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Maureen Zakowski, Pathologist "Behind every slide we examine is a patient. . . . And our decisions direct the surgery or chemotherapy a patient will receive. It's an awesome responsibility." |
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In 2005, pathologist Maureen F. Zakowski became the first female senior attending in the Department of Pathology. While Dr. Zakowski enjoys challenging herself with numerous professional responsibilities, she was confronted with a different sort of challenge when she was diagnosed with endometrial cancer in November 2005.
Growing up in Brooklyn, I was inspired by my mother, who is a nurse, to go into medicine. Early in my studies, my intention was to become a surgeon. But the more I learned, the more I began to realize that surgery as a field -- the nuts and bolts aspect of it -- was not for me. In medical school, I developed an interest in pathology, which I chose for my residency at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.
After my residency training was completed, I came to Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1988 for the first of two clinical fellowships in pathology, one in surgical pathology and one in cytopathology. Following this, I accepted a position at New York University Medical Center.
Two years later, the Chair of Pathology asked me to return to Memorial Sloan-Kettering. I was flattered and anxious at the same time. To be honest, I wasn't sure if I could live up to what I considered to be Memorial's high standards, particularly in such a distinguished department as Pathology. Still, unable to pass up such an opportunity, I accepted the offer and started in 1992. I was welcomed back into the extraordinarily demanding environment in the Department of Pathology. The challenge of living up to the Memorial ideal was a wonderful motivator, but the additional challenge of moving beyond still being viewed as a fellow had to be overcome. With the support of David Klimstra, now Chief of the Surgical Pathology Service, and Marc Rosenblum, who is now the department Chair, I expanded my work, which quickly resulted in a number of journal articles in the field of cancer cytopathology and the start of my academic career. I also took over the job of supervising the training of the cytopathology and surgical pathology fellows -- a role that requires a combination of talents: part mentor, part drill sergeant, and part den mother.
As a discipline, pathology provides its own special opportunities and difficulties. Unlike with a surgeon or an oncologist, no patient is ever going to say, "Thanks, Doc," to a pathologist. Patients rarely even know we exist. To be successful, one needs to have an internal sense of gratification, a sense of satisfaction in getting the diagnosis right. Of course, behind every slide we examine is a patient. I remind my clinical fellows that someone is pacing in a waiting room, holding a loved one's hand, waiting nervously as we make our diagnosis. And our decisions direct the surgery or chemotherapy that a patient will receive. It's an awesome responsibility. I insist that my trainees spend time during their training in the clinic setting seeing patients with the oncologists or surgeons. I do it myself as well. While this approach is unusual in pathology, it helps us better understand the patients' needs and adds a personal dimension to the research and collaborative work I do within my team.
Today, my professional responsibilities can be divided into three parts: my clinical diagnostic work in the fields of cytopathology and thoracic pathology, the teaching of fellows, and my academic responsibilities as a member of the Thoracic Disease Management Team (DMT). Additionally, I have the great pleasure to be a member of the Lung Cancer Oncogenome Group, which was created under the leadership of [Memorial Sloan-Kettering President] Harold Varmus to further the development of targeted therapies for lung cancer. Lung cancer remains an underfunded disease, and a great deal of new information regarding therapy is emerging, much of it due to this talented group.
As a member of the Thoracic DMT, a remarkable team led by Mark Kris, Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service, and Valerie Rusch, Chief of the Thoracic Surgery Service, I have been given the sort of professional opportunity that only comes once in a lifetime -- and it takes place in a highly enjoyable working environment. I tell my clinical fellows that if you aren't enjoying what you're doing, it's not worth coming to work every day.
Unfortunately, I experienced a setback last year when I was diagnosed with endometrial cancer. Fortunately, it was caught early. Once I was diagnosed, there was no question that I would have my treatment at Memorial Hospital. At the risk of sounding corny, if I had to be sick, it felt good to be sick here. Nobody believes me, but the most difficult part of the entire experience -- which ended with my last chemotherapy treatment in April of this year -- was not being able to come into work on a daily basis.
Looking back, what Memorial Sloan-Kettering represented to me when I was a fellow -- a place where the best and brightest come to help patients in need -- still holds true today. I like to believe that what I see under the microscope plays an essential role in helping patients in their own battles with cancer.
