For Dr. Saketh Guntupalli, learning about cancer during medical school was a formative experience that helped sway him toward a career in cancer medicine.
Guntupalli, a gynecologic oncologist who specializes in treating female reproductive cancers, says his surgical oncology rotation during medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center–Houston was critical for his professional development.
During that rotation, Guntupalli was mentored by an experienced breast cancer surgeon, and he was inspired to follow her example.
“The mentor that I worked with had a really strong bedside manner, she had a real strong interest in patient care and developing really strong bonds, and I’d say that’s probably the thing that drew me to oncology,” says Guntupalli, who is now an associate professor of gynecology and obstetrics at both the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus and its affiliated hospital system, UCHealth.
Because of the difference a medical school mentor made in his career, Guntupalli says prospective medical students with an interest in cancer should attend a school where they will be surrounded by cancer specialists who can guide them.
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One way to identify medical schools that offer high-quality training in cancer research and cancer treatment, Guntupalli says, is to see which schools are affiliated with hospitals in the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a nonprofit coalition of cancer research institutes and treatment centers.
Experts say aspiring oncologists should target medical schools whose teaching hospitals see a significant number of cancer patients, such as hospitals with large cancer treatment centers and federally funded cancer research.
Interacting with cancer patients during medical school is the best way for medical students to decide whether oncology is the kind of medicine they would find most fulfilling, experts say, so it’s important for aspiring oncologists to attend medical schools that offer clinical rotations in various types of cancer medicine.
In the best-case scenario, schools offer oncology rotations in all three major types of oncology: radiation oncology, surgical oncology and medical oncology, which focuses on the proper use of chemotherapy, says Dr. Brian Kavanagh, a professor of radiation oncology and chairman of the radiation oncology department at the University of Colorado.
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Experts say medical schools that excel in academic research are a better fit for aspiring oncologists than schools that focus on primary care.
“Some medical schools are known for preparing primary care physicians,” Dr. Otis W. Brawley, chief medical officer for the American Cancer Society, said in an email. “These should be avoided if one is interested in oncology.”
Because cancer medicine is a field where scientific advances are happening quickly, Kavanagh says, it’s important for aspiring oncologists to learn how to evaluate and apply research findings.
“Individuals who have had some exposure to how research works will have a little bit better handle on processing the flood of information that’s going to be coming out,” says Kavanagh, who in addition to his academic position is also president of the American Society for Radiation Oncology.
Experts say prospective medical students interested in oncology but unsure about whether it is the right career path for them should know that there are many different kinds of oncology, including areas of oncology that focus on specific patient populations, such as pediatric and geriatric oncology. In addition, experts say, oncologists who conduct cancer research could contribute to important scientific discoveries and the international efforts to cure cancer.
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Because becoming an oncologist typically requires a significant amount of training after medical school, experts say prospective medical students with an interest in this area don’t need commit to that career goal at the beginning of medical school and should feel free to explore multiple disciplines within medicine.
In fact, experts say, aspiring oncologists should attend medical schools with academic breadth, including courses on health conditions that commonly coincide with cancer, such as mood disorders, and courses about health care economics and policies, which both affect cancer patients.
On the flip side, experts say prospective medical students who know for sure they don’t want to become oncologists should still study cancer during medical school because of the disease’s prevalence in the U.S.
Nearly 600,000 U.S. residents died of cancer in 2015, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Every physician will have patients who develop cancer and die from cancer,” says Dr. Daniel Trifiletti, a radiation oncologist and senior associate consultant with the Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.
Trifiletti says all aspiring doctors need strong training in cancer medicine so they can recognize the symptoms of cancer as early as possible, because the sooner cancer is detected, the more likely the disease will be cured. “It’s critical that everybody have a basic understanding of basic cancer biology and basic cancer treatment.”
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Focus on Cancer During Medical School originally appeared on usnews.com
