treating cancer

[MyOdyssey]

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Hello All

What is the typical path taken by students after medical school for those interested in a career treating cancer patients while also being involved in leading edge cancer research? In other words, what does one do to get an academic position at a leading cancer center like Sloan Kettering, Dana Farber, MD Anderson, Mayo Clinic, etc?

 

[wanderingorion]

Various paths:
IM residency- Heme/Onc fellowship- Academic Job
OB/GYN residency- Gyn Onc fellowship- Academic Job
General Surgery residency- Surgical Oncology fellowship- Academic Job

Some do MD/PhDs for further research training, while some take research gap years in med school or residency, or later get MS or MPHs.

 

[allantois]

Many specialties are involved in treating cancer

 

[907914]

Urology residency - Oncology fellowship - urologic oncologist treating urethral, ureter, and prostate related cancers.

 

[MyOdyssey]

Many specialties are involved in treating cancer

There are radiation oncology, surgical oncology, heme/onc, gyn/onc, ped/onc. Are these the primary ones?

 

[allantois]

There are radiation oncology, surgical oncology, heme/onc, gyn/onc, ped/onc. Are these the primary ones?

Just about every surgical speciality will have an oncology fellowship. There’s a lot of potential in doing research and treating patients, indirectly, in pathology

 

[longhaul3]

Every organ system can develop cancer. Cancer is not a monolithic medical entity, and therefore specialists in each organ system end up treating malignancies of that organ system. Orthopedic oncologists treat sarcomas and other cancers of the MSK system. Neurosurgeons and neurologists treat all manner of cancers of the nervous system. ENT surgeons treat head and neck cancer. Even when medical oncologists are the primary team, like in lung cancer or whatever, an academic cancer center will also need a thoracic surgeon to address the surgical disease burden.

Point being there are few, if any, specialties in which treating patients with cancer is not a major part of the training. I'm sure MSK has plenty of psychiatrists to work with sick and depressed/delirious/demented/encephalopathic cancer patients. Likewise, emergency physicians treat lots of cancer patients because cancer predisposes people to almost every kind of medical emergency. In fact, right now I can't think of a single specialty that isn't intimately involved in the treatment of cancer patients.

 

[Robert Reny]

Has anyone heard about Natural Killer cells, which is used for treating cancer?

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Has anyone heard about Natural Killer cells, which is used for treating cancer?

Yeah T cells are generally more widely used especially for checkpoint blocking immunotherapies, but NK-cell based approaches are being explored intensively as well.

 

[deleted870424]

Has anyone heard about Natural Killer cells, which is used for treating cancer?

Lol this is not a new concept