient, not just their cancer. We care for extraordinary patients, routinely. We need to care for routine patients, extraordinarily well. This means making sure every patient has expert level care across the board, from their radiologist, pathologist and clinical team, and they can access this close to home. This is really complicated to do, particularly across a health network, but I firmly believe in one standard of care, everywhere we touch patients.