Barbara C. Egan, MD

Our faculty members are national pioneers in the field of oncology hospital medicine. This subspecialty focuses on the care of the hospitalized cancer patient. Hospitalized cancer patients have unique medical and psychosocial challenges, and we have been able to demonstrate that hospitalists can provide this care just as well as the traditional model of oncologist-led care.

In addition to being board certified in internal medicine with focused practice in hospital medicine, I am board certified in hospice and palliative medicine. I have particular expertise in the alleviation of suffering, be it from pain or other cancer-related symptoms such as nausea and shortness of breath. In my role as a member of the Palliative Medicine Service, I provide inpatient consultative care to people who are suffering; our multidisciplinary team, comprised of physicians, nurse practitioners, chaplains, social workers, and pharmacists, works together to ensure the comfort and quality of life of our patients.

Our faculty members are leaders in the education of residents and medical students within the Department of Medicine at MSK. On a daily basis, we strive to demonstrate and teach the delivery of patient care that is of the highest quality, emphasizing outstanding communication skills and physician-patient interactions. We are also involved in many quality and safety-related initiatives; we continually seek to improve how we take care of patients at MSK, and then we endeavor to disseminate that knowledge to our trainees and colleagues around the country.

I became a Senior Fellow of the Society of Hospital Medicine in 2010. This honor recognizes my commitment to the field of hospital medicine and my demonstrated excellence in the areas of leadership, teamwork, and quality improvement. I was honored to be the recipient of the MSK Division of Medicine Teacher of the Year Award in 2008.