I grew up in Arkadelphia, Arkansas; don’t feel bad if you’ve never heard of it, not many people have. I went to a small public liberal arts college in Arkansas, Henderson State University, where I played on the tennis team and majored in chemistry. After college, I started in the MST program at Duke University School of Medicine. My research was in a tumor microcirculation lab with a great mentor, Mark W. Dewhirst, and I received a PhD in Pathology (Erythropoietin Receptor Biology in Cancer) in 2006, then finished medical school in 2007. I was lucky enough to match at MSKCC for my transitional year, and I’ll be staying in NYC for a residency in Radiation Oncology at NYU.
The TY program at MSKCC was, I thought, perfect for a career in radiation oncology. While I will not always deal with the inpatient side of oncology, it will be extremely valuable to be aware of issues that are specific to inpatient cancer care and have the framework for handling these issues.